U.S. Hist 1301 Test #1 Vocab

Maize

A staple crop (corn) in the Americas, developed from selectively bred grains and spread with early civilizations.

Signifiance: Developed Mesoamerica’s first settled population.

Anasazi/Pueblo

Ancestral Pueblo people of the Southwest who farmed corn in pueblos; the Spanish referred to them as “Pueblo people.”

Significance: Pueblo settlements were favored by the Spanish and could hold hundreds of people.

Iroquois Confederacy

Included 5 major tribes with military, political, and economic connections. The Iroquois were a “confederacy” because it consisted of multiple tribes.

Significance: The Iroquois were the closest grouping in North America to a modern nation-state.

Powhatan

The major Native American group in Virginia and was named after Chief Powhatan.

Significance: First to interact with early English settlers.

Mansa Musa

Ruler of the Mali Empire; widely regarded as the wealthiest person in history.

Significance: Mali (the richest kingdom in Africa) traded gold and salt with Europe

Fall of Constantinople

The Ottoman capture of Constantinople in 1453 ended the Byzantine Empire and disrupted Silk Road access.

Significance: Prompted Europeans to seek trade overseas (which is what led to the discovery of the Americas).

Henry the Navigator

Portuguese prince who organized exploration and founded a navigation school at Sagres.

Significance: Played a major role in the early stages of Portuguese exploration.

Nzinga Nkuwu

King of the Congo who converted to Catholicism and became John I (1492).

Significance: It was a representation of how European states like Portugal were more likely to trade with catholic nations.

Vasco da Gama

Portuguese explorer who reached India by sailing around Africa; linked Europe to Asia by sea.

Significance: First European to successfully chart a sea route to India, not Columbus.

Christopher Columbus

An Italian sailor sponsored by Isabella and Ferdinand to reach Asia by westward voyage; he landed in the Americas in 1492.

Significance: Opened up knowledge of the Americas to Europe for the first time.

Isabella & Ferdinand

Spanish monarchs who funded Columbus and united Spain’s monarchy; they married in 1469.

Significance: Funded Columbus’s activities in the Americas, which would make Spain an economic powerhouse in Europe.

Taino

Caribbean Indigenous people encountered by Columbus in 1492; subgroups existed; many were devastated by contact.

Significance: This was the first group Columbus interacted with, which thereby gave him a first impression of indigenous Americans.

Treaty of Tordesillas

The 1494 agreement drawn by the Pope divided newly discovered lands between Spain (west) and Portugal (east).
Significance: Allowed Spain to maintain further control of their colonies in the Americas.

Conquistadores

Spanish conquerors who took large parts of the Americas; Cortés and Pizarro led major campaigns.

Significance: They eliminated the majority of Native American society that was in the Americas.

Bartolomé de las Casas

Spanish historian and advocate for Indigenous rights; initially supported the replacement of natives with Africans, later argued against slavery.
Significance: Exposed Spanish cruelty towards Native Americans.

Catherine of Aragon

First wife of Henry VIII; failed to produce a male heir, leading to divorce proceedings.
Significance: Led Henry VIII to split England from the Roman Catholic Church and establish the Church of England.

Henry VIII

An English king who established the Tudor dynasty and the Church of England. He sought legitimate heirs and international recognition.

Significance: Henry VIII played a major role in the English Reformation.

Protestant Reformation

Religious reform movement that challenged the Catholic Church; led to new Christian denominations.

Significance: Divided Christianity within Europe.

Martin Luther

German monk who posted the 95 Theses, challenging Catholic practices and catalyzing the Reformation.

Significance: Caused the Protestant Reformation to occur.

Defender of the Faith

Papal title granted to Henry VIII for defending Catholicism; the title remains associated with him.

Significance: Leader of U.K. still maintains title to this day.

Anne Boleyn

Henry VIII’s second wife; mother of Elizabeth I; executed for alleged adultery.

Signifiance: Mother of Queen Elizabeth I.

Elizabeth I

Queen of England (1558–1603); strengthened Protestantism and established England as a major power.

Significance: She had the longest reign of any English monarch.

Roanoke

Early English colony in Virginia; failed settlement with the disappearance after supply shipwrecks.

Significance: First permanent English settlement.

Walter Raleigh

An English explorer who sponsored the Roanoke colonies and founded ventures in the Virginia area.

Significance: Was a key figure in England’s early colonization of the Americas.

Mercantilism

Economic theory that colonies exist to enrich the mother country; it emphasizes exports over imports.

Signifiance: Was the economic system used by England to make colonies profitable.

James I

English king who authorized the Jamestown venture; named Jamestown after him.

Significance: His reign saw the establishment of English colonies in North America.

Jamestown

Founded in 1607 in Virginia. Directly interacted with the Powhatan tribe.

Significance: First permanent English settlement in North America.

John Smith

English soldier-explorer who helped organize Jamestown and was briefly saved by Pocahontas.

Significance: His leadership played a major role in the early survival of Jamestown.

House of Burgesses

The first representative legislature in the American colonies. Based in Virginia.
Significance: Played a major role in opposition to British rule.

Headright

Land grant (often 50 acres). It was given to settlers to encourage immigration and settlement.
Significance: It populated the colonies in North America.

Plymouth

Settlement established by Separatists in present-day Massachusetts; associated with the Mayflower Compact.
Significance: The birthplace of the Mayflower Compact, America’s first document of self-governance.

Separatists/Pilgrims

Calvinists who separated from the Church of England. Founded Plymouth Colony in New England.
Significance: Formed the Plymouth Company for voyages.

Mayflower

The ship that transported the Separatists, known as Pilgrims, from England to the New World, leading to the establishment of Plymouth Colony.

Signifiance: Would lead to the signing of the Mayflower Compact, an agreement on self-governance.

Tisquantum (Squanto)

A Native American who acted as a guide and interpreter for Plymouth settlers.
Significance: “Cultural bridge” between the Mayflower Pilgrims and the Native Americans.

Puritans

Extreme Calvinists who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholicism settled in New England to seek asylum. They received a charter from King James to form the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which would later merge with Plymouth.

Significance: Established theocratic communities in New England.

Anne Hutchinson

Puritan dissenter expelled from Massachusetts for challenging church authority. She interpreted the scriptures in her own way.

Significance: An early advocate for religious freedom.

Thomas Hooker

Religious reformer who founded a colony on the Connecticut River Valley. The goal was to prevent the Dutch from spreading to Massachusetts.
Significance: Championed democratic principles when founding Connecticut.

George Calvert, Lord Baltimore

The founder of Maryland who received a royal charter from King Charles I to create a Catholic British colony (10 million acres). He used Quit-Rents (taxes on land).

Significance: Represented the Maryland Colony as a Catholic.

New Netherland

Dutch colony around the Hudson River; later seized by the British and renamed New York.
Significance: Made significant profits from the fur trade.

New Sweden

Swedish colony along the Delaware River; later absorbed into other colonies after being taken by the British.

Signifiance: Would eventually become a part of Pennsylvania and evolve into Delaware.

New France

French colony in North America, centered on Quebec (1608) and the Great Lakes region. France partnered with the Iroquois Confederacy to form New France.

Signifiance: Major impact on the Seven Years’ War for the control of the fur trade.

James, Duke of York

The proprietor of New York. He was told by Charles II to conquer the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam. New Amsterdam is renamed New York by him.

Significance: Established English rule in New Amsterdam after conquering it from the Dutch.

Quakers

A religious group that opposed slavery and violence; it founded colonies like Pennsylvania.

Significance: They were early advocates for social justice.

William Penn

The Quaker founder of Pennsylvania. The English King owed him money, so he let him settle a colony in the New World for the Quakers.

Significance: Founded Pennsylvania as a refuge for Quakers.

Navigation Acts (1696)

British laws enforcing colonial trade and granting crown control over colonial economies. Collectors enforced the Navigation Act in the colonies.

Significance: Established England’s mercantilist policies to benefit the mother country.

Writs of Assistance

General search warrants used to enforce trade laws and curb smuggling. Allowed for searching without probable cause.

Significance: Fueled colonial resentment against British overreach.

Nathaniel Bacon

Leader of Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia; opposed the colonial government’s Navigation Acts laws and attacked Native Americans.

Significance: His rebellion revealed the deep social divisions within colonial society.

Hanoverian Succession

Glorious Revolution transfer of power to William III and Mary II; later to the Hanoverian line with George I (of Hanover).
Significance: Placed broader imperial policies, such as salutary neglect, on the American colonies.

George I

First Hanoverian king of Britain; he relied on a prime minister to govern and later declared war on Spain and France.

Signifiance: His rise to the throne contributed to the American Revolution.

Salutary Neglect

The British policy of lax enforcement of trade laws in the colonies was to promote economic growth. Led by Prime Minister Robert Walpole.
Signifiance: Led to the resistance to British control after the policy’s end after the French and Indian War.

Georgia

British colony founded by James Oglethorpe. Served as a buffer between the colonies and Spanish Florida and a penal colony where prisoners were sent.
Significance: Originally prohibited slavery before its laws were changed.

James Oglethorpe

The founder of Georgia who received the charter to establish the settlement. He was a British politician and officer.

Significance: Founded Georgia, which was England’s last colony.

Quartering Act (1765)

An Act requiring colonial residents to house and supply British soldiers. The Act was passed after the French and Indian War.
Significance: Fueled colonial resentment of British authority.

Albany Plan of Union

Benjamin Franklin’s proposed colonial union. It was aimed to coordinate defense and governance, but failed because colonies felt it was unecessary.

Signifiance: A precedent for colonial unity with a centralized government.

Benjamin Franklin

Wealthy, founding-era thinker and statesman. He proposed the Albany Plan and promoted colonial unity.
Signifiance: Worked on the Declaration of Independence.

French and Indian War

The North American part of the Seven Years’ War. Fought over control of the Ohio River Valley, with the French siding with Native American allies.

Signifiance: Removed France as a major colonial power in North America.

Seven Years’ War

Considered the world’s first global conflict that involved major European powers. It ended with British victory in North America.

Signifiance: Resulted in Britain’s rise to global dominance.

George Washington

Colonel in the Virginia militia; led operations in the Ohio River Valley during the war before being elected as a Continental general.
Significance: First President of the United States

William Pitt

The British Prime Minister who led Britain during the early years of the Seven Years’ War but he suffered many losses. Would be replaced with George Grenville.
Signifiance: His leadership helped establish Britain as a major global power.

George III

The King of Britain who oversaw early wartime strategy. Wanted to suppress the colonial rebellion as much as possible.

Significance: He was the first Hanoverian king to speak English and actively suppressed colonial rebellions.

Treaty of Paris 1763

Ended the Seven Years’ War; Britain gained vast territories and France ceded lands in North America.

Significance: Resulted in large debts for Britain.

Proclamation of 1763

Issued by King George III. Prohibited colonial expansion beyond the Appalachian Mountains; reserved the Ohio River Valley for Native Americans.
Signifiance: Attempted to prevent conflict between colonists and Native Americans.

Pontiac

Ottawa leader who organized a confederacy to resist British expansion west of the Appalachians.

Significance: Represents tribal unity against expansion.

Triangular Trade

The three-part transatlantic system of trade routes connected Europe, Africa, and the Americas from the 16th and 19th centuries. Manufactured goods and other items were traded in exchange for African slaves.

Significance: Established a mercantilist global economy that fueled colonial wealth.