Peonage

It may be defined as a status or condition of compulsory service, based upon the indebtedness of the peon to the master. The basal fact is indebtedness. ... Peonage is sometimes classified as voluntary or involuntary, but this implies simply a difference in the mode of origin, but none in the character of the servitude.

The holding of any person to service or labor against his will. Prohibited by U. S. Rev. St. § 1990.

A status or condition of compulsory service based upon the indebtedness of the peon to the master. The basal fact is indebtedness. It is involuntary servitude within the 13th amendment to the United States constitution. R. S. U. S. §§ 1990, 5526 constitute it a crime; Clyatt v. U. S., 197 U. S. 207, 25 Sup. Ct. 429, 49 L. Ed. 726. The system existed in New Mexico and other territories derived from Spain. The earliest case is Jaremillo v. Romero, 1 N. M. 190. Inducing one to labor in payment of debt by threats of prosecution may amount to peonage, if by reason of the different character of the parties such threats overcome the will of the servant; U. S. v. Clement, 171 Fed. 974. The offense is complete, whether the condition of peonage exists by virtue of a local law or custom, or in violation or without the sanction of the law; Peonage Cases, 123 Fed. 671. A clear distinction exists between peonage and the voluntary performance of labor or rendering of services in payment of,a debt In the latter case the debtor may, at his will, break his contract; Ex parte Hollman, 79 S. C. 9, 60 S. E. 19, 21 L. R. A. (N. S.) 242, 14 Ann. Cas. 1105, where a statute was held invalid which provided for the imprisonment of one who wilfully and unlawfully breaks a contract to perform farm labor, after having received advances. The same act was held invalid in Ex parte Drayton, 153 Fed. 986. So an Alabama act making it a misdemeanor for a laborer, under contract to work farm lands, to break it and enter into a contract with a different person without the consent of his employer and without excuse and without giving notice, was held invalid as restricting the right to make contracts for' employment; Toney v. State, 141 Ala. 120, 37 South. 332, 67 L. R. A. 286, 109 Am. St. Rep. 23, 3 Ann. Cas. 319; Peonage Cases, 123 Fed. 671.