Primary source

An original document containing the observations, ideas, and conclusions of an individual. It is a firsthand account presented by someone present or actively participating in the event. Examples include manuscripts, photographs, oral histories, and personal journals.

Secondary Source

Information gathered by someone else who did not take part in or witness an eve

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

An Italian navigator who was funded by the Spanish Government to find a passage to the Far East. He is given credit for discovering the "New World," even though at his death he believed he had made it to India. He made four voyages to the "New World." The first sighting of land was on October 12, 1492, and three other journies until the time of his death in 1503.

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Americas and the rest of the world following Columbus's voyages.

The 3 G's

God, Gold and Glory. Reasons for exploration: spreading Christian religion, finding new sources of wealth and competing for power or status.

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

Chief of the Powhatan Confederacy and father to Pocahontas. At the time of the English settlement of Jamestown in 1607, he was a friend to John Smith and John Rolfe. When Smith was captured by Indians, Powhatan left Smith's fate in the hands of his warriors. His daughter saved John Smith, and the Jamestown colony. Pocahontas and John Rolfe were wed, and there was a time of peace between the Indians and English until Powhatan's death.

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.