Free-soil (Adjective)
Meaning
Where slavery was prohibited; "a free-soil state".
Classification
All adjective clusters.
Examples
- The settlers moved to a free-soil territory in the hope of building a better life for themselves and their families.
- Oregon was admitted to the Union as a free-soil state in 1859, further fueling the tensions leading up to the Civil War.
- Abolitionists sought to make all western territories free-soil areas, but their efforts faced resistance from pro-slavery groups.
- As a free-soil state, Iowa attracted many settlers from the Northeast who opposed the expansion of slavery in the United States.
- In 1820, the Missouri Compromise had designated certain territories as free-soil areas, effectively barring the expansion of slavery into those regions.