Final answer:
Bacon's Rebellion catalyzed the shift from indentured servitude to racial slavery in the Southern colonies, leading to the institutionalization of harsher laws against Blacks and a caste system based on race to avert future uprisings and solidify the power of the ruling class.
Step-by-step explanation:
The role that Bacon's Rebellion played in the adaptation and expansion of slavery in the Southern colonies was significant. This upheaval led by Nathaniel Bacon and his followers was a reaction to Governor Berkeley's policies, including his attempts to maintain peace with Native Americans, which hampered the expansion of land for the colonists. The rebellion's unintended consequences included the consolidation of power in fewer hands and a shift from indentured servitude to a system of racial slavery.
In the aftermath of Bacon's Rebellion, colonial Virginia took concrete steps towards instituting a race-based system of slavery. Laws were enacted to limit the freedoms of Black individuals and to establish life-long slavery for Africans brought to the colonies. This shift not only filled the labor demand but also allayed fears of future uprisings and helped to alleviate tensions between poor and wealthy White people, who could now bond over a sense of racial superiority.
Indentured servants, comprising mainly of White laborers and a smaller number of Africans at the time, were initially the backbone of the labor force in the Virginia colony. However, post-rebellion, the colony's leaders were convinced that relying on slavery rather than servitude would result in fewer men competing for land, minimizing the risk of dissatisfaction and rebellion among White indentured servants, and thus increasing control over the labor force by racializing it.