Abolition Movement

What is an abolitionist?

A person who wants to stop or abolish slavery.

What was the American Revolution?

A war of 1775-1783 in which 13 British colonies in North America broke free from British rule and became the United States of America.

Who were the Quakers?

A member of a Christian sect that stresses Inner Light, rejects sacraments and an ordained ministry, and opposes war.

What is the Underground Railroad?

A system of cooperation among active anti-slavery people in the US before 1863 by which people escaping enslavement were secretly helped to reach the North or Canada.

What does abolition mean?

The act of officially ending slavery.

What does it mean to advocate?

To support or argue for a cause, policy, etc.

What is civil disobedience?

A refusal to obey governmental demands or commands, especially as nonviolent and usually collective means of forcing concessions from the government.

What is lobbying?

To conduct activities aimed at influencing public officials and especially members of the legislative body or legislation.

What is a tactic?

A strategy used to accomplish a goal.

What was the 1860 Association?

A political organization formed in Charleston to spread secession ideas in the South.

What is an effigy?

An image or representation, especially of a person.

What is nullification?

The action of a state impending or attempting to prevent the operations and enforcement within its territory of a law of the US.

What is the Ordinance of Nullification?

A law passed in South Carolina that declared the federal Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 null and void in the state.

What is secession?

A formal withdrawal from an organization.

What does emancipation refer to?

The act of freeing from restraint, control, or the power of another.

What was the Enlightenment?

A philosophical movement of the eighteenth century marked by a rejection of traditional social, religious, and political ideas and an emphasis on rationalism.

What does incendiary mean?

Tending or excite or inflame.

What does indigenous mean?

Of or relating to the earliest known inhabitants of a place and especially or a palace that was colonized by a now-dominant group.

What is a natural right?

A right considered to be conferred by natural law.

What does it mean to nullify?

To make of no value or consequence.

What is a plantation?

A large agricultural operation where the labor is done by workers other than the landowner.

What was the Three-Fifths Compromise?

The compromise that allowed enslaved people to be counted as both property and human beings.

What was the transatlantic slave trade?

The enslavement and forced migration of African people to the Americas following European colonization.

When was slavery abolished in the United States?

Slavery was abolished in the United States in 1865.

Who was Frederick Douglas?

An abolitionist who escaped slavery and became a prominent activist, author, and public speaker.

What did Harriet Tubman do?

She escaped enslavement and dedicated her life to helping others escape through the Underground Railroad.

What was the Emancipation Proclamation?

An executive order signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 that freed enslaved people in the Confederate states.

What does social activism involve?

Activities to raise awareness about issues and pressure politicians to take action.

What was Uncle Tom’s Cabin about?

A novel that tells the story of multiple enslaved individuals, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

What did the Dred Scott v. Sanford Supreme Court case determine?

That enslaved people are still the property of their slave holder even when they pass through a state where slavery is illegal.

Who was Sojourner Truth?

An abolitionist known for her ability to sway public opinion and her fight for women’s rights.

What was the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850?

An act requiring citizens to capture and return escaped slaves.

What were Slave Codes?

Laws that controlled every aspect of an enslaved person’s life.

How did the South react to anti-slavery literature?

The South imposed penalties on anyone who brought in anti-slavery literature and often retaliated violently.

What was the role of Charles Pinckney in the abolition movement?

He wrote abolitionist literature and was a political figure supporting anti-slavery.

Who was John C. Calhoun?

A politician who defended slavery and advocated for nullification and secession in response to federal policies.