abolitionism

[ab-uh-lish-uh-niz-uh m]

See more synonyms for abolitionism on Thesaurus.com

noun

the principle or policy of abolition, especially of slavery of blacks in the U.S.

Origin of abolitionism

First recorded in 1800–10; abolition + -ism

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for abolitionism

autonomy, exemption, democracy, self-determination, liberation, emancipation, relief, privilege, release, sovereignty, self-government, immunity, citizenship, prerogative, rescue, salvage, autarchy, liberty, delivery, impunity

Examples from the Web for abolitionism

Historical Examples of abolitionism

By Jove, if Abolitionism can make your grandma run, I'll forgive it a lot!
Pirate Gold
Frederic Jesup Stimson
"Call it Abolitionism, or what you will," replied his Senior.
Red-Tape and Pigeon-Hole Generals
William H. Armstrong
But then, perhaps, this offspring of abolitionism is no man-child at all.
Cotton is King and The Pro-Slavery Arguments
Various
I doubt not this is the kind of liberty at which some of the champions of Abolitionism, viz.
Abolitionism Exposed!
W. W. Sleigh
Such is the danger from abolitionism to the slaveholding States.
Slavery
William E. Channing

Word Origin and History for abolitionism

1790, in the anti-slavery sense, from abolition + -ism.

abolitionism in Culture

abolitionism

The belief that slavery should be abolished. In the early nineteenth century, increasing numbers of people in the northern United States held that the nation's slaves should be freed immediately, without compensation to slave owners. John Brown, Frederick W. Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Tubman were well-known abolitionists.

Note

Abolitionism in the United States was an important factor leading to the Civil War.