secede  verb  To pull away from or withdraw from an organization or government  The Southern states voted to secede from the rest of the United States, which became a catalyst for the Civil War.

cotton gin  noun  a machine that separates the seeds, hulls, and foreign material from cotton  Northern industrialists preferred the cotton gin because it reduced the need for slave labor on cotton plantations.

Confederacy  Proper noun  The 11 southern states that seceded from the United States in 1861 – 1865  General Lee was the military leader for the Confederacy.

Union  Proper noun  The federal union of states that remained during the American Civil War after the Confederacy seceded  Abraham Lincoln felt the Union must be preserved at all costs, even if it meant civil war.

abolitionist  noun  A person who supports abolishing, or getting rid of, something – particularly slavery  Quakers, who are against slavery because of their religion, are natural abolitionists.

carpet bagger  noun  A northerner in the south after the Civil War who sought private gain during Reconstruction (named for the carpet bag he often carried in his travels)  Newly freed slaves often fell prey to the schemes of traveling carpet baggers, giving them money in exchange for items or promises they never received.

deserter  noun  A person who runs away or deserts his or her military unit to avoid service  Deserters in the Civil War were often rounded up and put in prisons with enemy prisoners of war.

amnesty  noun  the act of an authority (as a government) by which pardon is granted to a large group of individuals  Even though they had broken the law of the South, escaped slaves were granted amnesty in the North after the Emancipation Proclamation.

emancipation  noun  To be free from restraint or control by another  Abolitionists sought emancipation for slaves who worked the Southern plantations.

segregation  noun  The practice or policy of keeping a group separate or segregated, commonly by race  Despite their emancipation, freed slaves in the South continued to be subject to segregation.

surrender  verb  To give oneself up to the power of another  Robert E. Lee surrendered the Confederacy at Appomattox Court house, ending the Civil War in 1865.

auction block  noun  The pedestal on which things to be auctioned stand, including slaves prior to the Civil War  When slaves first arrived from Africa they were put on the auction block in a public area and sold to the highest bidder.