SS 8th Grade First Nine Weeks Test Review

Jamestown

The first successful English colony founded in Virginia in 1607.

Plymouth Colony

Established by the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower in 1620 in Massachusetts.

French and Indian War

A conflict starting in 1754 between Britain and France over North American territories.

Treaty of Paris (1763)

Signed in 1763, ending the French and Indian War and increasing British control over the colonies.

Declaration of Independence

Signed in 1776, it declared the colonies' independence from Britain.

English Bill of Rights

A 1689 document limiting the monarchy's power and influencing democratic principles in the colonies.

Mayflower Compact

A 1620 agreement establishing a self-governing colony in Plymouth based on majority rule.

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

The first written constitution in America, created in 1639 for the Connecticut colony.

Navigation Acts

Laws from the 1650s restricting colonial trade to benefit Britain.

Declaratory Act

A 1766 act asserting British authority over the American colonies after repealing the Stamp Act.

Intolerable Acts

Punitive laws passed in 1774 to punish Massachusetts after the Boston Tea Party.

Proclamation of 1763

A law forbidding colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains.

Quartering Act

A 1765 law requiring colonists to house British troops, causing resentment.

Stamp Act

A 1765 law imposing taxes on printed materials, leading to protests.

Sugar Act

A 1764 law taxing sugar and goods imported into the colonies.

Tea Act

A 1773 act allowing the British East India Company to sell tea directly to the colonies.

Townshend Acts

A series of 1767 laws taxing imported goods, leading to protests.

Treaty of Paris (1763)

Ended the French and Indian War, ceding French territories to Britain.

Assembly

A group making laws or decisions, often in a legislative context.

Boston Massacre

A 1770 confrontation where British soldiers killed five colonists.

Boston Tea Party

A 1773 protest where colonists dumped British tea into Boston Harbor.

Bacon’s Rebellion

A 1676 uprising in Virginia against Governor Berkeley’s policies.

Cash crop

A crop produced for sale to generate income, like tobacco or cotton.

Charter

A legal document granting rights or authority to a group or organization.

Colony

A territory controlled by a foreign country, like the 13 American colonies.

Crispus Attucks

The first casualty of the American Revolution, killed during the Boston Massacre.

Expedition

A journey undertaken for a specific purpose, such as exploration.

French and Indian War

A conflict from 1754 to 1763 over North American territories.

Glorious Revolution

The 1688 overthrow of King James II, leading to a constitutional monarchy.

First Continental Congress

A 1774 meeting of colonial delegates to respond to British actions.

Importing

The act of bringing goods into a country from another country.

King Phillip’s War

A conflict from 1675 to 1676 between New England colonists and the Wampanoag tribe.

Mercantilism

An economic theory promoting exports and limiting imports to benefit the mother country.

Middle Passage

The brutal journey enslaved Africans endured while being transported to the Americas.

Parliament

The British legislative body that makes laws.

Plantation

Large estates in the Americas relying on enslaved labor for cash crops.

Raw material

Unprocessed natural resources used to make finished goods.

Salutary Neglect

A British policy allowing American colonies to govern themselves with little interference.

Slavery

A system where people are owned and forced to work without pay.

Smuggling

The illegal import or export of goods to avoid taxes or regulations.

Sons of Liberty

A group protesting British policies and taxes, known for civil disobedience.

Subsistence farming

Farming where enough food is grown to feed the family, with little surplus.

Triangular trade

A transatlantic trade system involving goods and slaves between Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

Unalienable rights

Rights that cannot be taken away, such as life and liberty.

Virginia House of Burgesses

The first representative assembly in the American colonies, established in 1619.