The free part of slavery is about freedom, not payment. It was not uncommon for enslaved people to buy their way out of enslavement.

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Aurornis 8 hours ago | parent | next [-]

The defining feature of slavery is the involuntary part of it.

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seadan83 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Quick googling (could be wrong), thousands bought freedom, approx 4 million were enslaved. It would have been uncommon, ballpark 0.1% (which still seems high to me. The issue is a very large denominator)

	▲	sarchertech 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Slavery was around long before the US existed. In Ancient Rome it was much more common for slaves to buy their way out of slavery..