7th grade Social Studies: Age of Exploration - Vocab

Question 1

A period of European history, which renewed interest in classical culture led to far-reaching changes in art, learning, and views of the world.

Answer 1

Renaissance

Question 2

Group of people settled in a distant land who are ruled by the government of their native land.

Answer 2

Colony

Question 3

A Spanish explorer in the Americas in the 1500s.

Answer 3

Conquistador

Question 4

It was the impact of the introduction of new plants, food, and diseases by European explorers to the new world after 1492. Europeans also brought back.

Answer 4

Columbian Exchange

Question 5

The mother country gains wealth by controlling the trade of its colonies. The mother country gets raw materials and then sells finished goods back to the colonies.

Answer 5

Mercantilism

Question 6

Instrument used by sailors to measure the positions of stars and figure out their latitude at sea.

Answer 6

Astrolabe

Question 7

Part of the lord’s holding in the Middle Ages, including the castle, peasants’ huts, and surrounding villages or fields.

Answer 7

Manor

Question 8

System of rule by lords who owed loyalty to their king.

Answer 8

Feudalism

Question 9

Who claimed land for which two countries?

Answer 9

Henry Hudson
1. Hudson River and New York (Dutch)
2. Hudson Bay (England)

Question 10

A religious settlement. Run by Catholic priests in order to convert Natives to Christianity.

Answer 10

Mission

Question 11

Right to demand taxes or labor from Native Americans in the Spanish colonies.

Answer 11

Encomienda

Question 12

Sea Dogs

Answer 12

Captains of English Pirate Ships

Question 13

The series of wars in which medieval Christian warriors sought to recover control of the Holy Land from the Muslims.

Answer 13

Crusades

Question 14

Device that shows which direction is north.

Answer 14

Magnetic Compass

Question 15

The economic theory that a nation’s power depended on its wealth.

Answer 15

Mercantilism

Question 16

A large estate run by an owner or manager and farmed by laborers who lived there.

Answer 16

Plantation

Question 17

A ship with a steering rudder and triangular sails.

Answer 17

Caravel

Question 18

To sail around the world.

Answer 18

Circumnavigate

Question 19

Peasants who were bound to the land for life.

Answer 19

Serfs

Question 20

A water route to Asia through North America sought by European explorers, but never discovered.

Answer 20

Northwest Passage