abolitionism

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

/ ˌæb əˈlɪʃ əˌnɪz əm /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR abolitionism ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of abolitionism

First recorded in 1800–10; abolition + -ism

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for abolitionism

The religious character of Abolitionism, as here confessed, will be considered in a subsequent place.
Abolition a Sedition|Geo. W. Donohue
But now the opposers of abolitionism, and especially the clergy, began to be alarmed.
The Grimk Sisters|Catherine H. Birney
His abolitionism was secondary to his main mission, his main enthusiasm.
Emerson and Other Essays|John Jay Chapman
He deprived it of all vitality by depriving its separate explosions, Abolitionism excepted, of all serious attention.
The Promise Of American Life|Herbert David Croly

By Jove, if Abolitionism can make your grandma run, I'll forgive it a lot!
Pirate Gold|Frederic Jesup Stimson

Culture definitions for abolitionism

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.