Chapter 1 - Glossary Flashcards
Important vocabulary to know for Chapter 1 of The American Pageant textbook.
The form of political society that combines centralized government with a high degree of ethnic and cultural unity.
nation-state
A league or alliance formed for a common interest or purpose & managed via decentralized authority.
confederacy
The form of society in which family line, power, and wealth are passed primarily through the female side.
matrilinear
Concerning the earliest origin of things.
primeval
A lengthy story poem recouting the great deeds and adventures of a people and their heroes.
saga
In a trading system, those dealers who operate between the original buyers and the retail merchants who sell to consumers.
middlemen
A small, fast vessel w/ a high deck and three triangular sails.
caravel
A large-scale agricultural enterprise growing commercial crops and usually employing coerced or slave labor.
plantation
A naturally evolved network of relations among organisms in a stable environment.
ecosystem
Concerning the general characteristics of a population, including such factors as numbers, age, gender, and birth & death rates.
demographic
A Spanish conqueror or adventurer in the Americas.
conquistador(es)
An economic system characterized by private property, free trade, and open and accessible markets.
capitalism
The Spanish labor system that held persons to unpaid service under the permanent control of their masters, though not legally owned by them.
encomienda
A person of mixed European, especially Spanish, and Native American ancestry.
mestizo
A medium-sized subunit of territory and governmental administration within a larger nation or empire.
province
