Milner. After a short period of time other states such as Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida began implementing the system in a similar way. These states realized the amount of revenue the system would generate, from that point on it was a "no-brainer" to implement the system within their states considering that Alabama's state revenue derived from inmates was a substantial 73% in the year 1898. Many saw the doomed The leasing system is a good idea because it would increase the economic power of states, which would allow the reconstruction and further development of the state. However, the system was far from fair, let alone ethical. The difference between forced labor and slavery was practically non-existent. During times of slavery, African Americans were purchased by masters to work on farms, factories, and many other industries without receiving any monetary compensation. Slave masters, who were predominantly white, provided the most basic necessities to sustain life, although this was not always the case. When it came to individuals and/or companies paying any type of currency to state governments, they paid taxes on their slaves worth up to $300 per slave, an amount set for tax purposes. On the other hand, the difference when it came to forced labor was that prison tenants paid the state to have their prisoners take on forced labor. In other words, states became “masters” of all “slaves” and simply rented them out as workers to reap exponentially large profits. Some might have agreed that these were prisoners, so the punishment was well deserved. It may have been a reasonable thought, except that many of the captives were those same African American slaves, or their relatives, who had been freed just over a decade earlier. From there