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Cotton Gin

A machine for cleaning the seeds from cotton fibers, invented by Eli Whitney in 1793

Abolitionist

A person who strongly favors doing away with slavery

Underground Railroad

A system that helped enslaved African Americans follow a network of escape routes out of the South to freedom in the North

telegraph

a device or system that uses electric signals to transmit messages by a code over wires

Nativist

a person who favors those born in his country and is opposed to immigrants

Strike

a stopping of work by workers to force an employer to meet demands

morse code

a system for transmitting messages that uses a series of dots and dashes to represent the letters of the alphabet, numbers and punctuation.

Famine

an extreme shortage of food

Prejudice

an unfair opinion not based on facts

Utopia

community based on a vision of a perfect society sought by reformers

Slave Codes

laws to control slaves

Capital

money for investment

trade union

organization of workers with the same trade or skill

Overseer

person who supervises a large operation or its workers

Civil Disobedience

refusal to obey laws that are considered unjust as a nonviolent way to press for changes

Literacy

the ability to read and write

Suffrage

the right to vote

Coeducation

the teaching of male and female students together

Discrimination

unfair treatment of a group; unequal treatment because of a person's race, religion, ethnic background, or place of birth