Debt Peonage a system in which a person is forced to work to pay off debts. Forced the, to work against their will to pay off a debt. Made them little more than slaves. Denied them the ability to live their own lives. Peonage, also called debt slavery or debt servitude, is a system where an employer compels a worker to pay off a debt with work. Legally, peonage was outlawed by Congress in 1867.