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slave state

noun

  1. any state, nation, etc., where slavery is legal or officially condoned.

  2. U.S. History.,  Slave States, 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.



Slave State

noun

  1. history any of the 15 Southern states in which slavery was legal until the Civil War

“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
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Word History and Origins

Origin of slave state1

An Americanism dating back to 1800–10
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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It was held, even in the South, to be a regrettable evil which the slave states would eventually abolish or allow to die out in some undefined way.

From Salon

All that counts is our ancient electoral college system, rooted in the Founders’ appeasement of Southern slave states.

Many of the earliest separatists wanted to transform Southern California into a slave state.

Rock went on to describe Los Angeles as a “slave state” where there’s an “acceptance that Mexicans are going to take care of white people … that doesn’t exist anywhere else.”

She was found but refused to come to Virginia—perhaps fearful of being a free black woman in a slave state.

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