manumit
Free from bondage
To manumit is to release someone from slavery—to formally grant freedom to an enslaved person.
The word appears primarily in historical contexts: The will stipulated that all enslaved persons be manumitted upon the owner's death.
The noun is manumission.
Without payment or restriction
- releaseTo let go
- liberateSet free from captivity
- enfranchiseGrant voting rights
- unshackleRemove bonds from
unfetter · unchain · unbind · discharge · disenthrall · ransom · redeem · deliver
Ownership of people
- antebellumBefore a war's start
- plantationLarge-scale farming operation
- bondageInvoluntary subjugation to another
- servitudeCompulsory labor under masters
chattel · freedman · fugitive · indentured · slave codes · Underground Railroad · Harriet Tubman · Frederick Douglass
Absence of unjust constraint
- autonomyIndependent decision-making capacity
- self-determinationControl over one's fate
- independenceFreedom from external control
- sovereigntySupreme independent authority
agency · empowerment · self-governance · citizenship · rights · dignity · personhood · free-will
Opposing human bondage
- abolitionistOpponent of human bondage
- proclamationFormal public announcement
- abolishOfficially end a practice
- suppressionForcible prevention or concealment
movement · crusade · Garrison · Douglass · pamphlet · petition · gradualism · cause
Written property conveyance
- certificateFormal written attestation
- documentWritten or electronic file
- petitionFormal written appeal
- courtTrial venue or sports surface
register · witness · notarize · conditions · stipulation · contract · probate · will
free
Without payment or restriction
- releaseTo let go
- liberateSet free from captivity
- enfranchiseGrant voting rights
unshackle · unfetter · unchain · unbind · discharge · disenthrall · ransom · redeem · deliver · extricate
slavery
Ownership of people
- antebellumBefore a war's start
- plantationLarge-scale farming operation
- bondageInvoluntary subjugation to another
servitude · chattel · freedman · fugitive · indentured · slave codes · Underground Railroad · Harriet Tubman · Frederick Douglass · abolitionists
liberty
Absence of unjust constraint
- autonomyIndependent decision-making capacity
- self-determinationControl over one's fate
- independenceFreedom from external control
sovereignty · agency · empowerment · self-governance · citizenship · rights · dignity · personhood · free-will · deliverance
antislavery
Opposing human bondage
- abolitionistOpponent of human bondage
- proclamationFormal public announcement
- abolishOfficially end a practice
suppression · movement · crusade · Garrison · Douglass · pamphlet · petition · gradualism · cause · reform
deed
Written property conveyance
- certificateFormal written attestation
- documentWritten or electronic file
- petitionFormal written appeal
court · register · witness · notarize · conditions · stipulation · contract · probate · will · testament