The Passing of Grandison

The Passing of Grandison Glossary

sentiment

a view or opinion

fugitive

someone escaping or hiding to avoid persecution

amiable

friendly and pleasant

penitentiary

North American term for a prison that houses those convicted of serious crimes

melancholy

a pensive sadness

annals

historical records

indolent

lazy

darkey

dated, offensive term for a Black person

inoculate

introduce into an organism

garrulousness

excessively talkative

palaver

talk lengthily and unproductively

begot

brang about

Underground Railroad

a pre-Civil War network of safe houses and refuges maintained by people helping slaves escape the U.S. South into the free states of the North and Canada

foregather

assemble together

fertile

capable of producing something

Fugitive Slave Law (Fugitive Slave Act)

an 1850 act of Congress that required slaves to be returned to their owners, even when in a free state

Niagara Falls

monumental waterfalls on the Niagara River that spans the Canada-U.S. border

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