In Dead Souls, Gogol describes the sale of serfs in exchange for money, completely independent of the land they work on. Was this satirical only and would have been recognised as such by the contemporary readers or was it an established practice equivalent to slavery? | AskHistorians Archive Observer

In Dead Souls, Gogol describes the sale of serfs in exchange for money, completely independent of the land they work on. Was this satirical only and would have been recognised as such by the contemporary readers or was it an established practice equivalent to slavery?

by uw888

I'm referring to Imperial Russia of the early XIX century.

voyeur324

Click here for /u/sowser's answer about the difference between "suffering slaves and suffering serfs". It represents the best of what the subreddit has to offer.