as in emancipation
the act of setting free from slavery
the official manumission of the slaves came after the Civil War
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Recent Examples of manumission
Image The empire had sophisticated systems for tracking slave ownership and collecting various taxes, which amounted to 4 percent on slave sales and 5 percent on manumissions.
—
Franz Lidz, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025
Despite his instrumental role, Armistead returned to enslavement after the war, as the manumission laws at the time did not automatically grant freedom to enslaved individuals who served as spies.
—Will Minter, Hartford Courant, 26 Mar. 2025
Meanwhile, the text suggests that Saulos, his accomplice, engaged in the fictitious sale and manumission of slaves while forging documents to cover their tracks.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 29 Jan. 2025
Successive volumes of the society’s manumission records are now held by the New-York Historical Society.
—Carolyn Eastman, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for manumission
Franz Lidz, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025
Despite his instrumental role, Armistead returned to enslavement after the war, as the manumission laws at the time did not automatically grant freedom to enslaved individuals who served as spies.
—Will Minter, Hartford Courant, 26 Mar. 2025
Meanwhile, the text suggests that Saulos, his accomplice, engaged in the fictitious sale and manumission of slaves while forging documents to cover their tracks.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 29 Jan. 2025
Successive volumes of the society’s manumission records are now held by the New-York Historical Society.
—Carolyn Eastman, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for manumission
Recent Examples of Synonyms for manumission
Noun
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Hiding in plain sight Pennsylvania, like many northern states, responded to the Declaration of Independence’s rhetorical commitment to liberty by enacting a gradual emancipation law.—
Carolyn Zola,
The Conversation,
11 June 2026
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Because emancipation, remember, had been an executive order.—
David Frum,
The Atlantic,
10 June 2026
Noun
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For me, hooks’s legacy is that relentless pursuit of liberation justice.—
Grace Byron,
New Yorker,
14 June 2026
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Sugarwater, then, may serve as a homecoming — a chance for folks both within and outside of the city to celebrate Black electronic music’s foundations, its current-day significance and the Black American liberation from slavery.—
Britt Julious,
Chicago Tribune,
12 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Manumission.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/manumission. Accessed 20 Jun. 2026.
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