| A | B |
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| partnership | The cooperative relationship between two or more people who are involved in the same activity. |
| peninsula | An area of land surrounded on three sides by water. Italy, Greece, and the southern part of India are all peninsulas. |
| philosophy | A system of thought devoted to the examination of ideas such as truth, existence, reality, causality, religion, and freedom |
| priest | A spiritual leader in a variety of religions. |
| property | Something of value that is owned by a person. |
| raw materials | Various materials found in nature used in manufacturing such as wood, coal, and oil. |
| relay runners | The passing of information through a series of runners. |
| Renaissance | A rebirth of cultural and intellectual pursuits after the stagnation of the Middle Ages. This period in European history, from about the 14th through 16th centuries, features major cultural and artistic change. |
| representative democracy | A system of government where the legislative, judicial, and executive powers are held by directly or indirectly elected officials. |
| republic | A political system in which a country is ruled by law, has representative government, and is democratic in nature. |
| revolution | a dramatic change in ideas, practice, or government. |
| rigid social class system | A social class system where there is no mobility. A person remains in the same class their entire life. |
| sanitation | Services including the collection and disposal of sewage and garbage. |
| serfs | Farmers who were tied to the land during European feudalism. They were not slaves because they could not be bought or sold, but they could not readily leave the manor either. Serfs were given land to farm in exchange for service to their lord. This service usually involved working the lord's fields, maintaining roads and the manor, and providing military service in times of war. Serfs paid taxes to their lord in the form of crops. This is also how the paid the fee to use the manor's mill or other services. |
| Silk Road | Trade route from China to the Middle East. Called the Silk Road due to China’s most important export. |
| slave | A person forced to work for another with no payment or freedom to seek work elsewhere. A slave can be bought and sold. |
| slave trade | The buying and selling of people for the purposes of slavery. |
| slavery | A system of forced labor. |
| Smith, Adam | (1723-1790) British philosopher, writer, and economist. His book, The Wealth of Nations, describes his theory on free trade, otherwise known as laissez-faire economics. |
| social class | A group of people within a society who share the same social, political, and economic status. |
