slavery

Everyday

1. Slavery is the cruel system in which people are owned by other people, forced to work for no pay and have no freedom. tree →
2. Slavery is also the state of being a slave. tree →
3. Slavery can describe very hard work or control that feels like being owned, as in "modern slavery". tree →

In the lessons

In history lessons pupils learn about slavery in the ancient world, the transatlantic slave trade that took African people to the Americas, and the abolitionists such as William Wilberforce, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman who fought to end it. In the Bible, the Israelites escape slavery in Egypt in the Exodus, remembered at Passover. In ethics, slavery is a clear example of a great wrong. In news, "modern slavery" means people forced to work today. Phrases: "the abolition of slavery", "escape from slavery", "modern slavery", "freed from slavery".

Examples

• Slavery is against the law in every country today. tree →
• Harriet Tubman led many people out of slavery. tree →
• (Bible) Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. tree →
• William Wilberforce campaigned to end slavery in the British Empire. tree →
• At Passover, Jewish families remember the escape from slavery. tree →
• Modern slavery still happens, and police work to stop it. tree →
• Frederick Douglass wrote about his life in slavery. tree →
• It was collected at last, and the knight released from slavery and misery. tree →

Note

Uncountable. A person held in slavery is a slave, though many historians now say "an enslaved person" to show it was done to them; the verb is "enslave". "Abolition" means ending slavery by law, and an abolitionist worked for that.

In Jewish tradition

Slavery is linked to Egypt, where the Israelites were enslaved before God freed them.

Interpretation. On Passover, Jews tell the story of the exodus from slavery to freedom.

Examples

• These are double, because their opposites take part in life, opposed to Life is Death; to Peace, War; to Riches, Poverty; to Beauty or Reputation, Deformity or Disrepute; to Wisdom, Ignorance; to Fruitfulness, Sterility; to Power, Slavery. (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1887) tree →

Note

Uncountable. A person held in slavery is a slave, though many historians now say "an enslaved person" to show it was done to them; the verb is "enslave". "Abolition" means ending slavery by law, and an abolitionist worked for that.