a way to learn about the world.
Social Studies
The study of the past with the help of written
records
History
Beliefs, customs, and ways of living that groups of
people share.
Culture
The study of the way in which people
produce and exchange goods.
Economics
People or groups of people that have the
authority to make and enforce laws
Government
The study of people, places,
environments, and resources of an area.
There are five themes: location, human
environmental interaction, region, place
and movement
Geography
Describes a place by it nearness to other
areas (relative location) or by its longitude
and latitude (absolute location)
Location
Describes a place in terms of the
environment’s effects on humans who
live there and how they effect the
environment.
Human Environmental Interaction
Describes a place in terms of its shared
characteristics.
Region
Describes a place in terms of its physical (land and
climate) and human (culture and government)
characteristics
Place
The transfer of people, places, goods, and ideas from
one place to another.
Movement
Lines that run north and south and
measure east and west of the Prime
Meridian
Longitude
Lines that run east to west and measure
north and south of the Equator
Latitude
0 degrees latitude
Equator
0 degrees longitude
Prime Meridian
This was the first permanent
civilization
Mesopotamia
Pharaohs ruled this ancient civilization
Egypt
This ancient civilization’s social system
was the caste system.
Indus Valley
This civilization had Dynasties rule them for
centuries
Chinese
Founded a direct democracy
Ancient Greece
A government in which representatives,
elected by the citizens of the country rule
the country.
Democratic Republic
A government in which one individual, usually a
military leader rules the country
Dictatorship
A government in which royalty, such as a
King or Prince rules the country
Monarchy
A government in which small groups of
individuals, often military rule the country.
Oligarchy
A government in which the Communist Party
rules the country, with the goal of distributing
wealth among its people.
Communism
The complete absence of a functioning government
Anarchy
An economy in which the government
determines what people may own, buy, sell
and trade; the government may even own all
of the property and business itself.
Command Economy
An economy in which people may own, buy,
sell, and trade goods and services based on
the principle of supply and demand
Market Economy
An economy that mixes elements of market and
command economies.
Mixed Economy
An economy in which there is no money, and
people barter for all goods and services; this
is only seen in very small isolated groups of
indigenous people.
Traditional Economy
A particular system of faith and worship
Religion
Belief in one god
Monotheism
Belief in many gods
Polytheism
Monotheistic religion whose holy book is
the Torah and its first followers were
Ancient Hebrews
Judaism
Monotheistic religion based on the teachings
of Mohammed
Islam
Religion based on the teachings of
Siddhartha Gautama
Buddhism
The oldest religion in the world
Hinduism
Monotheistic religion based on the teachings
of Jesus Christ
Christianity
Period in European history traditionally dated
from the fall of the Roman Empire to the
dawn of the Renaissance.
Middle Ages
The revival of European art and literature
under the influence of classical models in the
14th-16th centuries
Renaissance
Another word for farming
Agriculture
This is a group of countries or regions with
different and varied language and cultural
characteristics that are all ruled by one
supreme government ; typically in history
this supreme government took to the form of
the monarchy. Ancient Rome and China are
examples of this.
Empire
He inspired Columbus with his book
about his travels to China
Marco Polo
Trade route from Western Europe to China/India.
Silk Road
The three G’s for Exploration
Gold, Glory, God
Created a school for navigation in Portugal
Prince Henry the Navigator
Sailed around the Southern tip of Africa and
proved that a sea route to the Indian Ocean
existed.
Bartolome Dias
Founded a direct sea route to India.
Vasco da Gama
This was to keep Spain and Portugal from
going to war. Also known as the Line of
Demarcation.
Treaty of Tordesillas
First to circumnavigate the globe, it was
actually his crew
Ferdinand Magellan
Owned by the Netherlands, its purpose was to
establish and control trade in Asia
Dutch East India Company
These companies had the power to mint money, trade
and create armies in Asia.
East India Companies
Colonies are made for the benefit of the
mother country
Mercantilism
A country or area under the full or partial political
control of another country, typically a distant one,
and occupied by settlers from that country
Colony
People native to an area
Indigenous People
He believed he reached Asia until the day he died.
However, he actually sparked interest in exploring
the Western Hemisphere
Christopher Columbus
Was not authorized to explore or conquer
the Aztecs. He was successful because he
made allies with the enemies of the Aztecs.
Hernan Cortes
He conquered the Incan Empire and had its
leader held for ransom.
Francisco Pizarro
He was against the encomienda system. He
pushed for equality and integration between the
Spanish and Indigenous peoples of South America
Bartolome de las Casas
This was the ship voyage across the Atlantic
Ocean for slaves
Middle Passage
The first successful English colony in North
America
Jamestown
This colony in Roanoke disappeared.
Lost Colony
In Spain this economic system establish in
the Spanish colonies of the New World, used
the indigenous people of the Americas as
slaves for free labor. In exchange, they were
forced to learn Spanish and Christianity
Encomienda System
South Americans of European and South American
descent
Mestizos
South Americans of European and African
descent
Mulattos