SG04 - Study Guide for Chapter 4 American Life in the...

Study Guide for Chapter 4
American Life in the
Seventeenth Century,
1607-1692
Part I: Reviewing the Chapter
A. Checklist of Learning Objectives
After Mastering this chapter, you should be able to
1. describe the basic population structure and social life of the seventeenth century colonies.
2. compare and contrast the different populations and ways of life of the southern colonies and
New England.
3. explain how the problems of indentured servitude led to political trouble and the growth of
African slavery.
4. describe the slave trade and the character of early African-American slavery.
5. explain how the New England way of life centered on family, town, and church, and describe
the changes that affected this way of life.
6. describe the various conditions affecting women and family life in the seventeenth-century
colonies.
B. Glossary
To build your social science vocabulary, familiarize yourself with the following terms.
1. headright- The right to acquire a certain amount of land granted to the person who finances the
passage of a laborer. “Masters-not servants themselves- thus reaped the benefits of
landownership from the headright system.”
2. disenfranchise- To take away the right to vote. “The Virginia Assembly in 1670
disenfranchised most of the landless knockabouts….”
3. civil war- A conflict between the citizens of inhabitants of the same country. “… this civil war
in Virginia ground on….”
4. tidewater- The territory adjoining water affected by tides-this is, near the seacoast or coastal
rivers. “Bacon… had pitted the hard scrabble backcountry frontiersmen against the haughty
gentry of the tidewater plantations.”
5. middle passage- That portion of a slave ship’s journey in which slaves were carried from
Africa to the Americas. “… the captives were herded aboard sweltering ships for the gruesome
‘middle passage.’ …”
6. fertility- The ability to mate and produce abundant young. “The captive black population of the
Chesapeake area soon began to grow not only through new imports bur also through its own
fertility….”
7. menial- Fit for servants; humble or low. “… they performed the sweaty toil of clearing swamps,
grubbing out for trees, and other menial tasks.”
8. militia- An armed force of citizens called out only in emergencies. “[They] tried to march to
Spanish Florida, only to be stopped by the local militia.”
9. hierarchy- a social group arranged in ranks or classes. “… rough equality… was giving way to
a hierarchy or wealth and status….”
10. corporation- A group r institution granted legal rights to carry on certain specified activities.
“…the Massachusetts Puritans established Harvard College, today the oldest corporation in
America….”
11. jeremiad- A sermon or prophecy warning of doom and calling for repentance. “Jeremiads
continued to thunder from the pulpits….”
12. lynching- The illegal killing of an accused person by mob action without due process. “A
hysterical ‘witch-hunt’ ensued, leading to the legal lynching in 1692 of twenty individuals….”
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