Wiktionary
n. Euphemistic or cynical term for slavery.
Wikipedia
"(Our) peculiar institution" was a euphemism for slavery and its economic ramifications in the American South. "Peculiar", in this expression, means "one's own", that is, it refers to something distinctive to or characteristic of a particular place or people. The proper use of the expression is always as a possessive, e.g., "our peculiar institution" or "the South's peculiar institution". It was in popular use during the first half of the 19th century, especially in legislative bodies, as the word slavery was deemed "improper", and was actually banned in certain areas.
Some (e.g., Kenneth M. Stampp) see this expression as specifically intended to gloss over the apparent contradiction between lawful slavery and the statement in the Declaration of Independence that "all men are created equal". But, in fact, at the time this expression became popular, it was used in association with a vigorous defense of slavery as a good thing. One of the leaders in using the phrase, and in advancing the argument that slavery was a "positive good", establishing the proper relation between the races, was John C. Calhoun, most notably in his Speech on the Reception of Abolition Petitions. In his March 1861 " Cornerstone Speech", Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens even argued that Jefferson's words in the Declaration were mistaken, and that the Confederacy's new Constitution, establishing "our peculiar institution", had rectified the error.
Usage examples of "peculiar institution".
He was this much I knew by some seven years the senior in age to my great friend, and was a founder member of the Diogenes Club, that peculiar institution whose members are ever forbidden to converse with one another.
So long as the attack upon the peculiar institution emanated from the North, the defenders had the full benefit of local prejudice and resentment against outside intrusion.
We always remained faithful to our peculiar institution despite the censure of those outside our bounds, confident posterity would thank us for that fidelity.
In these ways the `peculiar institution' maintained itself despite its monstrous nature - something even its practitioners must have glimpsed.
His wife Dolley was Quaker-born, not southern, and had no theoretical attachment to the peculiar institution.
In the 1850s, following the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act under the sponsorship of Senators Clay and Webster--Calhoun felt it was not stringent enough--a subtle, undeclared war erupted between the slave-owners and the enemies of the peculiar institution.
She was so appalled by the peculiar institution that she turned fiery author.
Of course young Spalding makes no secret of his own revulsion at our peculiar institution.
Jeremy's memory when called upon confirmed the fact: the peculiar institution was rare indeed here in the Harbor Lord's domain.
Show me a man and a woman and I'll show you the Peculiar Institution—.
Crease, we are not here today to discuss that peculiar institution.