Primary Source

A document or physical object which was written or created during the time of an event

Secondary Source

A document written after an event

Age of Exploration

Time period during the 15th and 16th centuries when Europeans searched for new sources of wealth and for easier trade routes to China and India. Resulted in the discovery of North and South America by the Europeans.

Christopher Columbus

He mistakenly discovered the Americas in 1492 while searching for a faster route to India.

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of goods and ideas between Native Americans and Europeans

The 3 G's

God, Gold, Glory

Pocahontas

A native Indian of America, daughter of Chief Powahatan, who was one of the first to marry an Englishman, John Rolfe, and return to England with him; about 1595-1617; Pocahontas' brave actions in saving an Englishman paved the way for many positive English and Native relations.

Jamestown

The first permanent English settlement in North America, found in East Virginia

Powhatan

Indian chief and founder of the Powhatan confederacy of tribes in eastern Virginia

John Smith

Helped found and govern Jamestown. His leadership and strict discipline helped the Virginia colony get through the difficult first winter.

John Rolfe

He was one of the English settlers at Jamestown (and he married Pocahontas). He discovered how to successfully grow tobacco in Virginia and cure it for export, which made Virginia an economically successful colony.