The Colonial Period Flashcards
Beringa
An ancient land bridge linking Asia and N. America
Black Death
2 strains of Bulbonic Plague that swept Western Europe in 14th century, killed almost half of the population
Chasquis
Incan relay runners used to send messages over great distances
Chattel slavery
A system of servitude where people are bought and sold as property
China apas
Floating Aztec gardens that allowed for irrigation
Crusades
A series of military expeditions made by Christian Europeans to recover the holy lands in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries
Feudal society
A social arrangement in which serfs and knights provided labor and military service to noble lords, receiving protection and land use in return
Inquisition
A campaign by the Catholic Church to root out heresy, especially among converted Jews and Muslims
Koran
The sacred book of Islam, written by the prophet Muhammad in the 17th century
Matriarchy
A society in which women have political power
Mita
The Incan labor tax, each family donates time and labor to communal projects
Polygyny
The practice of taking more than one wife
Quipu
An ancient Incan device for recording info, has various colored threads knitted in different ways
Reconquista
Spain’s nearly 800 year war on Islam, ended in 1492
Serf
A peasant tied to the land and it’s lord
Black Legend
Spain’s reputation as bloodthirsty conquistadors
Calvanism
A branch of Protestantism started by John Calvin emphasizing predestination
Colombian exchange
The movement of plants, animals and diseases across the Atlantic due to European exploitation of the Americas
Commodification
The transformation of something into a commodity of monetary value
Encomienda
Legal rights to native labor as granted by the Spanish crown
Hispanolia
Island in the Caribbean, present day Haiti and the Dominican Republic, where Columbus first landed and established a Spanish colony
Indulgences
Documents for sinners to purchase that absolved them of sin
Joint stock company
A business entity in which investors provide the capital and assume the risk in order to reap significant benefits
Mercantilism
Protectionist economic principle that nations should control trade over their colonies to ensure a favorable balance of trade
Mourning wars
Raids or wars by tribes in eastern North America to replace members lost by smallpox and other disease
Pilgrims
Separatists, led by William Bradford, who established the first English settlement in New England
Privateers
Sea captains to which Britain gave permission to raid Spanish ships at will
Probanza de merito
Proof of merit: a letter written by an explorer to the Spanish crown to gain royal patronage
Protestant reformation
The schism in Catholicism that began with Martin Luther and John Calvin in the early 16th century
Puritans
A group of religious reformers in the 16th and 17th centuries who wanted to “purify“ the Church of England by cutting out things associated with the Catholic Church
Roanoke
The 1st English colony in Virginia, which mysteriously disappeared sometime between 1587 and 1590
Separatists
A faction of puritans who wanted complete separation from the Church of England
Smallpox
A disease that the English unknowingly brought to the new world killing millions of Indians who had no immunity to the disease
Sugarcane
One of the primary crops of the Americas, which required a lot of labor to cultivate
Headright system
a system in which parcels of land were granted to settlers who could pay their own way to Virginia
Indenture
A labor contract that promised young men, and sometimes women, money and land after they worked for a certain number of years
Jesuits
Members of the society of Jesus, an elite catholic religious order founded in the 1540s to spread Catholicism and to combat Protestantism
Maroon communities
Groups or runaway slaves who resisted recapture and lived off the land
Middle passage
Transatlantic crossing of slave ships from African coast to the new world
Musket
A light long barreled European gun
Patroonships
Large tracts of land and governing rights granted by the Dutch West India Company in order to encourage colonization
Repartimiento
A Spanish colonial system requiring Indian towns to supply workers for the colonizers
Timicua
The native people of Florida, whom the Spanish displaced with the founding of St. Augustine, the 1st spanish settlement in the new world
Wampum
Shell beads used in ceremonies and as jewelry and currency
Deism
An enlightenment era belief in a supreme being who does not intervene for mankind
Dominion of new England
King James II’s consolidated New England colony from new Hagen to Massachusetts later inc New Jersey and New York
English interregnum
The period between 1649 and 1660 when England had no king
Enlightenment
An 18th century intellectual and cultural movement that emphasized reason and science over superstition, religion and tradition
1st Great Awakening
An 18th century Protestant revival that emphasized individual faith or church doctrine and the close study of scripture
Freemasons
An early 18th century fraternity that advocated Enlightenment principles of inquiry and tolerance
French and Indian War
The last 18th century imperial struggle between Great British and France, leading to decisive British win, lasted between 1754 to 1763, a.k.a The The 7 Year War
Glorious Revolution
The overthrow of James II in 1688
Navigation Acts
A series of English mercantilist laws enacted between 1651 and 1696 in order to control trade with the colonies
Nonconformists
Protestants who did not conform to the practices or doctrines of the Church of England
Proprietary colonies
Colonies granted by the king to an individual, family or group
restoration colonies
Colonies King Charles II supported or established during the restoration (the Carolinas, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania)
Salutary neglect
The laxness with which the English crown enforced the navigation acts in the 18th century
Boston massacre
Confrontation between bostontonians and British soldiers on March 5, 1770. 5 people died including Crispus Attacus, 1st official casualty in war for independence
Coercive Acts
4 Acts (Administration of Justice Act, Mass. Gov’t Act, Port Bill, Quartering Act) that Lord North passes for destroying the tea and refusing to pay for the damages
Committees of Correspondence
Colonial extralegal shadow gov’ts that met to discuss plans of resistance against british
Daughters of liberty
Well-born British colonial women who led non-importation movement against British goods
Direct tax
A tax that consumers pay directly , rather than through merchants higher prices
Indirect tax
Tax imposed on business, not consumers
Intolerable acts
The name American patriots gave the coherence acts and the Quebec Act
Loyalists
Colonists in America loyal to great Britain
Massachusetts circular
Letter by son of liberty Samuel Adams that laid out he unconstitutionality of taxation without representation and encouraged the other colonies to boycott British goods
No taxation without representation
The principle, 1st articulated in the Virginia Stamp Act resolutions that the colonies need to be represented in parliament if they were to be taxed
Non-importation movement
A widespread colonial boycott of British goods
Proclamation line
A line along the Appalachian Mountains, imposed by the Proclamation of 1763, west of which British colonists could not settle
Sons of liberty
Artisans, shopkeepers and small time merchants who opposed the Stamp Act and considered themselves British Patriots
Suffolk Resolves
a Mass. plan of resistance to the Intolerable Acts that formed the basis of the eventual plan adopted by the 1s6 Continental Congress for resisting the British, inc the arming of militias and the adoption of a widespread non-importation, non-exportation, and non-consumption agreement
vice-admiralty courts
British royal courts w/o juries that settled disputes occurring at sea
