| Term | Definition |
| privateers | ships that are privately owned but are encouraged by the government to attack enemy ships during war |
| tacking | changing directions while sailing |
| apprentice | A person who works for another in order to learn a trade |
| captives | prisoners |
| conflict | a struggle; a war |
| dread | grim fear |
| encouraged | gave support to someone's efforts or plans |
| enslavement | the state of being owned and controlled by another person |
| influential | having the power to affect events or sway opinions |
| assisted | helped |
| abolitionists | people who believed that slavery should be against the law |