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.

Slave State

noun

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of slave state¹

An Americanism dating back to 1800–10

Example Sentences

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

From Los Angeles Times

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.”

From Los Angeles Times

But the delegates from the slave states threatened to walk out of the convention if they did not get this important concession.

From Literature

But the issue was supposedly resolved with the Missouri Compromise, which admitted Maine as a free state and Missouri as a slave state.

From Salon

On May 19, 1856, Massachusetts Sen. Charles Sumner, a Republican who was passionately anti-slavery, rose to speak against Kansas joining the Union as a slave state.

From Salon