Oney Judge

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/oney-judge

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. When was Oney Judge born?Circa 1773
2. Where was Oney Judge born?Portsmouth, New Hampshire
3. What is the career?Seamstress
4. What is the family?Married Jack Staines; had four children: Eliza, William, Rose, and Winney
5. Who was Oney Judge?Oney Judge was a young woman born around 1773 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She was enslaved by the Washington family and worked as a seamstress.
6. How did Oney Judge escape from slavery?In 1796, when she was about 16, she boarded a ship called the Nancy and sailed back to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. This was her plan to find freedom.

Chattel Slavery: A system where enslaved people are treated as personal property, bought, sold, and inherited, with no legal rights.
Pennsylvania's Gradual Abolition Act: A law passed in 1780 that provided a legal framework for the eventual end of slavery in Pennsylvania.
Agency: The capacity of individuals to act independently and make their own free choices.