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Serfdom reached Eastern Europe centuries later than Western Europe—it became dominant around the 15th century. Before that time, Eastern Europe had been much more sparsely populated than Western Europe, and the lords of Eastern Europe created a peasantry-friendly environment to encourage migration east. [3]
The monument of Alexander II, the "Tsar-Liberator," erected in 1899 in Częstochowa with funds voluntarily collected from Polish peasants. [1]Abolition of serfdom in Poland was a gradual process tied to the economy of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, where the nobility depended on serf labour for income and status.
As slavery gradually disappeared and the legal status of servi became nearly identical to that of the coloni, the term changed meaning into the modern concept of "serf". The word "serf" is first recorded in English in the late 15th century, and came to its current definition in the 17th century. Serfdom was coined in 1850. [citation needed]
This phenomenon was also witnessed in several other Central and Eastern European countries, and was known as the "second serfdom" or "neo-serfdom". [ 1 ] [ 15 ] Reversal of those trends begun in the 18th century, as part of various reforms aiming the revitalize the ailing governance and economy of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth .
Only in 1832 did Jurģi farmers gained the right to change their place of residence within the boundaries of their province, but in Kurzeme until 1848, farmers were not allowed to settle in cities. After the release of the peasants in 1820, Merkel published an essay dedicated to Alexander I, "Free Latvians and Estonians".
Although slavery is usually involuntary and involves coercion, there are also cases where people voluntarily enter into slavery to pay a debt or earn money due to poverty. In the course of human history , slavery was a typical feature of civilization , [ 3 ] and was legal in most societies, but it is now outlawed in most countries of the world ...
In copyhold, both a landlord and peasant made their best business deal, whereby the peasant got use of the land and the landlord got a fixed annual payment, and both possessed a copy of the tenure agreement. Serfdom did not end everywhere and lingered in parts of Western Europe and was introduced to Eastern Europe only after the Black Death. [34]
Constitution abolishes serfdom. [96] Prussia: The Stein-Hardenberg Reforms abolish serfdom. [96] Michigan Territory: Judge Augustus Woodward denies the return of two slaves owned by a man in Windsor, Upper Canada. Woodward declares that any man "coming into this Territory is by law of the land a freeman." [97] 1808 United States