Earlier today the headline read “illegally enslaved”, like in the linked article. I almost pointed out that that was redundant, but I figured there was no point. Apparently it did bother somebody.
It's not redundant. Slavey was legal at the time, but these people in particular were illegally enslaved.
No. They were not. They were illegally purchased.
Chattel slavery is illegal. You could argue that other forms exist legally, such as prison labor: prisoners are explicitly exempted from the 14th amendment. It’s the eighth amendment prisoners rely on. Note that they’re paid? So have many types of slaves, including roman and american chattel slaves.
Don't forget about "children".
Legal slavery was commonplace at the time the events described took place.
Slavery is perfectly legal today in many countries, including the United States. The Constitution permityls slavery as the punishment for a crime (which is why prisoners can be worked for essentially zero pay).