incumbrance

Founding-era definition · Webster's 1828 American Dictionary

INCUM'BRANCE, noun A burdensome and troublesome load; any thing that impedes motion or action, or renders it difficult or laborious; clog; impediment; embarrassment. 1. A legal claim on the estate of another.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI

More founding-era words: liberty · virtue · republic · justice · providence · commerce · militia · arms · prudence · establishment · religion · usurpation · tyranny · citizen · unalienable · sovereign