Unit 1-2 (1491-1754) Flashcards
Act of Religious Toleration
Passed by the Maryland Assembly in 1649, granted religious freedom to all Christians. Established the Chesapeake Bay Colony, under Catholic Lord Calvert, as a haven for Catholics in the North America.
Albany Plan (of Union)
1754 plan conceived of by Benjamin Franklin to create a more centralized coloinal government that would establish policies regarding defrense, trade, and territorial expansion, as well as aim to facilitate better relations between colonists and American Indians. THe plan was rejected and never implemented.
Anglicization
Adoption of English customs and traditions. This shaped colonial culture and politics in 18th-Century North America, through the adoption of English legal and social traditions in the colonies
Anglo-Powhatan Wars
Series of conflicts in the 1620s between the Powhatan Confederacy and English settlers in Virginia and Maryland
Anne Hutchinson
Critic of the clerical doctrine of grace who sparked the Antinomian heresy that challenged the spiritual authority of established clergy in the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Antinomianism
A belief that salvation comes from God’s grace alone and not from good works; the elect need not obey the law of neither God nor man; most notably espoused in the colonies by Anne Hutchinson
Aristocracy
Members of the highest class of society, typically nobility who inherited ranks & titles
Atlantic World
The Peoples & Empires around the Atlantic Ocean rim that became interconnected in the 16th Century
Aztec
Spanish word for the Mexica, an indigenous people who built an empire in present-day Mexico in the centuries before the arrival of the Spaniards
Bacon’s Rebellion
1676 uprising in Virginia led by Nathaniel Bacon. Bacon and his followers, a mix of former and current indentured servants, as well as Black slaves, were upset by the Virginia governor’s unwillingness to send troops to intervene in conflicts between settlers and American Indians, and by the lack of representation of Western settlers in the House of Burgesses. Ultimately resulted in a sharper deleniation between Native and white spheres of influence, the decline of indentured servitude and its replacement by chattell slavery as the primary labor force in the MIddle and Southern colonies.
Bartoleme de las Casas
Dominican Friar who fought for fairer treatment of indigenous people in Spanish colonies
Battle of Quebec
(1759) Historic British victory over French forces on the outskirts of Quebec. The surrender of Quebec marked the neginning of the end of French rule in North America.
Benjamin Franklin
Inventor, author, statesman, diplomat in the 1700s; served as colonial agent in England during the early part of the conflict between the colonies and England
Borderlands
Places where 2 or more nations or societies border each other, and where power is dispensed among competing actors, resulting in fluid social relations, hybrod cultures, and the absence of firmly agreed sovereignty. During the colonial era in North America, borderlands were often places where European empires and native American societies engaged with each other, including the Great Lakes and the Missouri Valley regions. Other examples include the vast territory from Texas to California where Hispanic and Anglophone cultures have intermingled for centuries.
Boston Massacre
Inflammatory description of a deadly clash between a mob and British soldiers on March 5, 1770, that became a symbol of British oppression for many colonistst
Boston Tea Party
Dramatic attempt by Boston leaders to show colonial contempt for the Tea Act; Sons of Liberty, dressed as Mohawk Indians dumped British tea into Boston Harbor; triggered similar actions across the colonies
Buffer State/Zone
In politics, a territory betwen 2 antagonistic powers, intended to minimize the possibility of conflict between them. In British North America, Georgia was established as a buffer colony between British and Spanish territory.
Cahokia
Major trading center in the Missisippi River Valley near modern-day St. Louis, from the 7th-13th Centuries
Calvinism
Protestant sect developed in Switzerland by John Calvin, in which civil judges and reformed ministers ruled over a Christian society
Capitalism
An economic system based on private ownership of property and the open exchange goods between property holders on th “free market”. European colonization of the Americas, and in particular, the discovery of vast bullion deposits, helped bring about Europe’s transition to capitalism.
Cash Crop
A crop produced for profit rather than subsistence
Casta System
System developed by the Spanish in the 16th Century to administer colonies and their diverse populations; based on racial hierarchy that priveleged Europeans
Cecilius Calvert
2nd Lord of Baltimore who helped found Baltimore Maryland with his father George Calvert
Charter
Legal document granted by a government to some group or agency to implement a stated purpose and spelling out the attending rigths and obligaitons. British colonial charters guaranteed inhabitants all the rights of Englishmen, which helped solidify colonists’ ties to Britain during the early years of settlement.