Important+Vocabulary


 * Important Vocabulary **

 (History.com)

**Abolitionist **—person who was opposed to slavery and fought to end it

**Emancipation **—to be set free from slavery

**Fugitive/Escapee/Runaway **—a person who is running away

**Civil War **—a war between the northern states and the southern states, fought from 1861-1865

**Quakers **—a religious community founded in England in the 17th Century; also known as the Society of Friends; many in this group felt it was their duty to help slaves find freedom

**Anti-slavery **—against slavery

**Slaveholders **—those who owned slaves

**<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Semibold','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Slave catcher **<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">—a person who made money by finding escaped slaves, capturing them, and returning them to their owners

**<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Semibold','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Rebellion **<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">—a fight or struggle against any kind of authority or control

**<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Semibold','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Stations **<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">—hiding places on the Underground Railroad; another name for safe houses

**<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Semibold','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Passengers **<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">—a code word for slaves escaping on the Underground Railroad

**<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Semibold','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Spirituals **<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">—religious songs sung by the slaves to lift their spirits and relay coded information

**<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Semibold','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Stationmasters **<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">—people who allowed runaway slaves to hide in their homes

**<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Semibold','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Conductors **<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">—people who guided escaped slaves on the Underground Railroad, telling them where to go next

**<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Semibold','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Safe house **<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">—a place where fleeing slaves could seek food and shelter

**<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Semibold','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Underground Railroad **<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">—a secret network of people and places that helped runaway slaves get to freedom

**<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Semibold','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">North Star **<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">—used by slaves to find their way north and to freedom

**<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Semibold','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Drinking Gourd **<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">—code name for the Big Dipper, the group of stars runaway slaves used to locate the North Star

**<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Semibold','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Emancipation Proclamation **<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">—issued by President Lincoln, this document declared that slaves in rebel states were free

**<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Semibold','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Fugitive Slave Act **<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">—law passed in 1850 requiring that escaped slaves be returned to their owners no matter where in the United States they were found

**<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Semibold','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Canada **<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">—after the Fugitive Slave Act was passed, thousands of slaves escaped to Canada where this law was ineffective

**<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Semibold','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Patrollers **<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">—men who searched for escaped slaves

**<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Semibold','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Master **<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">—Slave owners were called this by their slaves

**<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Semibold','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Quilt **<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">—blanket made from squares of fabric that are sewn together; sometimes used to pass information to runaways

**<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Semibold','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">William Lloyd Garrison **<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">—founded <span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14.5pt;">The Liberator <span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">, an anti-slavery newspaper

**<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Semibold','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Harriet Tubman **<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">—escaped slave and one of the most famous conductors on the Underground Railroad; helped lead over 300 slaves to freedom

**<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Semibold','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">William Still **<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">—an escaped slave who is often referred to as “The Father of the Underground Railroad”

**<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Semibold','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Frederick Douglass **<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">—escaped slave and abolitionist who published <span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14.5pt;">The North Star <span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">, an anti-slavery newspaper

**<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Semibold','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Thomas Garrett **<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">—a Quaker who helped over 2700 slaves escape to freedom

**<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Semibold','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">John Brown **<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">—abolitionist who led the raid at Harper’s Ferry

**<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Semibold','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Sojourner Truth **<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">—freed slave who spoke out against slavery

**<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Semibold','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Levi Coffin **<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">—Quaker who was anti-slavery; his home was a station on the Underground Railroad; he helped more than 2,000 slaves escape

**<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Semibold','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">Load of potatoes/parcels/bundle of wood **<span style="font-family: 'ACaslon-Regular','serif'; font-size: 14pt;">—code words for the transporting of escaping slaves on the Underground Railroad