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Civics - Chapter 2
Vocabulary Terms and Definitions
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Enlightenment | Movement that spread the idea that reason and science could improve society |
Monarch | King or queen |
Legislature | A group of people that makes laws |
Precedent | A ruling that is used as the basis for a judicial decision in a later, similar case |
Common Law | A system of law based on precedent and customs |
Natural Rights | Freedoms people possess relating to life, liberty, and property |
Social Contract | An agreement among people in a society with a government |
Colony | A group of people in one place who are ruled by a parent country elsewhere |
Joint-Stock Company | Investors provide partial ownership in a company organized for profit |
Charter | A written document granting land and the authority to set up colonial governments; or a government document granting permission to organize a corporation |
Compact | An agreement, or contract, among a group of people |
Proprietary Colony | Area with owner-controlled land and government |
Royal Colony | A colonial area of land controlled directly by a king or other monarch |
Religious Dissenters | Those who followed a religious faith other than the official religion of England |
Puritans | Religious dissenter who came to the colonies to purify, or reform, the Anglican Church |
Pilgrims | Colonial Puritans who considered themselves people on a religious journey |
Toleration | Acceptance of other groups, such as religious groups |
Indentured Servant | Workers who contracted with American colonists for food and shelter in return for their labor |
Plantation | A large estate |
Triangular Trade | Pattern of trade that developed in colonial times among the Americas, Africa, and Europe |
Tidewater | Areas of low, flat plains near the seacoast of Virginia and North Carolina |
Egalitarianism | The philosophy or spirit of equality |
Mercantilism | The theory that a country should sell more goods to other countries than it buys |
Boycott | The refusal to purchase certain goods |
Repeal | To cancel a law |
Delegate | A representative to a meeting |
Independence | Self-reliance and freedom from outside control |