chattel slavery

noun

: slavery in which a person is owned as a chattel (see chattel sense 2)

chattel slave noun

plural chattel slaves

Examples of chattel slavery in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But although unfree labor was the norm, with a few exceptions there was not yet the form of permanent, heritable, racialized chattel slavery that would emerge in the Atlantic economies, especially in the 17th and 18th centuries. —Literary Hub, 25 Mar. 2026

The notion that these reparations were intended to benefit all descendants of chattel slavery regardless of race ignores the undeniable evidence to the contrary. —Andrew Quinio, Oc Register, 29 Oct. 2025

Assembly Bill 7 would allow public universities in California to consider giving admissions preference to applicants who are descendants of American chattel slavery. —Kate Wolffe, Sacbee.com, 15 Sep. 2025

Richmond served as the functional center for the chattel slavery system in the United States, the capitol city of the Confederacy during the Civil War and was one of the many cities that subjected residents to redlining lending practices. —Andrea Riquier, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1837, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for chattel slavery

• antislavery
• bravery
• knavery
• savory
• proslavery
• unsavory