American History - Pro, 1, and 2 Flashcards
How did the first people come to N and SA?
- northern Asian wanderers migrated across a land bridge (exposed bc of glaciers) linking Siberia and Alaska, then moving down Americas
- 30,000 yrs. ago
Where was the heaviest concentration of natives?
central Mexico - Aztecs
About how many natives probably lived in NA?
5-10 million
What was the largest urban center in NA?
Cahokia - modern day St. Louis, 20,000, London
Natives = more/fewer languages?
more
Natives = more/less power among women?
more
What is a shaman?
individuals credited by the community with special powers to communicate with natural forces and the spirit world
roles of men and women
Natives:
-women = more power (ex-male Iroquois in council and senior women stood behind to force their influence)
-descent through mother’s line
-control over farming (planted and gathered) while men hunted
English:
-women viewed as accessory in some arranged marriages
-descent through father’s line
-male-dominated farming while women took care of household and children
attitudes toward property
Natives: -hunting/fishing rights, division of harvest, capture of brides = show off strength -land used, not owned (always moving across vast land), did not buy/sell land English: -property rights - "this is my land" -wars: devastating over property -"ownership," not roaming -saw that Indians had no prior claim
marriage and family
Natives:
-birth = major event (easy delivery, celebration, name after recent death)
-united two clans
-no true pattern for divorce/adultery/pre-marital sex
-no incest
English:
-birth not a big event, not an easy delivery
-united two families (business venture)
-above characteristics = frowned upon
religious beliefs
Natives: -agents of creation, instruments of blessing/curse, guides to immortality -active gods - many superstitions -priests = oracles -similar stories of flood to Bible English: -Protestant (Church of England vs. Puritans) vs. Catholic -believe in immortality and active God -bishops/pope = hear from God
Why is the study of native history different from the study of Euro history?
Native:
-archeology
-using dating methods when finding artifacts
-find out about them through evidence
Euro:
-written records: they tell us about themselves
-more geared toward historians
In what way is Columbus the “effective” discoverer of the New World?
- instigated voyage with Spain
- Vikings have previously traveled to NA and there were natives, so technically, he didn’t discover it
- brought back accounts of friendly natives, wanted to claim land for Spain, sought gold, advance Christianity
Discuss the relationship that existed between France and Spain. Why did they normally not claim or invade one another’s New World possessions?
- didn’t have many interactions because the French invested and grew wealthy in fur trade
- Newfoundland/New England
- Spanish = Caribbean/gold/slave trade
- only interaction = French inspired by Spanish to send explorers (Cartier and Verrazzano)
The Renaissance
“Age of Discovery”
- recovered ancient tests and brought Roman/Greek culture back
- fresh inspiration and imagination led explorers to take risks and throw off tradition
Reformation
- faith above works - no indulgences, don’t have to work for your faith inspired a philosophy of equality
- throwing off Catholic tradition - pope = irritation, don’t seek his help as much (leads to Church of England which then leads to Pilgrims)
- “calling” - dedicated labor to let the world know the gospel (inspired a capitalist society - more work)
the growth of nations
- Spain = powerful force both militarily and spiritually (promoted Catholicism to New World - Ignatius Loyola)
- France - caught up in religious war (protestants vs. Catholics) - St. Bartholomew’s Day
- spiritual wars = faith defining characteristic of nations (nationalism which promoted exploration)
Why did European nations appear to have no moral or religious constraints against slavery in this era?
- saw themselves as conquerors/discoverers so they had authority over all the earth
- they did not have “civilization” and did not speak the “civilized” language
- needed workers for tobacco plantations
Positive and negative results of interaction between natives and english
Positive: helped colonists survive with intro of tobacco and other crops, gospel message
Negative: disease killed off multitude of Indians, pushing Indians off their land
Jamestown
Virginia Company of London, economic venture (make money), settled New World for monarch, “new and abundant opportunity,” unemployment
Maryland
Lord Baltimore = proprietor, haven for Catholics who were being persecuted in England but Charles I (being a Catholic) granted Calvert land (Baltimore’s father)
Plymouth
conformity to Catholic law was demanded, so Separatists were often placed in jail, fled to Holland to escape persecution but disliked it, so cont. on to “Virginia,” Mayflower
Massachusetts Bay
-conform vs. defy, Charles I = even harsher than James I, Charles I dissolved Parliament = applied for charter directly to king under MBC
In what way was tobacco a mixed blessing to the Virginia colony?
- Indians used it to survive 4-5 day without food/water
- medicinal purposes
- product that could sell (1.5 million pounds)
- problems in getting the seeds (had to be imported from Caribbean/Venezuela
- unhealthy
- slaves/binding labor
Describe the rise of indentured servitude and slavery in the colonies, and how they were similar and different.
- needed a study source of labor to work farms (harvest/plant corn)
- gentlemen occupied themselves with hunting
- indentured: unemployed/impoverished Englishmen sell themselves into labor to gain free passage and resources when their time ended
- slavery: transatlantic business, selling “cargo” to masters, emergence of racism - governed by different laws, never freed
Describe the similarities and differences between Pilgrims and Puritans.
Pilgrims: wanted all remaining catholic doctrine to be loosed from the church of England, bc of this, leave country
Puritans: labored for reform, wanted a “true church” of “visible saints,” not as much of a struggle with disease, colony thrived in terms of population, civilization ruled only by NT similar: conform vs. defy, families, roughly same area
In what ways were the southern colonies similar/dissimilar from the New England colonies even in the earliest days of the English period?
Southern: tobacco plantations, labor = slavery, still struggles with Natives, more economic venture
NE: small farms, labor = family, small towns = village life, more struggles with natives, religious freedom
consequences: slavery - Civil War
joint stock company
a form of business organization in which investors pooled their capital and shared in profits/losses
east india company
major joint stock Co. central role in expansion and control of English trade, making loans to state/prime mover in colonizing efforts
act for religious toleration
all Christians who professed belief in the Trinity have the right to freely worship and freedom from coercion in religion
indenture
document of specific time of binding labor in exchange for passage and “freedom dues” such as tools, livestock, and land
indentured servant
comes to America under contract for (usually) 7 years
Massachusetts Bay Company
group of Puritans led by JW formed this to migrate to America
Great Migration
larges numbers of Puritan families across Atlantic seeking religious freedom, destination =MBC, 1630s
Congregationalism
church govt - local church governs itself, no hierarchy of churches
King Philip’s war
war between Wompanoags, Metacomet, and Plymouth, English towns attacked, earliest conflicts between natives and English, ended with death of Metacomet
Bacon’s Rebellion
1676, citizen militia, series of raids against native villages, defeat Sir Berkeley’s forces, fire to Jamestown, signaled problems of social division, resistance on part of colonists against royal govt, the difficulty of controlling former indentured servants, increase in black slaves
Cape Cod
Plymouth, Massachusetts (Separatists)
Providence
Williams = leader, traveled south to settle after thrown out of MBC, colony of RI
New England
Northern states/colonies, RI/Mass
William Bradford
Plymouth, elected governor 30x, led Pilgrims
John Winthrop
governor of MBC and Puritan minister, “city upon a hill” (Christian world = emulate), most influential of leaders in New England
Roger Williams
non-Puritan, dissenter, minister from Salem, no right to take land from natives, rule of govt irrelevant with conscience, separation of church and state
Anne Hutchinson
- dissenter, chosen people either predestined for heaven or not, prayer meetings and direct relationship with God = thrown out of MBC
- antinomialism - did not have to obey God’s or man’s laws bc of predestination
Powhatan
leader of Indian confederation next to Jamestown, wanted peace with the Indians, gave daughter to Rolfe for peace
John Smith
original six council members in Jamestown, wanted peace with the Indians, required everyone to work for food
Pocahontas
English language/manners, baptized into Church of England, married Rolfe to promote peace
