1. a system of forced labor in which debtors are bound in servitude to their creditors until debts are paid
Usage: historical; legal
2. the condition of being a peon; servitude or subjugation

Examples

• Peonage was outlawed in the United States by federal legislation in 1867.
• Many workers found themselves trapped in a cycle of peonage due to mounting debts.
• The company store system often led to peonage among agricultural workers.
• Historical records document the widespread use of peonage in the post-Civil War South.
• Labor activists fought against the peonage that kept workers in poverty.
• The Supreme Court ruled that peonage violated the Thirteenth Amendment.