How one piece of legislation divided a nation - Ben Labaree, Jr.

Important Vocabulary Words From The Video

brandished

To brandish something is to wave it around in a threatening way. If you brandish a knife, you are trying to intimidate someone.

  • He brandished the knife and threatened to kill me.
  • The protesters were brandishing signs and flags in a threatening way.
indignant

When someone is indignant, they are very angry and upset. They may be shouting or they may be crying.

  • When the student found out, she was indignant and refused to listen to him.
  • The workers are indignant because they are not being paid the correct amount.
effigies

An effigy is a representation of a person or animal. The word effigy is usually used to describe statues or other objects that are used to represent people who have died.

  • The protesters burned an effigy of the president.
  • The sculpture is of a woman, and the effigy on top is of a man.
denouncing

To denounce something is to say that it is bad or evil. You might denounce a person or a policy, or you might denounce a system.

  • He denounced the president's policies as being bad for the country.
  • The system was denounced by the protesters as being unfair.
irreparably

irreparably damage something is to cause it to be unusable or to cause it to be lost forever. If you irreparably damage a car, you've done something that is going to be very difficult to fix.

  • The water damaged the car irreparably.
  • The argument irreparably damaged their relationship.
emigrate

Emigrate is to leave your home country and move to a different one. Sometimes people emigrate to find a better life, and other times they emigrate because they are afraid of their home country.

  • Many refugees are trying to emigrate to a new country.
  • Many people emigrate to the United States every year.
imploring

When someone is imploring, they are begging for something. They might implore you to help them, or they might implore you to stop doing something.

  • She implored him to stop, and she started to cry.
  • He implored her to help him, but she didn't want to.
abolitionist

An abolitionist is someone who believes that slavery should be abolished. They often work to try to get other people to agree with them, and they often campaign for change.

  • The abolitionist campaign was successful, and slavery was abolished in the United States.
  • The abolitionist campaign was unsuccessful, and slavery continued to exist in the United States.
masterminded

To mastermind something is to plan and organize it, to make it happen. The person who masterminds a plan usually has a lot of experience and knowledge about the subject that they're planning to deal with.

  • The mastermind behind the plan is a criminal mastermind.
  • The mastermind behind the prank was the one who came up with the idea.