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definitions

slave state

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noun

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

Origin of slave state

An Americanism dating back to 1800–10
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

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

US 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