bondspeople
People in servitude
Bondspeople is the plural of bondsperson—someone held in servitude or slavery.
The term serves as a gender-neutral alternative to bondsmen or bondswomen when referring to enslaved individuals collectively: The plantation's bondspeople numbered over two hundred.
The word appears primarily in historical contexts discussing slavery in the Americas.
Metal bonds for prisoners
- manaclesWrist shackles for prisoners
- fettersAnkle restraints, often metal
- ironsRestraints or golf clubs
- chainsLinked metal restraints
handcuffs · leg irons · collars · yoke · tethers · branding · confinement · captivity
Release from legal bondage
- freedomAbsence of constraint
- manumissionFormal freeing of enslaved
- abolitionFormal discontinuation of practice
- escapeFlight from captivity
deliverance · rescue · unshackling · self-liberation · Juneteenth · freedpeople · enfranchisement · autonomy
Formal binding contract
- serfdomFeudal bound labor
- peonageDebt-based forced labor
- vassalageSubordination to a lord
- thrallOne held captive
subjection · dependency · subservience · obligation · fealty · helotry · duress · allegiance
Made someone's property
- captivesPeople held by force
- chattelMovable personal property
- thrallsPersons in bondage
- helotsBonded agricultural class
serfs · subjugated · oppressed · unfreedom · human trafficking · auction · plantation · overseer
Contracted to serve
- colonialOf occupied territories
- apprenticesNovices learning a craft
- servantsHired household workers
- peonsMenial laborers with little status
vassals · feudalism · sharecroppers · convicts · transportation · debtors · antebellum · triangular trade
shackles
Metal bonds for prisoners
- manaclesWrist shackles for prisoners
- fettersAnkle restraints, often metal
- ironsRestraints or golf clubs
chains · handcuffs · leg irons · collars · yoke · tethers · branding · confinement · captivity · auction block
emancipation
Release from legal bondage
- freedomAbsence of constraint
- manumissionFormal freeing of enslaved
- abolitionFormal discontinuation of practice
escape · deliverance · rescue · unshackling · self-liberation · Juneteenth · freedpeople · enfranchisement · autonomy · independence
indenture
Formal binding contract
thrall · subjection · dependency · subservience · obligation · fealty · helotry · duress · allegiance · compulsory labor
enslaved
Made someone's property
helots · serfs · subjugated · oppressed · unfreedom · human trafficking · auction · plantation · overseer · master
indentured
Contracted to serve
- colonialOf occupied territories
- apprenticesNovices learning a craft
- servantsHired household workers
peons · vassals · feudalism · sharecroppers · convicts · transportation · debtors · antebellum · triangular trade · Middle Passage
bondspeoplefreemen
Those no longer enslaved
freedpeople · freedmen · freedwomen · citizens · freeholders
bondspeoplemasters
Those with dominion
slaveholders · slave owners · enslavers · owners · overlords
bond, bonds, bonded, bonding, bondage, bondsman, bondsmen, bondswoman, bondswomen