indentureship
Bound labor agreement
Indentureship is a system of bound labor in which a worker contracts to serve an employer for a fixed term, typically in exchange for passage, housing, or training.
The practice shaped colonial economies—indentured servants worked American plantations, and after slavery's abolition, indentured laborers from India and China replaced enslaved workers in the Caribbean and elsewhere.
The term now appears mainly in historical contexts: The museum exhibit documented indentureship in Trinidad.
Compulsory labor under masters
- peonageDebt-based forced labor
- serfdomFeudal bound labor
- bondservantOne bound to serve
- thrallOne held captive
subjugation · enslavement · chattel · helotry · coolie · unfree · coercion · exploitation
Strenuous, prolonged effort
- plantationLarge-scale farming operation
- domesticOf the home
- agriculturalOf farming practices
- manualWritten instructions for use
drudgery · field · wages · unpaid · exploitation · overseer · quota · harsh
Length of existence
completion · release · expiration · renewal · extension · time-bound · period · service
Developing abilities through practice
- journeymanQualified trade worker
- masterAuthority or controller
- craftsmanshipSkill in making objects
- guildProfessional mutual-aid society
novice · trade · skills · mentorship · workshop · learning · artisan · craft
Written property conveyance
- agreementShared position between parties
- covenantBinding formal pledge
- bindingLegally or morally required
- termsConditions of an agreement
signatories · clauses · stipulations · provisions · notarized · attestation · witnesses · seal
servitude
Compulsory labor under masters
- peonageDebt-based forced labor
- serfdomFeudal bound labor
- bondservantOne bound to serve
thrall · subjugation · enslavement · chattel · helotry · coolie · unfree · coercion · exploitation · captivity
toil
Strenuous, prolonged effort
- plantationLarge-scale farming operation
- domesticOf the home
- agriculturalOf farming practices
manual · drudgery · field · wages · unpaid · exploitation · overseer · quota · harsh · backbreaking
duration
Length of existence
passage · completion · release · expiration · renewal · extension · time-bound · period · service · obligation
training
Developing abilities through practice
- journeymanQualified trade worker
- masterAuthority or controller
- craftsmanshipSkill in making objects
guild · novice · trade · skills · mentorship · workshop · learning · artisan · craft · pupil
deed
Written property conveyance
- agreementShared position between parties
- covenantBinding formal pledge
- bindingLegally or morally required
terms · signatories · clauses · stipulations · provisions · notarized · attestation · witnesses · seal · execution
indentureshipwage labor
Work exchanged for payment
self-employment · at-will employment · liberty · freelancing · freedom
indenture, apprenticeship, indentured, indentures, indenturing