The term "previous condition of servitude" refers to a person's prior status as a slave or someone who was forced into labor without their consent.
Related terms
Slavery: The practice of owning another person as property and forcing them to work without pay or against their will.
Emancipation Proclamation: A presidential order issued by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, which declared that all slaves in Confederate territory were to be set free.
13th Amendment: An amendment to the U.S. Constitution that abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime.