What is the meaning of involuntary servitude?
Asked by: Miss Jacky Mayer | Last update: January 4, 2026Score: 4.5/5 (59 votes)
'Involuntary servitude' refers to the act of forcing an individual to work against their will through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of labor or services, leading to a state of slavery or bondage.
What is involuntary servitude in simple terms?
“Involuntary servitude,” or “peonage,” occurs when a person is forced to work against his or her will, with little or no control over working conditions. This work might be paid or unpaid.
What's the difference between slavery and involuntary servitude?
While labouring to benefit another occurs also in the condition of slavery, involuntary servitude does not necessarily connote the complete lack of freedom experienced in chattel slavery; involuntary servitude may also refer to other forms of unfree labour.
What is the punishment for involuntary servitude?
(a) Whoever knowingly and willfully holds to involuntary servitude or sells into any condition of involuntary servitude, any other person for any term, or brings within the United States any person so held, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.
Is involuntary servitude illegal?
While the Fugitive Slave Law expired after three years, the state of California's constitution still allowed for involuntary servitude, which stands to this day. The mere allowance for involuntary servitude isn't the only issue. The enforcement of involuntary servitude is problematic, too.
Involuntary servitude
What is the punishment for servitude?
Provisions. The provisions of the act include: Amending the former acts to make the minimum sentence of penal servitude five years instead of three. If one had already committed a felony, this was lengthened to seven years minimum sentence.
What is a synonym for involuntary servitude?
synonyms. 145 other terms for involuntary servitude. bonded labor. forced servitude.
What forbid involuntary servitude?
Thirteenth Amendment, Section 1: Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
What section is the right against involuntary servitude?
Section 18.
No involuntary servitude in any form shall exist except as a punishment for a crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.
What is the difference between slavery and servitude?
Slavery is when someone owns you, like a piece of property. Servitude is similar to slavery - you might provide services to a person for no reward, and be unable to stop due to coercion, but the person does not own you.
Are people in jail forced to work?
Of the 1.2 million people incarcerated in state and federal prisons, nearly 800,000 are prison laborers, most of them by force (ACLU and GHRC 2022).
Are servants and slaves the same?
Indentured servitude differed from slavery in that it was a form of debt bondage, meaning it was an agreed upon term of unpaid labor that usually paid off the costs of the servant's immigration to America. Indentured servants were not paid wages but they were generally housed, clothed, and fed.
Why is indentured servitude bad?
Indentured servants could not marry without the permission of their master, were frequently subject to physical punishment, and did not receive legal favor from the courts. Female indentured servants in particular might be raped and/or sexually abused by their masters.
What is the difference between slavery and involuntary servitude?
Compared to involuntary servitude, the law plays a more significant role in slavery even beyond the primary functions of enforcement and punishment. Law structures the rights and obligations of one person to another and of the government to individuals.
What is an example of a servitude?
Servitude is slavery or anything resembling it. The entire black population of colonial America lived in permanent servitude. And millions of the whites who populated this country arrived in "indentured servitude", obliged to pay off the cost of their journey with several years of labor.
What is coercion of involuntary servitude?
Involuntary servitude includes a condition of servitude in which the victim is forced to work for the defendant by the use or threat of physical restraint or physical injury, or by the use or threat of coercion through the law or the legal process.
What is the law of involuntary servitude?
The condition of being coerced to labor against one's will. While slavery is a form of involuntary servitude, involuntary servitude has a broader meaning, including the vestiges of slavery, peonage or a coolie labor system, or work forced by the use or threat of physical restraint or injury or through law.
What is the meaning of a bill of attainder?
A bill of attainder is legislation that imposes punishment on a specific person or group of people without a judicial trial.
What is Section 15 of the Constitution of Canada called?
Equality Rights
15 (1) Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.
What are some examples of involuntary servitude?
However, involuntary servitude commonly refers to forcing people to work against their will. Some People in State Prison and County Jail Work. People in prison and jail can be required to work or do other activities such as taking classes.
What is another term for involuntary servitude?
bondage enslavement serfdom subjugation. Strong matches. bonds chains confinement obedience peonage serfhood subjection thrall thralldom vassalage yoke.
Is involuntary servitude bad?
Involuntary servitude is prohibited in California's Constitution except as punishment for a crime. However, people inside prisons in the state are required to work for nominal sums. Proposition 6 on California's ballot this November would eliminate that “exception” clause in the state's constitution.
What eliminates involuntary servitude?
ARGUMENTS. PRO Proposition 6 ends slavery in California and upholds human rights and dignity for everyone. It replaces carceral involuntary servitude with voluntary work programs, has bipartisan support, and aligns with national efforts to reform the 13th Amendment.
What does servitude mean in law?
servitude n
1 : a condition in which an individual lacks liberty esp. to determine his or her course of action or way of life. ;specif. : the state of being a slave [involuntary ] see also Amendment XIII and Amendment XV to the Constitution in the back matter.
What is the other meaning of involuntary?
involuntary (adjective as in automatic; not done willingly) Strongest matches. compulsory forced spontaneous uncontrolled unintentional.