us history

Abolition: the movement to end slavery. 

Elihu Embree: An early American abolitionist and publisher. 

William Lloyd Garrison: A prominent American abolitionist, journalist, and social reformers. 

 Anti-Slavery Society: Organizations dedicated to the abolition of slavery. The most prominent was the American Anti-Slavery society, founded in 1833

Angelina and Sarah Grimké: two sisters from a slave-holding family in South Carolina who became outspoken abolitionists and advocates for women's rights

Frederick Douglass: An escaped slave who became a leading abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman

Sojourner Truth: An African American abolitionist and women's rights activist

Underground Railroad: A network of secret routes and safe houses used by enslaved African Americans to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and sympathizers.

Harriet Tubman: An escaped slave who became a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad, making numerous dangerous missions to rescue enslaved people

Wilmot Proviso: proposal made by David Wilmot in 1846 to ban slavery in the territories acquired from Mexico after the Mexican-American War

territory sectionalism: The growing divide between the North and South over the issue of whether slavery should be allowed in the newly acquired territories.

Free-Soil Party: A political party formed in 1848 that opposed the expansion of slavery into the western territories.

Compromise of 1850: A series of measures passed by Congress to address the issue of slavery in the territories acquired from Mexico. It included the admission of California as a free state, the strengthening of the Fugitive Slave Act, and the decision to allow popular sovereignty to decide the issue of slavery in other territories.

Secede: To withdraw formally from membership in a federation or body, especially a political state. In the context of the Civil War, it refers to the Southern states' decision to leave the United States.

Fugitive Slave Act: law passed as part of the Compromise of 1850 that required the return of escaped slaves to their owners, even if they were in free states.

Anthony Burns: fugitive slave whose arrest and trial in Boston in 1854 caused widespread outrage and protests against the Fugitive Slave Act.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin: An anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, published in 1852.

 Harriet Beecher Stowe: The author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin."

Folktales: Traditional stories, often passed down orally, that reflect the values, beliefs, and experiences of a particular culture. In the context of slavery, folktales served as a means of preserving African cultural heritage and expressing resistance.

Spirituals: Religious songs created by enslaved African Americans that blended African musical traditions with Christian hymns.

Nat Turner: Leader of a major slave rebellion in Virginia in 1831 

Immune: False belief that Africans were immune to diseases, used to justify enslavement. 

Middle Passage: The brutal transatlantic journey of enslaved Africans 

African Diaspora: the forced dispersal of African people through the slave trade. 

Cotton Gin: Eli Whitney’s invention that increased cotton production and slavery.

Planters: Wealthy Southern landowners who owned slaves and plantations