Key Figures and Concepts of the Civil War Era

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Who was Harriet Tubman?

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An abolitionist, political activist, and conductor of the Underground Railroad.

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Who led a revolt against slavery in Virginia?

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Nat Turner.

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Who was John Mercer Langston?

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An African American leader before, during, and after the Civil War, recruited black volunteers to serve as soldiers in the Union Army, and was the 1st African American elected to the U.S. Congress.

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Who was Elizabeth Van Lew?

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A Virginia abolitionist and spy for the Union Army.

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Who was Mary Bowser?

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An African American Union spy.

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Who was Clara Barton?

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A Civil War nurse who created the American Red Cross.

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What was sharecropping?

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A system of unfair practices that locked people into poverty, where freedmen and poor white farmers rented land from landowners by promising to pay the owners with a share of their crops.

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What was the Freedmen's Bureau?

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A federal government agency that provided food, public schools, and medical care for freed African Americans and others in Virginia.

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Who were the Abolitionists?

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A group of people who campaigned to end slavery.

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Who led a raid on the United States Armory at Harpers Ferry?

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John Brown.