During the period of slavery in America, the most common term I've seen for
enslaved persons is not "slaves", it's another term, a word beginning with
"n".

If you want to stay entirely within the context of the era, that word would
be appropriate. But today that's quite offensive, and I doubt that few of us
would advocate its use. I teach this era (also have developed exhibits on
the topic) and I generally do say "people who were enslaved" and I discuss
why - because it reminds us that they were people who had this status
applied to them, but it was not their unalienable identity. Sometimes I also
use "slaves", sometimes I say "enslaved Africans" (for the earliest
periods), sometimes "African Americans, enslaved and free" or "free blacks"
or "black folk".... all depending on the shades of meaning I'm aiming for.
If a direct quote has the "n" word in it, I'll read it, but with a
disclaimer that it's the term of the time... if I used it in exhibit
material, I'd use it only in a quote and with a disclaimer also.

But "enslaved people"? Use it all the time, nothing wrong with it.

Carol Ely, Ph.D.
Museum Consultant, Louisville

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