Animal rights activists and ethical vegans are increasingly using the word abolition, but this growing popularity appears to be accompanied by some confusion about what the word actually means.  This article aims to serve as a quick, informal guide to the meaning of this word, abolition, vis-a-vis three related words:  emancipation, manumission, and proto-abolition.

Emancipation is the freeing of one or more actual living beings from slavery.  Emancipation does not happen to a legal system; rather, emancipation happens to an individual, living creature.

Example:  Before emancipation, Bill is a slave; after emancipation, Bill is no longer a slave.

Manumission is a subset of emancipation.  Specifically, manumission is the freeing of one or more actual living beings from slavery by the slaveholder.

Example:  Jane is the “owner” of Bill, a slave; one day, Jane decides to release Bill such that Bill is no longer a slave.  That event—the freeing of Bill by Jane—is an instance of manumission.

Abolition is the dismantling of the legal institution of slavery itself.  Abolition does not happen to an individual, living creature.  Abolition happens to a legal system.  Specifically, the given sovereign abolishes the institution of slavery.

Example:  Before abolition, Country X has a legal structure that allows slavery; after abolition, Country X’s legal structure does not allow slavery.

Proto-abolition is the dismantling of the legal institution of human slavery but not of all slavery.  Like full abolition, proto-abolition happens to a legal system, not an individual.

Example:  Before proto-abolition, Country X has a legal structure that allows human slavery; after proto-abolition, Country X’s legal structure does not allow human slavery but still does allow slavery of other species.