Primary Source

A document or physical object which was written or created during the time under study.

Seconday source

is information gathered by someone who did not take part in or witness an event

Age of exploration

the period of time, beginning in the late 1400s, in which European explorers sought new routes to Asia and discovered the Americas

Christopher Columbus

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

Columbian echange

the global exchange of goods and ideas between the Eastern & Western hemispheres that sparked exploration

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

English explorer who helped found the colony at Jamestown, Virginia

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.