Colonial America and the French and Indian War

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering early European exploration, Native American civilizations, thirteen British colonies, and key events of the French and Indian War.

Colony

A territory and people governed by a distant foreign nation.

Iroquois People

The Native American people who lived in longhouses in the Eastern Woodlands of North America.

The Aztecs

The Native American empire that constructed huge pyramids in present-day Mexico and Central America.

Smallpox

The infectious disease responsible for the largest number of deaths among Native Americans during Spanish conquests.

St. Augustine, Florida

The first settlement founded in America that remains its oldest continuous city.

Jamestown

The first permanent English colony established in America.

Roanoke Colony

The early English settlement that mysteriously vanished after three years.

New York

The name given by the English after seizing and renaming the settlement of New Amsterdam.

Plymouth Colony

The colony established in Massachusetts by the Pilgrims.

Squanto

The American Indian who taught the Pilgrims essential survival skills, including fishing and planting corn, beans, and squash.

The Mayflower Compact

The agreement establishing the first set of American laws enacted by the Pilgrims.

Middle Colonies

The colonial region referred to as the breadbasket of the American colonies, which included Pennsylvania and New York.

New England

The colonial region renowned for its economy based on fishing and boatmaking.

Southern Colonies

The American colonial region that possessed the highest percentage of enslaved people.

Virginia and Pennsylvania

The two American colonies that held the largest populations.

Farming

The most common occupation among colonists across colonial America.

Wheat and Corn

The primary staple agricultural crops cultivated in the Pennsylvania Colony.

Tobacco

The primary cash crop cultivated and exported by the Virginia Colony.

Cotton

The principal cash crop grown in the colonies of Georgia and South Carolina.

Ohio Country

The territory in Western Pennsylvania disputed between the British and French empires.

Allegheny River

The waterway along which the French Empire erected a fortified chain of outposts.

Fort Duquesne

The fort constructed by the French Empire located at the Forks of the Ohio.

Pittsburgh, PA

The modern city that developed at the historical location known as the Forks of the Ohio.

Killing of Jumonville

The incident involving George Washington and the death of a French diplomat that sparked the French and Indian War.

Fort Necessity

The small defensive stockade erected by George Washington following the killing of Jumonville.

Battle of the Monongahela

The major military engagement in which the British suffered over 1,000 casualties and lost to French forces.

Fort Ligonier

The British military fort constructed 50 miles away from the Forks of the Ohio.

Fort Pitt

The fort built by the British at the Point in what became the city of Pittsburgh.

French and Indian War

The conflict won by the British that contributed to the American Revolution due to subsequent high taxes and prohibitions against colonists moving west.