slave owner
noun
variants
or less commonly slaveowner
plural slave owners also slaveowners
: someone who holds one or more people involuntarily and under threat of violence within a system of chattel slavery : slaveholder
As the fugitive slave and later abolitionist James W. C. Pennington noted, every change in the financial, social, and personal affairs of a slave owner and his or her children could have traumatic consequences for enslaved people.—
Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers
Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers… as the debate about reparations for slavery intensifies, it is important to remember that slaveowners, far more than enslaved people, were always the primary beneficiaries of public largess.—Tera W. Hunter
Tera W. HunterExamples of slave owner in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
His great-grandfather had been a slave owner and large landholder; his parents were tenant farmers.
—Charlie Lee, Harpers Magazine, 18 June 2025
In 1918, it was initially named for Braxton Bragg, a Confederate general and slave owner.
—Brian Bennett, Time, 10 June 2025
John Tyler, a Virginian slave owner and lifelong Democrat, served as the vice president to William Henry Harrison and became president quite unexpectedly after Harrison died suddenly three weeks after his inauguration — the first president to die while in office.
—/ Cbs News, CBS News, 28 May 2025
In the post-slavery period, former slave owners fought to prevent racial integration.
—Gary Franks, Hartford Courant, 26 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for slave owner
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Charlie Lee, Harpers Magazine, 18 June 2025
In 1918, it was initially named for Braxton Bragg, a Confederate general and slave owner.
—Brian Bennett, Time, 10 June 2025
John Tyler, a Virginian slave owner and lifelong Democrat, served as the vice president to William Henry Harrison and became president quite unexpectedly after Harrison died suddenly three weeks after his inauguration — the first president to die while in office.
—/ Cbs News, CBS News, 28 May 2025
In the post-slavery period, former slave owners fought to prevent racial integration.
—Gary Franks, Hartford Courant, 26 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for slave owner
Cite this Entry
“Slave owner.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slave%20owner. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.
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