slave state
noun
1
: a state of the U.S. in which slavery was legal until the Civil War
2
: a nation subjected to totalitarian rule
Examples of slave state in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The two-per-state rule was also believed to be necessary to get the smaller states to sign on to the finished product—though Madison did not see this rule as a benefit to the slave states, which is how it is sometimes interpreted.
—
Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2024
Women in slave states had legal rights to property that was half of the wealth in the southern United States at the time.
—Trevon Logan, The Conversation, 10 June 2024
The United States no longer allowed importation of slaves from Africa or elsewhere, but there were no laws against interstate movement of enslaved people from slave states in the Upper South like Maryland and Virginia to Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana in the Deep South.
—Mary Ann Ashcraft, Baltimore Sun, 8 Feb. 2024
People from Missouri came from the east, hoping in vain to create another slave state like their own.
—Will Daniel, Fortune, 15 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for slave state 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Louis Menand, The New Yorker, 23 Sep. 2024
Women in slave states had legal rights to property that was half of the wealth in the southern United States at the time.
—Trevon Logan, The Conversation, 10 June 2024
The United States no longer allowed importation of slaves from Africa or elsewhere, but there were no laws against interstate movement of enslaved people from slave states in the Upper South like Maryland and Virginia to Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana in the Deep South.
—Mary Ann Ashcraft, Baltimore Sun, 8 Feb. 2024
People from Missouri came from the east, hoping in vain to create another slave state like their own.
—Will Daniel, Fortune, 15 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for slave state
Dictionary Entries Near slave state
Cite this Entry
“Slave state.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slave%20state. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share