Manumission

From Wikinfo

Manumission is the act of freeing a slave, done at the will of the owner.

This could have been by conversion, marriage to a European, or by purchasing their freedom. This is not the same as the Emancipation when all slaves were set free.

The term dates from the 15th century.

References

• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Manumission" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manumission, used under the GNU Free Documentation License