Tooltip Categories: Picture a Box

singular

remarkable, extraordinary, very unusual

allegory

a story with a meaning that it hidden or implied

to vow

making a solemn promise

fugitive

someone who is escaping or fleeing

Fugitive Slave Act

This act was passed by Congress in 1850 as an attempt to quiet Southern calls to secede (separate) from the United States. It required authorities in Northern states to assist in returning escaped slaves to bondage, but remained controversial in many states.

bound hands

hands that were tied (from ‘to bind’)

thugs

criminal, violent person

abolitionist

someone who is in favor of abolishing slavery, making slavery illegal