TCAP Practice 8th Grade Social Studies

Christopher Columbus

Explorer from Portugal who is credited with discovering America (really it was the Bahamas)

Conquistador

A Spanish explorer

Francisco Pizarro

Spanish explorer who conquered the Incas in what is now Peru and founded the city of Lima (1475-1541).

Juan Ponce de Leon

Spanish Explorer who built the first Spanish settlement in the US-Saint Augustine, Florida

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Americas and the rest of the world following Columbus's voyages.

New France

French colony in North America, with a capital in Quebec, founded 1608

New Amsterdam

Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. This later became "New York City"

Sir Walter Raleigh

An English adventurer and writer, who was prominent at the court of Queen Elizabeth I, and became an explorer of the Americas. In 1585, Raleigh sponsored the first English colony in America on Roanoke Island in present-day North Carolina. It failed and is known as " The Lost Colony."

Roanoke

Established in 1587. Called the Lost Colony. It was financed by Sir Walter Raleigh, and its leader in the New World was John White. All the settlers disappeared, and historians still don't know what became of them.

Charter

A document that granted the right to form a colony

Virginia Company

Joint-Stock Company in London that received a charter for land in the new world. Charter guarantees new colonists same rights as people back in England.

Joint stock company

A company made up of a group of shareholders. Each shareholder contributes some money to the company and receives some share of the company's profits and debts.

Jamestown

The first permanent English settlement in North America, found in East Virginia

Captain John Smith

Organized Jamestown and imposed a harsh law "He who will not work shall not eat".

Powhatan

Native American people who helped John Smith and Jamestown survive

The Starving Time

1609-1610

*A period of starvation endured by the Jamestown colonists

*The colonists depended upon trade with the local Native Americans for their food supplies

*A series of conflicts between the colonists and the Native Americans limited the colonists' ability to trade for supplies and to farm their own food

*A large number of colonists died and others tried to flee to England; however, boats arrived with supplies from England intercepted the colonists and forced them to return to Jamestown

Tobacco in Jamestown

Seeds from the West Indies were planted and became valuable crop for the settlers survival

Virginia Colony

This colony was founded in 1607. First settlement was Jamestown. Charter to stock company/royal. Tobacco was vital to its survival.

Headright

a 50-acre grant of land given to colonial settlers who paid their own way

Burgesses

elected representatives to an assembly

Virginia House of Burgesses

The first elected assembly in the New World, established in 1619

Royal Colony

A colony under the direct control of a monarch

Proprietary Colony

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

Dissent

to disagree

Separatists

People who wanted to have a separate, or different church. Also known as Pilgrims.

Persecuted

harassed; made to suffer because of one's beliefs

Pilgrim

a person who makes a journey for religious reasons

Mayflower

the ship in which the Pilgrim Fathers sailed from England to Massachusetts in 1620

Mayflower Compact

1620 - The first agreement for self-government in America. It was signed by the 41 men on the Mayflower and set up a government for the Plymouth colony.

Plymouth Colony

A colony established by the English Pilgrims, or Seperatists, in 1620. The Seperatists were Puritans who abandoned hope that the Anglican Church could be reformed. Plymouth became part of Massachusetts in 1691.

Squanto and Samoset

Wampanoag Indians who helped the settlers of Plymouth survive.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

1629 - King Charles gave the Puritans a right to settle and govern a colony in the Massachusetts Bay area. The colony established political freedom and a representative government.

John Winthrop

Puritan leader who became the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony

Puritans

A religious group who wanted to purify the Church of England. They came to America for religious freedom and settled Massachusetts Bay.

Thomas Hooker

A Puritan minister who led about 100 settlers out of Massachusetts Bay to Connecticut because he believed that the governor and other officials had too much power. He wanted to set up a colony in Connecticut with strict limits on government.

Connecticut Colony

Colony founded by Thomas Hooker in 1636; self-governing; origin of Fundamental Orders

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

Set up a unified government for the towns of the Connecticut area (Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield). First constitution written in America.

Town meetings

A purely democratic form of government common in the colonies, and the most prevalent form of local government in New England. In general, the town's voting population would meet once a year to elect officers, levy taxes, and pass laws.

Roger Williams

A dissenter who clashed with the Massachusetts Puritans over separation of church and state and was banished in 1636, after which he founded the colony of Rhode Island to the south

Rhode Island Colony

Self-governing colony founded by Roger Williams in 1636; granted freedom for all religions and non-believers; religious toleration; disestablishment, universal suffrage for white males w/property qualifications; most democratic

Anne Hutchinson

A Puritan woman who was well learned that disagreed with the Puritan Church in Massachusetts Bay Colony. Her actions resulted in her banishment from the colony, and later took part in the formation of Rhode Island. She displayed the importance of questioning authority.

John Wheelwright

led a group of dissidents from Massachusetts to the north in 1638. They founded the town of Exeter in New Hampshire

Metacomet

1639-1676 Wamponoag sachem known to the English as King Philip. He led one of the last Native Americans battles against the colonist in New England in 1676.

King Philip's War

1675 - A series of battles in New Hampshire between the colonists and the Wompanowogs, led by a chief known as King Philip. The war was started when the Massachusetts government tried to assert court jurisdiction over the local Indians. The colonists won with the help of the Mohawks, and this victory opened up additional Indian lands for expansion.

Salem Witch Trials

Several accusations of witchcraft led to sensational trials in Salem, Massachusetts at which Cotton Mather presided as the chief judge. 18 people were hanged as witches. Afterwards, most of the people involved admitted that the trials and executions had been a terrible mistake.

New England Colonies

Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire

Middle Colonies

New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware

New Netherlands

A colony founded by the Dutch in the New World. It became New York.

Dutch West India Company

Trading company charted by the Dutch government that controlled New Netherland

Patroons

landowner in the Dutch colonies who ruled over large areas of land

John Cabot

landowner in the Dutch colonies who ruled over large areas of land

New York Colony

Colony founded by Dutch in 1624. Very diverse and wealthy colony. Contained the Hudson river. Named after the Duke of York

New Jersey Colony

colony with a diverse population, including Dutch, Swedes, Finns, and Scots, Territory given to Sir John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. Territory was diverse religiously and ethnically.

Quakers

English dissenters who broke from Church of England, preache a doctrine of pacificism, inner divinity, and social equity, under William Penn they founded Pennsylvania

William Penn

A Quaker that founded Pennsylvania to establish a place where his people and others could live in peace and be free from persecution.

Pennsylvania Colony

Colony formed from the "Holy Experiment"; settled by Quakers. Founded by William Penn, who bought land from the Native Americans. Allowed religious freedom

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

the city in which both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were written

Delaware Colony

Formed as part of Pennsylvania but became a separate colony in 1775 because Pennsylvania couldn't govern both areas. When the Dutch originally tried to settle this area the American Indians killed them all and burned down their settlement.

Indentured Servants

Colonists who received free passage to North America in exchange for working without pay for a certain number of years

Maryland Colony

Founded in 1634 by Lord Baltimore, founded to be a place for persecuted Catholics to find refuge, a safe haven, act of toleration

Sir George Calvert

founded the colony of Maryland as a refuge for Catholics; also known as Lord Baltimore

Estate

large area of land that has one owner

Plantation

a large farm

Mason-Dixon Line

Originally drawn by surveyors to resolve the boundaries between Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Virginia in the 1760s, it came to symbolize the North-South divide over slavery.

Act of Toleration

a 1649 Maryland law that provided religious freedom for all Christians

Bacon's Rebellion

A rebellion lead by Nathaniel Bacon with backcountry farmers to attack Native Americans in an attemp to gain more land

Carolina Colony

A restoration colony. Charles I gave charters to 8 of his court favorites. They reserved estates for themselves and divided the rest up into heardrights. The earl of Shaftesbury and John Locke drew up a constitution for Carolina. 1729, it was divided into north and south.

John Locke

English philosopher who advocated the idea of a "social contract" in which government powers are derived from the consent of the governed and in which the government serves the people; also said people have natural rights to life, liberty and property.

Northern Carolina Colony

Settled by farmers from inland Virginia. Grew tobacco, sold timber and tar. Lacked a good harbor so had to use Virginia's ports

Southern Carolina Colony

Took advantage of fertile land and the harbor at Charles Town. Trade in deerskin, lumber, and beef

Indigo

A plant used to make valuable blue dye

Georgia Colony

Colony founded by James Oglethorpe. Its first settlers were debtors and unfortunates( "worthy poor"). Tolerant to Christians but not Catholics. Acted as a buffer between Spanish Florida and the Carolinas.

Debtors

people who owe money

Buffer Colony

one of three reasons for Georgia's founding; colony was to serve as a defensive buffer between Spanish Florida and the successful English colony of South Carolina.

James Oglethorpe

Founder and governor of the Georgia colony. He ran a tightly-disciplined, military-like colony. Slaves, alcohol, and Catholicism were forbidden in his colony. Many colonists felt that Oglethorpe was a dictator, and that (along with the colonist's dissatisfaction over not being allowed to own slaves) caused the colony to break down and Oglethorpe to lose his position as governor.

Agriculture

farming

Mercantilism

An economic policy under which nations sought to increase their wealth and power by obtaining large amounts of resources. Would typically gain these resources from new territories or land

Navigation Acts

Laws that governed trade between England and its colonies. Colonists were required to ship certain products exclusively to England. These acts made colonists very angry because they were forbidden from trading with other countries.

Subsistence Farming

farming in which only enough food to feed one's family is produced

New England Colony Economy

logging and shipbuilding; fishing; sold whale oil and other goods to other colonies and England; based on manufacturing, NOT agriculture

Middle Colony Economy

Exported staple crops such as wheat and grain, known as the "bread basket" because of grain exports, Commerce & Cash

Southern Colony Economy

Plantation System, Single Crops, Tobacco, Rice, Indigo, Cotton, Slaves

Backcountry

A frontier region extending through several colonies, from Pennsylvania to Georgia

Triangular Trade

A three way system of trade during 1600-1800s Africa sent slaves to America, America sent Raw Materials to Europe, and Europe sent Guns and Rum to Africa

Middle Passage

A voyage that brought enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to North America and the West Indies

Slave Codes

Laws that controlled the lives of enslaved African Americans and denied them basic rights.

Abolitionist

A person who wanted to end slavery

Magna Carta

(1215) a charter of liberties (freedoms) that King John "Lackland" of Englad was forced to sign; it made the king obey the same laws as the citizens of his kingdom

Trial by Jury

The right of a person to be tried by a jury, or a group of citizens, to decide if the person is guilty or innocent of committing a crime.

Representative Legislature

a British colonial legislature in which at least one half of the members are elected by the people of the colony

Self Government

The right of people to rule themselves independently

Great Awakening

Religious revival in the American colonies of the eighteenth century during which a number of new Protestant churches were established.

Jonathan Edwards

Preacher during the First Great Awakening; "Sinners in the hands of angry god"

George Whitefield

Credited with starting the Great Awakening, also a leader of the "New Lights."

Ohio River Valley

controversial land that led to the French and Indian War; British win war and claim this land; region where British fur traders went; rich soil for farming

Fort Duquesne

French fort that was site of first major battle of French and Indian War; General Washington led unsuccessful attack on French troops and was then defeated at Fort Necessity, marking beginning of conflict.

Militia

A group of civilians trained to fight in emergencies

George Washington

1st President of the United States; commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolution (1732-1799)

Fort Necessity

A hastily built British fort where Washington attempted to defeat the French. However, the French took the fort and forced Washington to surrender.

French and Native American Alliance

Native Americans tended to trust the French more because they want to be in the fur trade, not take their land; French fur trappers often married Native American women; French converted many Native Americans to Catholicism