bondservants
Contracted unpaid workers
Bondservants is the plural of bondservant, a person bound to service without wages—essentially a slave or indentured worker.
The term appears frequently in biblical translations and historical texts: Paul called himself a bondservant of Christ.
It sometimes implies voluntary submission to a master, distinguishing it from outright slavery, though the line was often thin in practice.
Formal binding contract
- serfdomFeudal bound labor
- thrallOne held captive
- manumissionFormal freeing of enslaved
- chattelMovable personal property
emancipation · freedman · villeinage · feudalism · vassalage · antebellum · sharecropping · plantation
Binding formal pledge
- fealtyPledged devotion to authority
- devotionDeep, loyal commitment
- allegianceLoyalty owed to authority
- obedienceCompliance with authority
duty · oath · vow · pledge · fidelity · loyalty · servanthood · submission
indenture
Formal binding contract
- serfdomFeudal bound labor
- thrallOne held captive
- manumissionFormal freeing of enslaved
chattel · emancipation · freedman · villeinage · feudalism · vassalage · antebellum · sharecropping · plantation · enslavement
covenant
Binding formal pledge
- fealtyPledged devotion to authority
- devotionDeep, loyal commitment
- allegianceLoyalty owed to authority
obedience · duty · oath · vow · pledge · fidelity · loyalty · servanthood · submission · master
- Qing ChinaQing dynasty, Manchu, Aisin Gioro, banners, Eight Banners
- social classesupper class, middle class, lower class, working class, nobles
- Ancient IsraelIsraelites, Jerusalem, Israel, twelve tribes, Judea
bondservantsfreemen
Those no longer enslaved
wage earners · freedmen · independent contractors · freeholders · self-employed