USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Forced labour can be understood as work that is performed involuntarily and under the menace of any penalty.

Detailed explanation-2: -The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

Detailed explanation-3: -Slavery is when someone actually owns you like a piece of property. Servitude is similar to slavery-you might live on the person’s premises, work for them and be unable to leave, but they don’t own you. Forced labour means you are forced to do work that you have not agreed to, under the threat of punishment.

Detailed explanation-4: -But the most corrupt and abusive peonage occurred in concert with southern state and county government. In the south, many black men were picked up for minor crimes or on trumped-up charges, and, when faced with staggering fines and court fees, forced to work for a local employer would who pay their fines for them.

Detailed explanation-5: -By various devices the labourer would then be kept constantly in debt to his employer and be held in involuntary servitude for an indefinite time.