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slave state

noun
  1. any state, nation, etc., where slavery is legal or officially condoned.
  2. Slave States, U.S. History. the states that permitted slavery between 1820 and 1860: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
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Origin of slave state

An Americanism dating back to 1800–10
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for slave state

Historical Examples of slave state

  • The slave-state men thought that the time had come to strike a blow that should settle the question in Kansas permanently.

    Historic Adventures

    Rupert S. Holland

  • This convention was controlled by the slave-state men and adopted a constitution providing for slavery.

  • The free-state men and the slave-state men each elected a Delegate to Congress.

  • And from that time forth the fight was on between the free-state and slave-state parties in the new Territory.

    The Jefferson-Lemen Compact

    Willard C. MacNaul.

  • You have no more right to force a free-State constitution on Kansas than a slave-State constitution.

British Dictionary definitions for slave state

Slave State

noun
  1. US history any of the 15 Southern states in which slavery was legal until the Civil War
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012