7th Grade Social Studies: Road to Revolution, Conquistadors, and Pirates

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering the key terms, historical figures, acts, and events from the 7th grade study guide on the Road to the American Revolution, Spanish Conquistadors, and the Golden Age of Piracy.

Patriot

A colonist who supported independence from Britain.

Loyalist

A colonist who remained loyal to Britain.

Taxation

The collection of money by a government.

Boycott

Refusing to buy or use something as a form of protest.

Parliament

Britain's lawmaking body.

Militia

A group of citizens organized for military service.

Continental Congress

A meeting of colonial representatives who coordinated resistance and later independence.

Treason

Betrayal of one's government or country. British authorities viewed rebellion as treason.

Independence

Freedom from another country's political control.

Declaration

A formal statement announcing a position, decision, or intention.

"No taxation without representation!"

A phrase meaning that colonists objected to being taxed by a government in which they had no elected representatives.

Stamp Act (1765)

A law that required colonists to pay a tax on printed materials, including newspapers, legal documents, and playing cards.

Proclamation of 1763

A British order restricting colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains in an attempt to reduce conflict with Native American nations.

Townshend Acts (1767)

British laws that placed duties on imported goods such as glass, paper, paint, and tea.

Boston Massacre (March 5, 1770)

A confrontation where British soldiers fired into a crowd in Boston, killing five colonists, including Crispus Attucks.

Boston Tea Party (December 16, 1773)

An event where protesters boarded ships in Boston Harbor and dumped tea into the water to protest British control of the tea trade and the tea tax.

Intolerable Acts (1774)

Harsh, restrictive laws passed by Britain to punish Massachusetts following the Boston Tea Party.

Common Sense

A pamphlet published in January 1776 by Thomas Paine that argued the colonies should become independent from Britain in language ordinary people could understand.

Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776)

A document adopted by the Second Continental Congress announcing that the thirteen colonies were free and independent states.

George Washington

Commander of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, appointed by the Second Continental Congress in 1775.

Thomas Jefferson

Patriot who wrote the main draft of the Declaration of Independence and later became the third president of the United States.

Benjamin Franklin

Inventor, writer, and diplomat who helped revise the Declaration's draft and helped gain French support for the American cause.

Samuel Adams

Patriot leader who organized resistance to British policies and helped build support for independence.

Paul Revere

Boston silversmith and Patriot who created a famous engraving of the Boston Massacre and helped warn colonists about the British march toward Lexington and Concord.

King George III

King of Great Britain during the American Revolution.

Conquistadors

Spanish explorers and soldiers who conquered territories in the Americas during the Age of Exploration.

Hernán Cortés

Conquistador who led the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire (capital Tenochtitlan) in 1519–1521, supported by Indigenous groups who opposed Aztec rule.

Francisco Pizarro

Conquistador who led the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire in the 1530s and captured the Inca ruler Atahualpa in 1532.

Vasco Núñez de Balboa

Crossed the Isthmus of Panama and reached the Pacific Ocean in 1513, from the European perspective.

Hernando de Soto

Explored parts of the southeastern present-day United States and reached the Mississippi River in 1541.

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

Survived a disastrous Spanish expedition in North America and traveled across parts of the present-day southern United States and Mexico.

Juan de Oñate

Led a Spanish colonizing expedition into New Mexico in 1598, whose rule included brutal violence against the Acoma Pueblo people.

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado

Led an expedition through parts of the present-day southwestern United States in search of wealthy cities in the 1540s.

Golden Age of Piracy

A period generally dated from about 1650 to 1730 when pirates attacked ships and stole cargo, money, and other valuables in the Caribbean, Atlantic Ocean, and along the American coast.

Blackbeard (Edward Teach)

A famous pirate who operated around the Caribbean and North American coast in the early 1700s and was killed in 1718.

Anne Bonny

A well-known pirate who sailed in the Caribbean during the early 1700s.

Bartholomew Roberts

One of the most successful pirates of the Golden Age, capturing hundreds of vessels according to historical accounts.

Privateer

A privately owned ship authorized by a government to attack enemy ships during wartime.

Pirate

A person who attacks ships or steals at sea without lawful government authorization.

Pirate treasure

Money and valuable cargo sought by pirates, though real pirate life was dangerous and did not always involve buried treasure.