• cautious /ˈkɔːʃəs/ / careful (adj.)
• injured /ˈɪndʒəd/ (adj.)
• fugitive (n.)
• hide / conceal (v.)
• lean on / bend down (v.)

In the 19^th century, a male slave could be “sold down the river”, as a punishment. He was sold at auction to go and work in a cotton plantation along the southern part of the Mississippi River. Not only was he uprooted from his family, but he also risked his life working in harsh conditions with often cruel overseers. Today, it would rather mean “be betrayed” or “punished”.

1

• abolitionist (n.)
• bounty /ˈbaʊntɪ/ hunters (n.)
• emancipated slave (n.)
• freedom seeker (n.)
• overseer (n.) → the person who watches the slaves
• Quaker (n.)
• slave holder (n.)

2

• slave state / free state (exp.)
• auction market (n.) → place where slaves were bought and sold
• confederacy / Union (n.)
• cotton fields / plantations (n.)
• new territories (in the West) (n.)
• shelter / safe place (n.)

3

• abused (adj.)
• beaten / lynched (adj.)
• enchained (adj.)
• exploited (adj.)
• locked (adj.)
• overworked (adj.)
• tortured (adj.)
• undernourished (adj.)
• whipped /wɪpt/ (adj.)

4

• caught /ˈkɔːt/ (adj.)
• convicted (adj.) → guilty of a crime
• fined /ˈfaɪnd/ (adj.) → condemned to pay money for an offense
• jailed / imprisoned (adj.)
• risky (adj.)
• rifle /ˈraɪfəl/ / gun (n.)

5

• dedicated (adj.)
• outraged /ˈaʊtrεɪdʒd/ (adj.)
• relieved /rɪˈliːvd/ (adj.)
• struck by fear (adj.)
• care for (v.)
• commit oneself to (v.)

6

• on the run (exp.)
• advocate / defender (n.)
• clandestine /ˌklænˈdɛstɪn/ (n.)
• get away / escape (v.)
• runaway (n.) → run away (v.)
• safe (adj.) → safety (n.)
• rely /rɪˈlaɪ/ on (v.)