Social Studies Vocabulary
Chapter 5, Lessons 1, 2, 3, 4
charter – official document giving a person or group to do something.
stock – share in a company.
cash crop – crop grown to be sold for profit.
Indentured servant – person who agreed to work for someone for a certain amount of time in
exchange for the cost of the voyage to North America.
House of Burgesses – lawmaking assembly in colonial Virginia.
Northwest Passage – water route that explorers hoped would flow through North America,
connecting the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.
Pilgrim – person who travels to a new place for religious reasons.
Separatist – a group of people from England who wanted to separate themselves from the
Church of England. Some traveled to North America in search of religious freedom.
persecution – unjust treatment because of one’s beliefs.
Mayflower Compact – plan of government written by Pilgrims who sailed on the Mayflower.
Puritan – group of people who wanted to “purify” the Church of England. They established the
Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630.
dissenter – person whose views differ from those of his or her leaders.
proprietor – owner
debtor – a person who owes money.