Periods 1 & 2 Flashcards
Aztecs
A Native American tribe that built remarkable cities in the rain forests of the Yucatán Peninsula between the years 300 and 800.
Corn (Maize)
A crop cultivated by the Mayas and Aztecs that provided a stable food supply.
Iroquois Confederation
A powerful political union made up of the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, and Tuscaroras tribes living near the Great Lakes and in New York. Also known as the Haudenosauanee, this powerful union battled rival American Indians as well as Europeans.
Treaty of Tordesillas
An agreement in which Spain and Portugal moved the pope’s line a few degrees to the west and established Portugal’s claim to Brazil while Spain claimed the rest of the Americas, although these claims were soon challenged by other European countries.
Roanoke Island
An English colonial settlement established by Sir Walter Raleigh off the coast of North Carolina that failed mysteriously.
Protestant Reformation
Certain Christians in Germany, England, France, Holland, and other northern European countries revolted against the authority of the pope in Rome, leading to a series of religious wars that resulted in many millions of deaths in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Smallpox
A disease brought from Europe to the Americas via the Columbian Exchange that resulted in the deaths of most of the native population.
Capitalism
An economic system in which control of capital (money and machinery) became more important than control of land.
Joint-Stock Company
A business owned by a large number of investors. If a voyage failed, investors lost only what they had invested. By reducing individual risk, joint-stock companies encouraged investment, thereby promoting economic growth.
Encomienda
A Spanish system used to control Native American populations in which Spain’s king granted natives who lived on a tract of land to individual Spaniards. These Native Americans were forced to farm or work in the mines. The fruits of their labors went to the Spanish, who in turn had to “care” for the Native Americans.
Conquistadores
Adventurous Spanish explorers and conquerors such as Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro.
Middle Passage
The voyage across the Atlantic Ocean that slave traders traveled through.
Valladolid Debate
The debate over the role of Native Americans in the Spanish colonies came to a head in this formal debate in 1550-1551 in Valladolid, Spain. On one side, Las Casas argued that the Indians were completely human and morally equal to Europeans, so enslaving them was not justified. On the other side, another priest, Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, argued that Indians were less than human. Hence, they benefited from serving the Spaniards in the encomienda system. Neither side clearly persuaded the entire audience. Though Las Casas was unable to gain equal treatment for Native Americans, he established the basic arguments on behalf of justice for Native Americans.
Act of Toleration
The first colonial statute granting religious freedom to all Christians. However, the statute also called for the death of anyone who denied the divinity of Jesus.
Holy Experiment
A term used to describe Pennsylvania, a road expanse of forested land to the west of New Jersey that the royal family gave to a military and political leader, William Penn, in payment for a debt. Pennsylvania as dominated largely by Quakers.
Jamestown
The first permanent English colony in America, led by Captain John Smith.
Pilgrims
A term that came to be used to describe the several hundred Separatists that left England for Holland in search of religious freedom.
Virginia House of Burgesses
The first representative assembly in America, organized by Virginia colonists in 1619. It was dominated by elite planters.
Mayflower Compact
A document drawn up and signed by the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower in 1620 in which they pledged to make decisions by the will of the majority. This was an early form of self-government and a rudimentary written constitution.
Royal Colonies
Colonies, such as Virginia after 1624, that were to be under the direct authority and rule of the king’s government.
Proprietary Colonies
Colonies, such as Maryland and Pennsylvania, that were under the authority of individuals granted charters of ownership by the king.
Virginia Company
A joint-stock company that founded the first permanent English colony in America at Jamestown in 1607.
Triangular Trade
A three-part triangular route that connected North America, Africa, and Europe in various ways. A typical voyage might begin with New England carrying rum across the Atlantic to West Africa. There, the rum would be traded for hundreds of captive Africans. The Africans that survived the voyage across the Middle Passage would be traded in the West Indies for sugarcane. The ship would then return to a New England port where the sugar would be sold to be made into rum.
Mercantilism
A nation’s power is equal to its wealth. In this system, colonies only exist to enrich the parent country by providing raw materials to promote that country’s industries.
Navigation Acts
These acts established three rules for colonial trade:
1. Trade to and from the colonies could be carried only by English or colonial-built ships operated only by English or colonial crews.
2. All goods imported into the colonies, except for some perishables, had to pass through ports in England.
3. Specified or “enumerated” goods from the colonies could be exported to England only. Tobacco was the original enumerated” good, but over the years, the list was greatly expanded.
Glorious Revolution
An uprising in which James II was deposed and replaced with William and Mary, bringing the Dominion of New England to an end.
Metacom’s/King Philip’s War
Metacom/King Philip, the chief of the Wampanoag, united many tribes in southern New England in response to English settlers encroaching on Native American lands. Some tribes, such as the Mohegans and Pequots, supported the colonists because of their long-standing rivalry with the Wampanoag. In the resulting conflict, several villages were burned to the ground, hundreds of people were killed, and thousands of people were injured. Eventually, the colonial forces and their Native American allies prevailed, killing Metacom and ending most Native American resistance in New England.
Bacon’s Rebellion
Nathaniel Bacon, an impoverished gentleman farmer, seized upon the grievances of the western farmers to lead a rebellion against Berkeley’s government. He raised an army of volunteers and conducted a series of raids and massacres against Native American villages on the frontier, including some who had friendly relationships with the colonial government. Berkeley’s government in Jamestown accused Bacon of rebelling against royal authority. Bacon’s army defeated the governor’s forces and burned the Jamestown settlement. Soon afterward, Bacon died of dysentery, and the rebel army collapsed. Governor Berkeley suppressed the remnants of the insurrection, executing 23 rebels.
Pueblo Revolt
Various tribes of Pueblo Native Americans, including the Hopi and Zuni, united against the Spanish. Hundreds of people died in the fighting, and the Spanish were driven from the area until 1692.
Indentured Servants
Under contract with a master or landowner who paid for their passage, those from the British Isles agreed to work for a specified period - usually four to seven years - in return for room and board. Indentured servants were under the absolute rule of their masters until the end of their work period. At the end of that period, they gained their freedom and could work for wages or obtain land of their own.
Headright System
Virginia offered 50 acres of land to each immigrant who paid for his own passage and to any plantation owner who paid for an immigrant’s passage.
Religious Toleration
The permitted practice of different religions.
Great Awakening
A movement of fervent expressions of religious feeling among the masses.
Hereditary Aristocracy
A noble rank, status or title that is customarily bequeathed to future generations.
Enlightenment
A European movement in literature and philosophy focused on reason.
Town Meetings
A meeting of the voters of a town for the transaction of public business.
