as in slavery
the state of being an enslaved person
having known the misery of enslavement first hand, Frederick Douglass went on devote his life to the cause of making others free
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Recent Examples of enslavement
The following citations relate to the abuse of black Americans, whose enslavement was slyly written into the Constitution.
—
Ann Manov,
Harpers Magazine,
23 June 2026
Haitian soldiers seasoned on American battlefields during the revolution later sparked Haiti’s overthrow of French colonial rule, depriving France of its most profitable slave colony and ending one of the most brutal enslavement of human beings in modern world history.
—
Paul Vallas,
Chicago Tribune,
22 June 2026
In one scene, Cora is hired to reënact her enslavement at a living museum.
—
Julian Lucas,
New Yorker,
22 June 2026
Some states, like Pennsylvania and Massachusetts and later New York and New Jersey, put enslavement on the road to extinction early on.
—
New York Times,
22 June 2026
Making Juneteenth a national holiday is the closest our country has gotten to acknowledging the truth about enslavement and its vestiges.
—
Marcus Anthony Hunter,
Time,
19 June 2026
Ibn Said died in 1864 after almost 60 years of enslavement, nearly 100 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
—
Leila Tarakji,
The Conversation,
17 June 2026
But it [was] really reinforced by the enslavement of Africans.
—
Nia Dumas,
NPR,
16 June 2026
The very American imperialism that so endangered Muslim life had its roots in genocide and enslavement, the latter of which always took particular interest in black women.
—
Ta-Nehisi Coates,
Vanity Fair,
15 June 2026
Ann Manov,
Harpers Magazine,
23 June 2026
Haitian soldiers seasoned on American battlefields during the revolution later sparked Haiti’s overthrow of French colonial rule, depriving France of its most profitable slave colony and ending one of the most brutal enslavement of human beings in modern world history.
—
Paul Vallas,
Chicago Tribune,
22 June 2026
In one scene, Cora is hired to reënact her enslavement at a living museum.
—
Julian Lucas,
New Yorker,
22 June 2026
Some states, like Pennsylvania and Massachusetts and later New York and New Jersey, put enslavement on the road to extinction early on.
—
New York Times,
22 June 2026
Making Juneteenth a national holiday is the closest our country has gotten to acknowledging the truth about enslavement and its vestiges.
—
Marcus Anthony Hunter,
Time,
19 June 2026
Ibn Said died in 1864 after almost 60 years of enslavement, nearly 100 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
—
Leila Tarakji,
The Conversation,
17 June 2026
But it [was] really reinforced by the enslavement of Africans.
—
Nia Dumas,
NPR,
16 June 2026
The very American imperialism that so endangered Muslim life had its roots in genocide and enslavement, the latter of which always took particular interest in black women.
—
Ta-Nehisi Coates,
Vanity Fair,
15 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for enslavement
slavery
Noun
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Supporters of reparations argue the effects of slavery continue to be felt across Africa and the Caribbean generations later.
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Juneteenth, which is the newest federal holiday, marks the official end of slavery in the United States when Union troops arrived in Texas to announce that the last enslaved people were finally free.
Cite this Entry
“Enslavement.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/enslavement. Accessed 28 Jun. 2026.
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