Term | Definition |
Irish immigration | Many Irish immigrated to US after the potato famine left many families without food; suffered much discrimination from others and lived in poor conditions in Northern cities |
Nativists | Americans who opposed immigration and felt threatened by immigrant’s religion and culture; formed the Know-Nothing political party |
tenements | poorly designed apartment building that housed large number of immigrants |
Second Great Awakening | renewed interest in Christianity that led Americans to be interested in helping others thru various social reform movements |
Temperance Movement | urged men to stop drinking in order to take better care of their families |
Common School Movement | wanted all children taught in a common place, regardless of background; the beginning of public education |
Horace Mann | leader of Common School/Public Education movement; considered education "the great equalizer" |
Seneca Falls Convention | the first public meeting about women’s rights held in the United States |
Declaration of Sentiments | document that detailed beliefs about social injustice toward women (used the Declaration of Independence as its basis); detailed 18 ways that women were discriminated against |
Abolitionist Movement | worked to end slavery |
William Lloyd Garrison | started anti-slavery newspaper "The Liberator" and founded the American Anti-Slavery Society |
Frederick Douglass | escaped slave who learned how to read and write; one of the most important African American leaders; articulate speaker in the Abolitionist Movement |
Sojourner Truth | former slave who fought for abolition and the rights of women; (famous speech – "Ain’t I a Women?") |
Harriet Tubman | led slaves to safety through the Underground Railroad; known as "Moses;" no one was ever able to identify who she was |
Underground Railroad | not an actual railroad and not underground; it was a network of people who arranged transportation and hiding places for escaped slaves |