Steamboat Heroine
Glossary
archaeology: The study of past peoples by analyzing excavated artifacts, inscriptions, monuments, and other remains.
artifact: An object made or used by humans from the past.
autonomy: The right or condition of self-government.
cargo: The goods or freight on a ship, airplane, or other vehicle.
chambermaid: A maid who cleans bedrooms or bathrooms.
cholera: A diarrheal disease caused by eating or drinking food or water that has bacteria in it.
commercial agriculture: Large-scale production of crops for sale in markets.
cultural diffusion: The spread of the beliefs and practices of one culture to other cultures.
economy: The production and exchange of goods and services that create wealth in a country or region.
excavation: The process of digging, cutting, scooping, and removing material at an archaeological site.
Five Tribes: A term used during the mid-nineteenth century to refer to the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminole tribes.
forced removal: The removal of American Indians by the US government from their homelands in the Eastern US to Indian Territory.
foundries: A workshop or factory that makes metal.
Freedmen: An emancipated slave.
Great Raft: Also known as the Red River Raft; an extensive logjam formed in the Red River that impeded navigation on the upper part of the river.
hazardous: Involving or exposing one to risk or danger.
hierarchy: A system in which people or groups are ranked above the other according to status or authority.
immigrant: A person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country.
market revolution: Period in the 1820s and 1830s in which most people began to sell their goods and services. migrant: A person who moves from one place to another, within a country, especially in order to find work or better living conditions.
navigation: The process of controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.
pelts: A skin of an animal.
roustabout: A semi-skilled laborer with no regular occupation who worked as deckhand on western steamboats.
scalding: Very hot to the point of burning.
semi-skilled: Work that does not require advanced training or special skills.
snag: A tree or branch on the bottom of a body of water that makes navigation dangerous.
social stratification: A system in which society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy with categories including wealth, income, and race.
steam engine: An engine that uses the expansion or rapid condensation of steam to generate power.
supply and demand: The amount of goods and services available for people to buy compared to the amount of goods and services people want to buy. (If less is available to buy, then more can be charged for the goods or service.)
transportation revolution: The construction of canals, roads, steamboats, brisdges, and railroads to increase transportation of goods and people.
unskilled laborers: Workers with little or no training or experience.
washouts: Disappearance of a riverbed due to flooding.
