- US any of the 15 Southern states in which slavery was legal until the Civil War
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
Slave State n
slave′ state′,
- American Historyany state, nation, etc., where slavery is legal or officially condoned.
- American History Slave States, [U.S. Hist.]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.
- 1800–10, American.
'Slave State' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):