peculiar institution

English

Map of the United States, c. 1861. Slave states in pink, with free states in blue.

"Peculiar" here does not mean strange. It means "peculiar" (particular) to a certain area, in this case the Southern United States.

the peculiar institution (uncountable)

(euphemistic or derogatory) slavery
- 1855, Peter Randolph, Illustrations of the 'Peculiar Institution':
  He became a great drunkard and a great gambler (vices intimately connected with the "peculiar institution,") and was obliged to give up his business.
- 2001, John C. Inscoe, Appalachians and Race, Introduction, page 3:
  He documents the extensiveness of the peculiar institution's presence throughout the region and establishes a much more realistic context for the emergences of abolitionist sentiments and the various forms it took.