Peonage (Noun)
Meaning 1
The condition of a peon.
Classification
Nouns denoting natural processes.
Examples
- Many laborers in the South languished under a system of peonage that was designed to maintain their economic dependence.
- Historians have long struggled with the complexities of peonage in post-Civil War America, where it masqueraded as a benign institution.
- In reality, peonage was nothing more than a modern form of bondage, designed to exploit the labor of the most vulnerable populations.
- Southern planters had developed complex mechanisms to keep workers in peonage, often by dangling illusory threats of debt or punishment.
- The continued practice of peonage was a nagging reminder of the legacy of slavery that no Reconstruction could eradicate.
Hypernyms
Meaning 2
The practice of making a debtor work for his creditor until the debt is discharged.
Classification
Nouns denoting acts or actions.
Examples
- Historians have long recognized peonage as a coercive system of labor that exploits the most vulnerable members of society.
- The borrower was trapped in a cycle of peonage, forced to toil for years under the unforgiving sun to repay his loans.
- The practice of peonage, also known as debt bondage, had been a long-standing issue in the rural community.
- To avoid peonage, many sharecroppers turned to the black market economy, trading and bartering with other farmers.
- Despite government laws aimed at curbing the practice, peonage remained a reality for many agricultural workers in the American South.