Abolitionism is the belief that the practice of human enslavement is morally and legally wrong; it was a popular political and religious belief in the 19th century, growing in popularity throughout the United States, particularly in the decades leading up to the Civil War.

Coverture laws were legal mandates beginning in the United States during the colonial period, a carryover from English law. These laws, which varied slightly by state, dictated the legal particulars by which the property belonging to a woman was subsumed into her husband’s estate at the time of their marriage and thereafter controlled by him. They dictated that in essence a woman became a subsidiary of her husband after their marriage, and that she could not sue or be sued, own or sell property, or enter into legal contracts.

Cutout dolls is a metaphorical term used by Moore to describe the women with whom Elizabeth resided on Seventh Ward when she first came to Jacksonville. Moore employs this term to illustrate the drastic difference between these women, like Elizabeth, who were members of the demure, elegant middle class, and the women of Eighth Ward, who were by the nature of their illnesses the