Virginia Studies- 4th Grade Study Guide Flashcards
What two large bodies of water border Virginia?
The Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay border Virginia.
What states border Virginia?
Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina border Virginia
What are some ways you would describe relative location?
“Next to”, “near” and “bordering” describe relative location.
What is the Fall Line?
The natural border between the Coastal Plain (Tidewater) and Piedmont regions, where waterfalls prevent further travel on the river.
What are the five regions of Virginia?
Coastal Plain (Tidewater), Piedmont, Blue Ridge Mountains, Valley and Ridge, and Appalachian Plateau are the five regions of Virginia.
What is the Coastal Plain (Tidewater) region like?
Flat land describes the land in the Coastal Plain (Tidewater) region.
Where is the Coastal Plain (Tidewater) region located?
The Coastal Plain (Tidewater) region is located near the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay (includes Eastern Shore) and is East of the Fall Line.
What does Piedmont mean?
Piedmont means land at the foot of the mountains.
What is the Piedmont region like?
The Piedmont region has rolling hills.
Where is the Piedmont region located?
The Piedmont region is located west of the Fall Line.
What is the Blue Ridge Mountain region like?
Old, rounded mountains that are part of the Appalachian Mountain system.
Where is the Blue Ridge Mountain region located?
Between the Piedmont and Valley and Ridge regions is the Blue Ridge Mountain region.
What is the Blue Ridge Mountain region the source of?
The Blue Ridge Mountain region is the source of many rivers.
What is the Valley and Ridge region like?
It includes the Great Valley of Virginia and other valleys separated by ridges. It is part of the Appalachian Mountain system.
Where is the Valley and Ridge region located?
It is located west of Blue Ridge Mountains.
What is a plateau?
It is an area of elevated land that is flat on top.
Where is the Appalachian Plateau located?
It is located in Southwest Virginia.
Only a small part of the plateau is located in Virginia.
What is a peninsula?
A piece of land bordered by water on three sides.
Why was the Atlantic Ocean important to the history of early Virginia?
It provided transportation links between Virginia and other places (e.g., Europe, Africa, and Caribbean).
Why was the Chesapeake Bay important to the history of early Virginia?
It provided a safe harbor and was a source of food and transportation.
Where do the Potomac, Rappahannock, York and James Rivers flow?
They flow into the Chesapeake Bay
What important cities are on the James River?
Richmond and Jamestown are located on the James River.
What important city is on the York River?
Yorktown is located on the York River.
What important city is on the Rappahannock River?
Fredericksburg is located on the Rappahannock River.
What important city in Virginia is on the Potomac River?
Alexandria is located on the Potomac River.
What is the Dismal Swamp?
It was explored and surveyed by George Washington and has a variety of wildlife.
Where is the Dismal Swamp located?
In the Coastal Plain (Tidewater) region.
What is lake Drummond?
A shallow natural lake surrounded by the Dismal Swamp.
Where is lake Drummond?
In the Coastal Plain (Tidewater) region.
How did water features influence the development of Virginia?
Each river was a source of food and provided a pathway for exploration and settlement of Virginia.
What is the Eastern Shore?
A peninsula bordered by the Chesapeake Bay to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east.
Why did Christopher Columbus call the native peoples in the lands he discovered “Indians”?
Because he thought he was in the Indies (near China).
What evidence is there that American Indians lived in all areas of the state?
Artifacts such as arrowheads, pottery, and other tools that have been found tell a lot about the people who lived in Virginia.
What were the three major language groups found in Virginia?
Algonquian, Siouan, Iroquoian were the three major language groups found in Virginia.
Where were these three language groups located?
Algonquian languages were spoken primarily in the Tidewater region; the Powhatan were a part of this group.
Siouan languages were spoken primarily in the Piedmont region. The Monacan were part of this group.
Iroquoian languages were spoken in Southwestern Virginia and in Southern Virginia near what is today North Carolina; the Cherokee were a part of this group.
What are some characteristics of Virginia’s climate?
The climate in Virginia is relatively mild with distinct seasons—spring, summer, fall, and winter—resulting in a variety of vegetation.
What covers most of Virginia’s land?
Forests which have a variety of trees cover most of Virginia’s land.
What are Virginia’s Indians referred to?
Virginia’s Indians are referred to as Eastern Woodland Indians.
What are some ways Virginia’s American Indians related to the climate and interacted with their environment to meet their basic needs?
The kinds of food they ate, the clothing they wore, and the shelters they had depended upon the seasons.
How did native peoples of the past survive?
They farmed, hunted, and fished.
What did the Indians eat in the winter?
Birds and animals and food stored from the previous fall.
What did Virginia’s American Indians eat in the spring?
They hunted, fished, and picked berries.
What did Virginia’s American Indians eat in the summer?
They ate the crops they grew (corn, beans and squash).
What did Virginia’s American Indians eat in the fall?
They harvested crops and hunted for foods to keep for the winter.
What did Virginia’s American Indians use for clothes in the winter?
Animal skins were used for clothes.
What did Virginia’s American Indians use to build their homes?
Shelters were made from materials around them.
How do Virginia’s American Indians live today in relation to the way they lived in the past?
Today, most native peoples live like other Americans. Their cultures have changed over time.
Why is archeology important?
Archeology is another way to help people understand the past.
How can new findings change the understanding of history?
Recent archeological digs have recovered new materials about Werowocomoco and historic Jamestown
What was Werowocomoco?
A large Indian town used by leaders for several hundred years before the English settlers came.
Who had their headquarters in Werowocomoco in 1607?
Powhatan had his headquarters there.
What was Jamestown?
The first permanent English settlement in North America.
What have recently recovered artifacts told us about Jamestown
They have given archeologists clues about the interactions of the English, Africans, and Indians in early Virginia.
For how long have American Indian people lived in Virginia?
For thousands of years American Indian people have lived in Virginia.
How many American Indian tribes are recognized by the Commonwealth of Virginia today?
Eight American Indian tribes are recognized.
Name the seven current American Indian tribes located in the Coastal Plain (Tidewater) region
Chickahominy, Eastern Chickahominy, Mattaponi, Nansemond, Pamunkey, Rappahannock, and Upper Mattaponi are located in the Coastal Plain (Tidewater) region.
Name the current American Indian tribe located in the Piedmont region.
The Monacan tribe is located in the Piedmont Region.
What did the English think they would find in America?
Silver and gold were what they were after.
What are raw materials?
They are unprocessed natural products used in manufacturing.
What did England hope to do with America’s raw materials?
An American settlement would furnish raw materials that could not be grown or obtained in England, while opening new markets for trade.
What is an economic venture?
It is something that is done to make money.
Why was Jamestown founded?
Jamestown was founded as an economic venture.
How was Jamestown financed?
Jamestown was financed by the stockholders of the Virginia Company of London.
What was the Virginia Company of London?
The stockholders who financed Jamestown.
What was the first permanent English settlement in North America?
Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in North America.
When was Jamestown founded?
1607 was the year Jamestown was founded.
Where was Jamestown located when it was first established?
It was located on a narrow peninsula surrounded on three sides by the James River.
Where is Jamestown located today?
Today it is an island in the James River.
Why did the colonists decide on the location of Jamestown to settle?
The reasons were that it was easily defended from attack by sea,
deep enough for ships to dock, and
they believed they had a good supply of fresh water.
Who gave the charters to the Virginia Company of London?
The King of England gave them the Charters.
What did the charters do?
They gave the Virginia Company the right to establish a settlement in North America and extend English rights to the settlers.
When did the governor call a meeting of the General Assembly?
1619 was when the meeting was called.
During this time who was considered a citizen?
Only certain free adult men.
Who made up the General Assembly?
It included two representatives (called “burgesses”) from each of the divisions of Virginia, along with the Governor’s council, and the governor.
What was the first elected legislative body in America?
It was the Virginia House of Burgesses.
Why was The Virginia House of Burgesses important?
It gave the settlers the opportunity to control their own government.
What is the House of Burgesses known as today?
The current Virginia General Assembly dates back to the establishment of the House of Burgesses at Jamestown in 1619.
When did additional women arrive in Jamestown?
1620 was the year.
Why was the women’s arrival important?
It allowed more settlers to start families and make a permanent settlement.
What was different about the Africans that arrived to the colony?
Portuguese sailors captured African men and women from what is present day Angola. It is unknown whether they came as servants or slaves.
What did the arrival of the Africans make it possible to do?
The arrival of the Africans expanded the tobacco economy.
What were the hardships that the colonists faced?
The site they chose to live on was marshy and lacked safe drinking water.
The settlers lacked some skills necessary to provide for themselves.
Many settlers died of starvation and disease.
What helped the colonists survive?
The arrival of supply ships, the forced work program, the strong leadership of Captain John Smith, and the emphasis on agriculture resulted in the survival of the colony.
Who initiated trading relations with the native peoples?
John Smith initiated the trading.
What did the native peoples trade with the English?
The native peoples traded mainly food with the English in exchange for tools, pots, and copper for jewelry.
What did the English trade with the native peoples?
Tools, pots, guns and other goods were traded.
How did the native peoples contribute to the survival of the settlers?
Powhatan, chief of many tribes, provided leadership to his people and taught the settlers survival skills.
Pocahontas served as a contact between the native peoples and the English. The native peoples showed the settlers how to plant corn and tobacco.
Who was Pocahontas?
She was the daughter of Chief Powhatan.
What changed the native people’s view of the English?
Over time, the native peoples realized the English settlement would continue to grow.
How did the native peoples feel about the English?
They came to see the settlers as invaders who would take over their land.
What is a cash crop?
A crop that is grown to sell for money rather than for use by the growers.
What did the Virginia colony depend on for wealth?
The wealth of the colony depended on agriculture.
What is agriculture?
It is the growing of crops and livestock.
What was the most profitable agricultural product?
Tobacco was the most profitable.
Where was the tobacco sold?
They sold the tobacco to England.
What was Virginia’s cash crop?
Tobacco was the cash crop.
What was necessary for the successful planting of tobacco?
A reliable and inexpensive source of labor.
How did the colony provide all the labor that was needed to grow tobacco?
African men women and children were brought to the colony against their will to work as slaves on the plantations.
What did the Virginia colony’s economy depend upon for a long time?
The colonies depended on slave labor.
What did the culture of colonial Virginia reflect?
The beliefs, customs, and architecture of the Europeans, Africans, and American Indians living there.
What are some examples of architecture that reflect different cultures?
Barns, homes, places of worship (churches) reflect different cultures.
What culture does the name of the city Richmond reflect?
Richmond reflects the English culture.
What culture does the name of the city Roanoke reflect?
Roanoke reflects the American Indian culture.
Where did the English and other Europeans primarily settle?
The English and other Europeans primarily settled in the Tidewater and Piedmont.
Where did the Germans and the Scots-Irish mainly settle?
The Germans and Scots Irish mainly settled in The Shenandoah Valley.
The Shenandoah Valley is a part of what route?
The Shenandoah Valley is part of the migration route.
What is migration?
It is moving from one country or region to another.
Where did the Africans mainly settle?
The Africans mainly settled in the Tidewater and Piedmont.
Why did the Africans mainly settle in the Tidewater and Piedmont regions?
They settled there because agriculture required a great deal of labor.
Where were the American Indians located before the settlers arrived?
They were located throughout Virginia.
Where were the American Indians located after the settlers arrived?
Most were forced inland.
