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What does it mean to be free? To slaves of the 18th and 19th century, it meant being able to make and keep a family, the ability to work when they wanted to for their own gain, and to have the right to travel as they wished. The freedmen soon realized that with this freedom came another form of slavery. Today we may refer to this type of slavery as wage labor, many scholars and philosophers called it wage slavery.

The term was actually coined in the late 1700s by advocates of chattel slavery. They used the similarities between the bondage created by wage labor and that of slavery in the south. The biggest difference between these two types of slavery is that of choice. A chattel slave is bought and sold on the market. When this was legal the markets were open, but today this only occurs on the black market. A wage slave chooses his/her master by applying for a job and succumbing to the commercialist world we live in.

Both types of slavery have existed as long as man has. Chattel slavery has been abolished in most countries, whereas wage slavery still exists across the globe. Regulations and legislation has changed the atmosphere of wage slavery, work conditions have improved, compensation has become regulated, and education affects the status of the slaves. But they are all bound to their employer in some fashion.

In the early years of the Industrial Revolution, wage slavery was as cruel, demeaning, and difficult as most chattel slaves were used to. As freedmen left their masters in search of the American Dream, they soon realized life wasn't that easy. They became bound to their landlords and shopkeepers through debt peonage. Each year crop prices fell and the cost of running a farm increased. Farmers had to buy materials, equipment, and supplies on credit just to get the planting season going. Credit prices were as much as 60% higher than cash prices, and shops were usually owned and run by the landowners. This kept these freemen in almost the exact same position as they were in during slavery.

Wage slavery hasn't been limited to southern states. The northern industrialist had their ways as well; especially in the mining, lumber, and factory sectors. There were limited regulations on working conditions, compensation, and working hours. Laborers often worked long hours, 10-15 a day; and regularly involved young children. As Big Business grew, the control workers had over their conditions shrank. They became replaceable.

The threat to a chattel slave for insubordination was physical punishment, withholding of food and clothing, or more rigorous duties. The threat to a wage slave for insubordination is no wage. No wages in a commercial world leads to loss of home, no food or shelter, possible starvation, uncontrollable debt, and corruption (i.e. crime to put food and clothes in the home).

Today's wage slave is not much different than yesterday's. They are woken to go to work, they punch in and raise capital for their boss, they punch out and spend the little bit of money they earned, go to sleep to rest for the next day, and repeat until they retire or die. They are bound to their bosses by credit card debt, mortgages, and family welfare. In today's tough economic times, wage slaves are bound more than ever. They know if they quit or demand more from their employers they will be easily replaced. The only way for a wage slave to break the bondage is through business ownership, and paying off their debts.

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