Chapter 6: The Duel for North America 1618-1763

Question 1

domestic

Answer 1

Concerning the internal affairs of a country. “It was convulsed…by foreign wars and domestic strife…”

Question 2

minister

Answer 2

In politics, a person appointed by the head of the state to take charge of some department agency of government. “Leadership of a high order was provided by a series of brilliant ministers…”

Question 3

magistrate

Answer 3

a civil official charged with upholding the law, often exercising both judicial and executive power. “…there was no trial by jury-merely the decision of the magistrate.

Question 4

peasant

Answer 4

A farmer of agricultural laborer, sometime legally tied to the land. “Landowning French peasants…had little economic motive to move.”

Question 5

coureurs des bois

Answer 5

French-Canadian fur trappers; literally, “runners of the wood.” “These colorful coureurs des bois…were also runners of risk…”

Question 6

voyageurs

Answer 6

French-Canadian fur traders and adventurers. “Singing, paddle-swimming French voyageurs also recruited Indians…”

Question 7

ecological

Answer 7

Concerning the relations between the biological organisms of their environment. “…they extinguished the beaver population…, inflicting incalculable ecological damage.”

Question 8

mutinous

Answer 8

Concerning revolt by subordinate soldiers or seamen against their commanding officers. “…he…was murdered by his mutinous men.”

Question 9

strategic

Answer 9

Concerning the placement and planned movement of large-scale military forces so as to gain advantage, usually prior to actual engagement with the enemy. “Commanding the mouth of the Mississippi River, this strategic semitropical outpost also tapped the fur trade…”

Question 10

guerrilla warfare

Answer 10

Unconventional combat wagged by smaller military units using hit-and-run tactics. “…so a kind of primitive guerilla war prevailed.”

Question 11

buffer

Answer 11

“A territory between two hostile states, designed to soften an attack from one or the other side. “It was confined… to the much-buffeted colony of Georgia…”

Question 12

seige

Answer 12

A military operation surrounding and attacking a fortified place, often over a sustained period. “After a ten-hour siege he was forced to surrender…”

Question 13

flotilla

Answer 13

A fleet of boats, usually smaller vessels. “The Indian fur flotilla…numbered four hundred canoes.”
Regulars Trained professional soldiers, as distinct from militia or conscripts. “…they had fought bravely beside the crack British regulars…”

Question 14

commissions

Answer 14

An official certification granting a commanding rank in the armed forces. “…the British refused to recognize any American militia commission…”