Early America and Colonial Beginnings Flashcards
Prior to the arrival of Columbus, where was most of the population of the New World concentrated?
Most of the population of the New World was concentrated in Central and South America, where civilizations such as the Maya, Aztecs, and Incas flourished.
How did the North American Indians view property rights?
With the exception of a few tribes, individual land ownership was virtually unknown. Most tribes did claim territorial lands for hunting and gathering, to the exclusion of other tribes. Among many of the Woodland Tribes, inheritance was matrilineal. [descent]
Where was Cahokia?
Cahokia was located on the banks of the Mississippi River, near modern-day St. Louis, and was characterized by massive burial mounds.
Cahokia was the largest urban concentration of Indians north of Mexico. Before it was abandoned in circa 1400 A.D., some 40,000 people were estimated to have lived there.
About 40,000 years ago, migrants began arriving in the Americas over the _____ _____ _____
Bering Land Bridge
Many archeologists believe that tribes of hunter-gatherers crossed over dry land which once connected Siberia with Alaska, as a result of a drop in sea levels during the Pleistocene Ice Age. This migration is estimated to have taken place between 40,000 and 20,000 years ago.
What was the first permanent English colony in the New World?
Jamestown, Virginia, established in 1607, was England’s first permanent colony in the New World. The Virginia Company, a joint-stock company, received a charter from King James I.
A previous colony at Roanoke mysteriously disappeared, but the Jamestown colony survived despite disease and poor planning.
Historian Alfred Crosby coined a term to describe the interchange of flora, fauna, and diseases between Europe and the New World. What is that term?
Columbian Exchange
Before European contact, there were no crowd-spread diseases, nor domesticated animals in the New World. Hearty American crops such as corn, potatoes, and cassava were brought back to Europe, helping to alleviate food shortages there.
Though Europeans didn’t understand pollination, they enjoyed honey and brought European honeybees to the New World.
What problems affected the Jamestown Colony?
Jamestown’s problems included:
- disease: the colony was built in a low-lying, marshy area
- food shortages: many settlers wanted to search for gold instead of growing crops or hunting
- labor shortages: many former merchant settlers were unused to physical labor
Under John Smith’s policy of “no work, no food” Jamestown’s conditions improved for a while, but then deteriorated during the “starving time.”
How did tobacco influence the Chesapeake colonies?
John Rolfe introduced tobacco to Virginia, which created a virtual boom economy in the Chesapeake region. The labor-intensive cultivation of tobacco led to the growth of slavery in the Chesapeake colonies.
A tobacco blend developed by John Rolfe and his wife, Pocahontas, proved particularly popular in England.
What was the Asiento System?
As the Indians died from disease and overwork, the Spanish turned to the Asiento System to make up for the labor shortage. Under the Asiento System, African slaves were carried to the Americas and a tax was paid to the Spanish crown for each slave imported.
The Asiento System was a forerunner of the Triangular Trade System, and resulted in hundreds of thousands of slaves being brought to the New World.
What was the Virginia House of Burgesses?
The Virginia House of Burgesses was the first lawmaking body in the New World.
Twelve years after the founding of the Jamestown Colony, the Virginia Company sought to encourage colonization in Virginia by establishing a lawmaking body, which allowed the populace to govern itself.
The current lower house of Virginia’s General Assembly is a direct descendant of the original House of Burgesses.
What was the Encomienda System?
Under the Encomienda System, the Spanish government provided grants of land and Indians to individual Spaniards who were supposed to care for the Indians and convert them to Catholicism. The system resulted in virtual slavery for the Indians consigned to Spanish care and most died from brutal treatment or disease.
To replace Indian labor, Spain arranged for the importation of slaves from Africa, under the Asiento System.
Besides Mexico and Central and South America, what other locations did the Spanish colonize?
The Spanish also colonized Texas, New Mexico, Florida, and California.
In California, the Spanish founded San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, and under Father Junipero Serra planted religious missions along the California coast.
The Spanish mission at San Juan Capistrano, in Orange County, California, was founded by Father Serra on July 4, 1776.
Who founded the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies?
The Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies were founded by Puritan Separatists. The English allowed the troublemaking Puritan Separatists to settle in the New World as an easy means of getting them out of the way.
Who were the Puritans?
The Puritans sought to “purify” Christian religious practices, and constituted a threat to the Church of England. A subset of these Puritans, known as Separatists, sought to leave the Church of England entirely.
The Church of England had been founded by English monarch Henry VIII, so that he could divorce his wife, free from papal interference. As the religious embodiment of the King, any threat to the Church of England was a threat to the King himself. [MN: So Puritans and Pilgrims fled the old country for their lives to escape persecution. It had nothing to do with the Old World wanting to spread Christianity like most people think.]
What was the governing document of the Plymouth Colony?
Aboard the Mayflower, the Puritan Separatists signed the Mayflower Compact (1620), which established majority rule and self-government for the Plymouth Colony.
Historians typically refer to these Puritan Separatists as “Pilgrims,” because their trip was religiously motivated, and thus was a pilgrimage.
