1. a ruling class of slaveholders; government or political power dominated by slave owners
Usage: historical; primarily used in reference to the antebellum American South

Examples

• The antebellum slavocracy wielded enormous political influence in Congress.
• Southern slavocracy opposed any legislation that threatened their economic interests.
• The Civil War marked the end of the slavocracy’s dominance in American politics.
• Historians study how the slavocracy shaped early American foreign policy.
• The slavocracy’s power extended far beyond plantation boundaries.
• Northern industrialists often clashed with the Southern slavocracy over tariff policies.