7th Grade Identification
Below are all of the people and a their descriptions that you will need to know for Seventh Grade Social Studies. As you can see, it is divided according to Chapter or section, making it easy to fill in Vocabulary/Identification sheets. Students who do not have Internet access at home may request a print-out of these descriptions but only one time during the school year. Remember that you will be responsible for knowing each Chapter's Vocabulary & Identification that we are covering and that it makes up a good portion of all Social Studies tests. Also, remember that if you do not have your Vocabulary/Identification done and in class the day it is due, you will receive a zero (0 out of 10 possible points) for that chapter's vocabulary grade.
Click on any of the buttons below to access the Vocabulary on this page.
Chapter 1 - Early American History - Way, way back to 1732:
Leif Erikson: Viking explorer who in 1000, established Vinland, the first European colony in North America (New Foundland, Canada).
Christopher Columbus: Italian explorer who, while sailing for Spain, discovered the New World (Western Hemisphere) when he landed in what is now the Bahamas.
Hernando Cortés: Spanish conquistador who conquered the Aztec Empire in 1521.
Francisco Pizarro: Spanish conquistador who conquered the Inca Empire in 1533.
Francis Drake: English "sea dog" who circumnavigated the world in 1577 while attacking Spanish gold ships. He led the attack on the Spanish Armada in 1588.
Ferdinand Magellan: Portuguese sea captain whose crew is credited with being the first to circumnavigate the world in 1522. Magellan died during the expedition in the Philippines.
John Smith: English captain who organized a division of labor at the Jamestown settlement in the early 1600s.
Samuel de Champlain: French explorer who founded the colony of Quebec in 1608.
Roger Williams: Puritan who was kicked out of Massachusetts Bay Colony for his beliefs - he set up Providence Colony allowing freedom of religion.
William Penn: Quaker who established the colony of Pennsylvania with a land grant from King Charles II - he allowed religious freedom and paid Natives for land.
James Oglethorpe: established the last English colony of Georgia as a refuge for English debtors.
Chapter 2 - The Coming of Independence - 1754-1774:
George Washington: 21-year-old colonel of the Virginia militia who was sent to tell the French to abandon Fort Duquesne. His later attack on the French helped to start the war.
Benjamin Franklin: colonial printer, inventor & statesman who proposed the Albany Plan of Union to unite the colonies against the French.
King George III: King of England who thought the monarchy should have more power. He would not listen to the protests of English citizens in America.
Samuel Adams: Massachusetts radical who started the Sons of Liberty and pushed for independence from Great Britain.
Paul Revere: Boston silversmith who drew a propaganda drawing of the Boston Massacre and rode to warn minutemen as the British marched to Concord to seize weapons.
John Adams: Lawyer and cousin of Samuel Adams who also believed in American liberty. He defended the British soldiers accused of murder for the Boston Massacre.
Chapter 3 - The American Revolution - 1775-1783
Marquis de Lafayette: young French nobleman who came to help fight the British; became trusted friend of Washington.
Horatio Gates: American General who was responsible for the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga.
Tadeusz Kosciuszko: Polish military engineer who brilliantly chose the site to defend against the British at the Battle of Saratoga.
Friedrich von Steuben: Prussian military man who joined Washington's army and trained soldiers - making them into an organized and professional army.
Charles Cornwallis: British General sent by General Clinton to attack the colonies in the South. After several victories, his defeat at Yorktown signaled the end of the war.
George Rogers Clark: Virginian who led a small group of volunteers west to capture the British forts of Cahokia, Kaskaskia, and Vincennes.
John Paul Jones: Hero of the U.S. Navy who defeated the British ship Serapis as Captain of the BonHomme Richard in the biggest U.S. naval victory of the war.
Benedict Arnold: Colonel who was sent by Congress to help Allen in the attack on Ticonderoga. Later became a traitor to the U.S. by offering to help the British.
United States Constitution - Important People:
Paul Revere: member of the Sons of Liberty who rode to warn colonists that the British were coming to take colonial weapons - led to the first shots of the Revolutionary War at Lexington.
Thomas Paine: British author who wrote Common Sense - a pamphlet that urged Americans to make a complete break with England (January 1776).
Thomas Jefferson: principal writer of the Declaration of Independence.
Daniel Shays: led a rebellion of farmers in Massachusetts in 1786 - this demonstrated the weakness of the government under the Articles of Confederation.
George Washington: Commander-In-Chief of the Continental Army, Virginia delegate and President of the Constitutional Convention.
James Madison: Virginia delegate to the Constitutional Convention and writer of much of the actual Constitution.
Benjamin Franklin: Pennsylvania delegate and oldest delegate (81) to the Constitutional Convention.
Alexander Hamilton: New York delegate to the Constitutional Convention.
Roger Sherman: Connecticut delegate to the Constitutional Convention who came up with the Great Compromise that would create the current set up for Congress.
Orrin Hatch: Current President Pro Tempore of the Senate (Republican).
Joseph Biden: Current Vice President of the United States (and President of the Senate - Democrat).
John Boehner: Current Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (from Illinois - Republican).
Daniel Lipinski: Current member of the U.S. House of Representatives (Illinois 3rd District - includes Central Stickney - Democrat).
Richard Durbin: Current U.S. Senator from Illinois - Democrat.
Mark Kirk: Current U.S. Senator from Illinois - Republican.
Barack Obama: Current President of the United States - Democrat.
John Roberts: Current Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
John Marshall: Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1803 who ruled over the Madison v. Marbury decision that established Judicial Review.
Chapter 4 - Federal America - 1787-1800:
George Washington: First President of the United States - did not belong to any political party; warned against getting involved in foreign wars.
Thomas Jefferson: Secretary of State - founder of the Democratic-Republican Party; was against creation of a strong central government. Also co-wrote the Virginia & Kentucky Resolutions.
Alexander Hamilton: Secretary of the Treasury - founder of the Federalist Party; was in favor of a strong central government.
Henry Knox: Secretary of War - former general was in charge of our country's defense.
Edmund Randolph: Attorney General - top legal officer of the United States; ran the Department of Justice.
James Madison: Congressman from Virginia and co-founder of the Democratic-Republican Party. Also co-wrote the Virginia & Kentucky Resolutions.
Eli Whitney: inventor of the cotton gin and perfected the use of interchangeable parts in gun manufacturing.
John Jay: First Chief Justice of the Supreme Court - was sent by Washington to negotiate a treaty with England.
John Adams: Washington's Vice President; won election of 1796 and became second president - Federalist who avoided war with France.
Aaron Burr: Republican vice presidential candidate who wound up tied with Jefferson for president in the 1800 election.
Chapter 5 - Jeffersonian America - 1801-1810:
Thomas Jefferson: third president of the United States (Republican) - doubled the size of the U.S. with the Louisiana Purchase from France.
James Madison: Secretary of State under Jefferson - fourth president of the United States (Republican)
Albert Gallatin: Secretary of Treasury under Jefferson who worked hard to pay off debts and balance the budget.
John Marshall: Federalist Chief Justice of the Supreme Court - helped establish the precedent of judicial review in the Marbury v. Madison case.
Toussaint L'Ouverture: former slave who led a revolt against France on the island of Haiti.
Napoleon Bonaparte: emperor of France who sold Louisiana in order to get money to fight against Great Britain.
Meriwether Lewis: Jefferson's personal secretary who was appointed by the president to explore the Louisiana Purchase.
William Clark: younger brother of George Rogers Clark - asked to by Lewis to share command of expedition west.
Sacajawea: Shoshone woman who helped guide Lewis & Clark through Indian lands near the source of the Missouri River.
Stephen Decatur: successfully led a raid burning the USS Philadelphia after it had run aground in Tripoli harbor before it could be used against us.
Robert Fulton: built the first successful steam-powered ship, The Clermont that sailed up the Hudson River from New York to Albany in 20 hours.
Chapter 6 - Growing Pains - 1811-1827:
Tecumseh: Shawnee warrior who refused to sell land to whites & put together an Indian confederacy dedicated to stopping American growth into Indian lands.
Tenskwatawa: also the Shawnee Prophet; he was part of a religious movement that rejected white ways, lost the Battle of Tippecanoe.
William Henry Harrison: Indiana Territorial governor who used liquor to trick Indian leaders to sell land to the U.S.; won the Battle of Tippecanoe & Battle of the Thames.
Henry Clay: Kentucky politician and Speaker of the House who was in favor of war with England; lost the 1824 presidential election.
John C. Calhoun: South Carolina politician who was in favor of war with England to defend national pride.
Daniel Webster: Massachusetts politician who was against the war with England; known as an excellent speaker.
Oliver Hazard Perry: U.S. navy captain who defeated the British on Lake Erie in 1813; said "We have met the enemy and they are ours."
Francis Scott Key: wrote the Star-Spangled Banner during the bombardment of Fort McHenry in 1814.
Andrew Jackson: hero of the battles of Horseshoe Bend and New Orleans; lost the 1824 presidential election.
James Monroe: Virginian who served as Madison's Secretary of State; became president after Madison.
John Quincy Adams: son of a former president; served as Monroe's Secretary of State; won the election of 1824.
William Crawford: Monroe's Secretary of the Treasury; ran for president in 1824 but suffered a stroke.
Chapter 7 - Jacksonian American - 1828-1839:
Nat Turner: slave preacher who led a bloody slave revolt in 1831, killing 55 white people.
William Lloyd Garrison: outspoken abolitionist who published The Liberator and formed the New England Anti-Slavery Society.
Cyrus McCormick: creator of the mechanical reaper - improved harvesting of crops - started a factory in Chicago.
Sequoya: Cherokee Indian who developed a written alphabet for the Cherokee language. It consisted of 86 symbols to represent sounds.
Black Hawk: Sauk War Chief who attempted to occupy lands given up by treaty thus starting an Indian War in Illinois in 1832.
Osceola: Indian who led the Second Seminole War (1835 to 1842). His tactics defeated every American military attempt to destroy him.
John C. Calhoun: Vice President who believed in states' rights - declared a state had the right to nullify a federal law.
Henry Clay: came up with a compromise to end the nullification crisis; unsuccessfully ran for president in 1832.
Stephen Austin: led migrating American families to settlement in Texas in 1820s & 1830s.
Antonio López de Santa Anna: Mexican dictator who led the fight to keep Texas from independence.
Sam Houston: led the Army of Texas in its fight for independence; defeated Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto River.
Martin Van Buren: New York Democratic vice president under Andrew Jackson, won the election of 1836 - refused to allow the government to aid people during the Panic of 1837.
Chapter 8 - Manifest Destiny - 1840-1849:
John Tyler: Harrison's vice president who became president when Harrison died - he was thrown out of the Whig Party.
James K. Polk: Democrat who won the election of 1844 on campaign of expanding America's borders - promised to serve only one term.
Marcus Whitman: missionary who, along with his wife, traveled the Oregon Trail and lived in the Willamette Valley - later killed by Indians.
Zachary Taylor: U.S. general sent by President Polk to provoke war with Mexico - as a war hero, he won the election of 1848.
John C. Frémont: U.S. army captain who took control of California during the war with Mexico.
Winfield Scott: successful U.S. general who captured Mexico City during the war with Mexico.
John Sutter: Swiss immigrant who owned the lumber mill in California where gold was discovered in 1848 - sparked the California gold rush.
Chapter 9 - American Movements - Mid 19th Century:
Joseph Smith: founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) - was killed in 1844 in Nauvoo, Illinois
Brigham Young: Mormon leader who led them to Utah & helped set up Salt Lake City.
Harriet Tubman: former slave who escaped on the Underground Railroad and returned numerous times to help bring other slaves to freedom.
Frederick Douglass: slave who escaped to the North - he became the best known black abolitionist & champion for civil rights.
Sojourner Truth: former slave who spoke against slavery & in favor of women's rights - best known for her "Ain't I a Woman?" speech.
Lucretia Mott: abolitionist and early champion of women's rights - helped set up the Seneca Falls Convention with Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton: reformer and early champion of women's rights - helped set up the Seneca Falls Convention - became president of the National Woman Suffrage Association.
Horace Mann: educator who helped reform the Massachusetts public education system - model for today's public schools.
Dorothea Dix: reformer who worked to help mentally ill people imprisoned with criminal - helped to improve better care for mentally ill people.
Ralph Waldo Emerson: Transcendentalist writer who stressed the importance of individual choice & moral guidance through inner consciousness.
Henry David Thoreau: Individualist who wrote about his opposition to social conformity in his book Walden - also a champion of civil disobedience.
Chapter 10 - Cracks in the Union - 1850-1859:
Millard Fillmore: Whig who became president after the death of Zachary Taylor - he supported the Compromise of 1850.
Stephen Douglas: Illinois Senator known as the "Little Giant" - worked on the Compromise of 1850 - he introduced the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Harriet Beecher Stowe: author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, a book that convinced many Northerners that slavery was wrong. It angered many Southerners.
Franklin Pierce: Democratic president elected in 1852 who was largely ineffective - he supported the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Matthew Perry: U.S. naval Commodore who sailed to Japan in the 1850s and forced them to trade with the U.S.
Charles Sumner: abolitionist Senator who was beaten with a cane on the floor of the Senate by Congressman Preston Brooks.
John Brown: radical abolitionist who was responsible for murdering five proslavery settlers at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas & who raided the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry, Virginia in an attempt to start a slave revolt.
James Buchanan: Democratic president who was elected in 1856 because he didn't offend anybody - he was our only bachelor president.
Dred Scott: Missouri slave who had moved with his owner to Illinois & Wisconsin and sued to be free because he had lived in a free state or territory.
Roger Taney: U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice who wrote the majority opinion in the Dred Scott Case - saying that slaves are property and property rights can't be denied under the 5th amendment.
Abraham Lincoln: Illinois Republican defeated by Stephen Douglas for U.S. Senate in 1858 but became well known throughout the country because of his arguments against the spread of slavery.
Mary Todd: well educated wife of Abraham Lincoln who came from a slave-owning Kentucky family.
Chapter 11 - The American Civil War - 1860-1865:
Jefferson Davis: Mississippi Senator who believed in the expansion of slavery; became president of the Confederacy in 1861.
Robert E. Lee: turned down offer to lead Union army; became top Confederate commander; reputation for attacking and defeating larger Union forces.
Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson: Confederate general who earned his nickname at the Battle of Bull Run when he stood his ground and refused to move.
George B. McClellan: young commander of the Army of the Potomac - was great at training the army but was horrible in battle as he thought his was always outnumbered.
Ulysses S. Grant: Union general who had success out west (Ft. Donelson & Shiloh) and was eventually named by Lincoln to take over the whole army to defeat Lee.
Clement Vallandigham: leader of the Copperheads; was arrested for treason and sent to the Confederacy.
George Meade: took command of the Army of the Potomac three days before the Battle of Gettysburg. Defeated Lee at Gettysburg but failed to pursue him after the battle.
George Pickett: Confederate general who led 15,000 troops at the Union center on the last day of fighting at Gettysburg. His division was annihilated.
William Tecumseh Sherman: Grant put him in charge of army to push into Georgia, to the coast & into the Carolinas. He believed in "total war" and devastated the South.
Andrew Johnson: Tennessee Democrat who ran as Lincoln’s vice president in 1864 - became president after Lincoln's death.
Chapter 12 - Reconstruction - 1865 to 1877:
John Wilkes Booth: popular actor of the time period who came up with the conspiracy to kill Abraham Lincoln and several of his cabinet members.
Thaddeus Stevens: Radical Republican Senator from Pennsylvania - authored the 14th amendment - wanted to punish the South for the Civil War.
Edwin M. Stanton: Secretary of War under Lincoln and Johnson; he was fired by Johnson under the Tenure of Office Act – prompting Johnson’s impeachment.
Ulysses S. Grant: Republican Civil War general and hero who won the presidential election of 1868 but whose administration was plagued by corruption.
Horace Greeley: Publisher of the New York Tribune who was the Democratic nominee for president in 1872.
Susan B. Anthony: Women's rights advocate who worked for female suffrage and was the first woman to have a U.S. coin minted in her honor.
William M. Tweed: political boss of New York City's Tammany Hall. He stole millions of dollars from the city, eventually was convicted of fraud and died in jail.
Thomas Nast: cartoonist for Harper's Weekly who drew embarrassing cartoons of Boss Tweed - refused Tweed's bribe to stop drawing the cartoons.
Rutherford B. Hayes: Republican governor of Ohio who won the disputed election of 1876 and whose election signaled the end of Reconstruction.
Samuel Tilden: Democratic governor of New York who won the majority of popular votes in the election of1876 but still lost.