Vocab SS

plantation

A large estate farmed by many workers.

representative government

A political system in which voters elect representatives to make laws for them.

charter

A legal document giving certain rights to a person or company.

Protestant Reformation

A movement to reform the Roman Catholic Church in the 1500s that led to the creation of many different Christian churches.

precedent

An act or decision that sets an example for others to follow.

religious tolerance

The willingness to let others practice their own beliefs.

proprietary colony

An English colony in which the king gave land to proprietors in exchange for a yearly payment.

royal colony

A colony under direct control of the English crown.

debtor

A person who cannot pay money that he or she owes.

racism

The belief that one race is superior to another.

Great Awakening

A religious movement in the English colonies in the mid-1700s.

libel

The act of publishing a statement that may unjustly damage a person's reputation.

mercantilism

The theory that a nation's economic strength comes from selling more than it buys from other nations.

export

A trade product sent to markets outside of a country.

import

A trade product brought into and sold in a country that does not make that product.

bill of rights

A written list of freedoms the government promises to protect.

common law

Laws made by judges through their decisions in court cases (precedent), rather than by representatives of government passing laws (statutes).

Legislature

:A body of people with the power to make or amend laws.