Legal Definition
Debt bondage is classically defined as a situation when a person provides a loan to another who uses his or her labor or services to repay the debt. When the value of the work, as reasonably assessed, is not applied towards the liquidation of the debt, the situation becomes one of debt bondage. See United Nations 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery. This was very common in Ancient Greece. In ancient Athens, Solon forbade taking out loans using oneself as a security and ended any current such debts, ending debt bondage.
Read more about this topic: Debt Bondage
Famous quotes containing the words legal and/or definition:
“... whilst you are proclaiming peace and good will to men, Emancipating all Nations, you insist upon retaining absolute power over wives. But you must remember that Arbitrary power is like most other things which are very hard, very liable to be broken—and notwithstanding all your wise Laws and Maxims we have it in our power not only to free ourselves but to subdue our Masters, and without violence throw both your natural and legal authority at our feet ...”
—Abigail Adams (1744–1818)
“It’s a rare parent who can see his or her child clearly and objectively. At a school board meeting I attended . . . the only definition of a gifted child on which everyone in the audience could agree was “mine.””
—Jane Adams (20th century)