What does slaveholding mean?
Slaveholding is the practice or system of owning human beings as slaves. The term is especially associated with the history of slavery, including the legal, economic, and social systems that treated enslaved people as property. In modern political and historical writing, it may describe a society, state, class, or regime in which slavery was accepted or protected, as in the phrase “slaveholding society.” The word carries a strongly critical historical meaning and emphasizes the institution of ownership itself rather than simply referring to an individual slaveholder. Because slavery was abolished in many places through emancipation or abolition, the term is now most often encountered in historical, political, and educational contexts. Even in descriptions of the past, however, it remains a forceful reminder of the systems that enabled human beings to be owned, exploited, and denied basic freedom.
The practice or system of owning people as slaves.
"The abolition movement challenged slaveholding throughout the British Empire."
Chiefly historical and political; often used in formal writing about the institution of slavery.
Characterized by or supporting the ownership of slaves.
"The court considered whether the state was a slaveholding jurisdiction."
Usually appears attributively in historical or legal contexts, especially with words such as “society,” “state,” “class,” and “regime.”
A single word can preserve the moral contradiction of a society that called people property while claiming that ownership conferred status and power.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does slaveholding come from?
The word is formed from “slave” and the present participle “holding,” with the stress pattern of the compound generally falling on the first element. “Slave” comes through Old French from Latin “servus,” originally meaning a servant and later an enslaved person. The compound “slaveholding” developed in English during the period of British and American slavery, when the ownership of enslaved people was a central legal, economic, and political institution.
Related word forms
How slaveholding is actually used
The term is chiefly historical and political. It is more common in formal historical writing and discussion of slavery than in everyday use.
Easily confused with slaveholding
Slaveholding is the practice or system of owning slaves, whereas a slaveholder is a person who owns slaves.