Virginia Studies VS.4: Colonial Virginia Economy, Capitals, and Culture

Practice vocabulary flashcards covering the economic concepts, agriculture, capital relocations, cultural diversity, and social structures of Colonial Virginia (SOL Virginia Studies VS.4).

Cash crop

A crop that is grown specifically to be sold for money rather than used by the growers.

Agriculture

The cultivation of land and farming that served as the primary source of wealth and money for the Virginia colony.

Tobacco

The most profitable agricultural product in colonial Virginia, which was sold in England and frequently used in place of money.

Slave labor

The system of forced labor that the Virginia colony became dependent upon due to the success and expansion of tobacco farming.

Money

A medium of exchange or currency that includes coins and paper bills.

Barter

The trading of goods and services directly with others without the use of money.

Credit

The practice of buying goods or services in the present with an agreement to pay for them at a later time.

Debt

A good, service, or sum of money that is owed to another person.

Saving

The act of putting money away to spend at a later time.

Banks

Financial institutions for saving and lending money, none of which existed in Colonial Virginia.

Jamestown (1607–1698)

The first capital city of the Virginia colony.

Williamsburg (1699–1779)

The second capital city of the Virginia colony, established after Jamestown suffered from contaminated water, disease-ridden unhealthy living conditions, and destruction by fire.

Richmond (1780–present day)

The third capital city of Virginia, selected because it was easier to defend against attacks by sea, was more centrally located for trade, and accommodated the population moving westward.

Culture

A group of people's beliefs, customs, traditions, and style of architecture.

Colonial Virginia culture

A distinct culture shaped by the mixture of European, African, and American Indian beliefs, customs, and practices.

Roanoke

A Virginia city name that originated from American Indian culture.

Coastal Plain (Tidewater) and Piedmont

The two primary Virginia regions where English and other European immigrants settled, and where most enslaved Africans lived and labored in agricultural areas.

Shenandoah Valley (Valley & Ridge region)

The primary area of Virginia settled by German and Scots-Irish immigrants.

Natural resources

Materials found in nature that colonists relied on for food, clothing, and shelter, including fish, deer, and forests.

Human resources

The people of Colonial Virginia who performed necessary labor such as farming, hunting, building, sewing, and cooking.

Capital resources

Goods made and used to produce other goods and services, such as tobacco barrels, farming tools, ships, and spinning wheels.

Plantations

Large farms owned by a small number of very wealthy white Virginians.

Enslaved African Americans in Colonial Virginia

People held in bondage who worked primarily with tobacco, other crops, and livestock, and were denied all basic rights and freedoms.

Free African Americans in Colonial Virginia

A small group of African Americans who owned land or small businesses, but were denied basic rights, could not vote, and could not testify against white people in court.