manumission
thumb|Letter where one can read that the slave Geraldo will be free with the condition of working for another 6 years (Brazil). Arquivo Público do Estado de São Paulo|Arquivo Público do Estado de São Paulo|APESP Manumission, or enfranchisement, is the act of freeing slaves by their owners. Different approaches to manumission were developed, each specific to the time and place of a particular society. Historian Verene Shepherd states that the most widely used term is gratuitous manumission, "the conferment of freedom on the enslaved by enslavers before the end of the slave system".
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- Ancient Greece
- Ancient Rome
- Peru
- Caribbean
- France
- United States
- Ottoman Empire
- See also
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thumb|Letter where one can read that the slave Geraldo will be free with the condition of working for another 6 years (Brazil). Arquivo Público do Estado de São Paulo|Arquivo Público do Estado de São Paulo|APESP Manumission, or enfranchisement, is the act of freeing slaves by their owners. Different approaches to manumission were developed, each specific to the time and place of a particular society. Historian Verene Shepherd states that the most widely used term is gratuitous manumission, "the conferment of freedom on the enslaved by enslavers before the end of the slave system".
The motivations for manumission were complex and varied. Firstly, it may present itself as a sentimental and benevolent gesture. One typical scenario was the freeing in the master's will of a devoted servant after long years of service. A trusted bailiff might be manumitted as a gesture of gratitude. For those working as agricultural labourers or in workshops, there was little likelihood of being so noticed. In general, it was more common for older slaves to be given freedom.