Abolitionists
People who wanted slavery to end.

Boat
A small open water craft.

Canada
Country north of the United States where slavery was against the law.

Citizen
A resident of a city or town, one who is entitled to vote and enjoy other privileges there.

Civil Disobedience
The refusal to obey civil laws regarded as unjust.

Civil War
A war between regions of one country.

Conductors
Persons in charge of helping slaves escape to the North along the Underground Railroad.

Constitution
The set of laws that define the limits of the government.

Copperheads
A copperhead was a northerner who, during the Civil War, sympathized with the South.

Dignity
Poise and self respect.

Drinking Gourd
A dried, hollowed-out shell of a hard fruit used for drinking.

Emancipation Proclamation
An announcement issued by President Abraham Lincoln in January, 1863, freeing all slaves in territory still at war with the Union.

Freedom
Liberty of the person from slavery.

Houses
Something used for shelter for slaves.

Lake Erie
Lake Erie was a terminal for quick escape to Canada. The 4th largest (9940 square miles) of the Great Lakes, in east-central North America on the boundary between the United States and Canada.

North
The direction that slaves moved toward Canada to escape to freedom.

North Star
A symbol used for slaves to identify safe houses, sometimes embroidered in a quilt.

Ohio
A state in central part of the United States where slaves could follow the Underground Railroad towards freedom.

The Ohio River
Had slavery been allowed north of the Ohio river, it probably would have gained such strength that it would have been very difficult to stop throughout the United States. The Ohio River runs along the southern border of Ohio. It begins in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and flows 980 miles west and southwest to the Mississippi river in Cairo, Illinois. Often, slaves would sing songs in code so that other slaves would know what was being said, but not owners or other whites. Someone singing, "Crossing the river," was information about how to escape across the Ohio river.

Quakers
The Quakers were a Christian group called the Society of Friends. They opposed the war and taking oaths. Many began working on the underground railroad, helping escaped slaves reach freedom in the northern states or Canada. The Quakers were troubled by the conditions the slaves were in and the punishment they received trying to seek freedom. In 1681, a Quaker, William Penn, established the colony of Pennsylvania. This became the most advanced and organized colony in the United States, which made it possible to help pay for the funds of the underground railroad.

Quilts
A bed cover made of two layers of fabric with a layer of cotton or down in between, all stitched firmly together in a criss-cross fashion. Quilts were hung outside of safe houses as a signal to slaves for safety.

Resistance
An underground organization engaged in a struggle for national liberation in a county under military or totalitarian occupation.

Rights
Something that is due to a person by law, tradition, or nature.

Safe House
A house where slaves could hide along the Underground Railroad.

Secret Passage
Tunnels under safe houses that were used for slaves to hide and move from one location to another without being captured.

Slave Catcher
A person who would find escaped slaves and bring them back to their owner.

Slave Laws in Ohio
The Anti-slavery provision of 1787 prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territory, which then included Ohio. Many tried to overturn this provision. Governor Edward Tiffin, former slave owner and 1st governor of Ohio, opposed this successfully. Then as a member of the Senate, voted against the movement to introduce slavery in Ohio. Another man who was instrumental in keeping slavery out of Ohio was Ephraim Cutler. During the 1802 Constitutional convention in Chillicothe, Ohio. A committee tried to draft a bill of rights, which allowed limited slavery. Judge Cutler gave a speech that persuaded the one vote necessary to defeat the slavery clause and keep slavery out of Ohio.

Slavery
When people put other people to work in fields and households without paying them for their work.

South
The region of the United States where slavery was legal.

Spirituals
Religious folk songs of African American origin.

State’s Rights
Something that is due to a state by law, tradition, or nature.

Underground Railroad Stations
Stations were like safe houses. They were often farms and used as hiding places on the underground railroad. Stations were safe places where escaped slaves could hide while waiting to proceed on the next leg of their journey to freedom.