Vocabulary Flashcards from The American Pageant Notes

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the lecture notes on early American history, including the columbian exchange, colonial developments, and the colonial era’s major events and peoples.

Columbian Exchange

The transfer of crops, animals, diseases, and cultures between the Old World and the New World after 1492.

Encomienda

Spanish system granting conquerors the right to extract forced labor from Native Americans in return for supposedly Christianizing them; effectively slavery.

Headright system

Land grants of 50 acres to settlers who paid for an immigrant’s passage, encouraging land ownership and expansion.

Indentured servant

A person who agrees to work for a set term in exchange for passage to America and eventual freedom dues.

Jamestown

First permanent English settlement in North America, founded in 1607 in Virginia.

Powhatan

Leader of a network of Algonquian tribes and ruler of the Powhatan Confederacy around the James River area.

Pocahontas

Powhatan woman who aided John Smith, later married John Rolfe, symbolizing early Algonquian–English relations.

House of Burgesses

Virginia’s first representative assembly, established in 1619.

Mayflower Compact

Agreement signed by the Plymouth settlers to govern themselves by majority rule.

Puritans

Religious reformers who sought to purify the Church of England; settled mainly in New England; emphasized a covenant community and visible saints.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

Puritan settlement founded in 1630 under John Winthrop; influential in shaping colonial New England.

Roger Williams

Puritan dissenter who founded Rhode Island and advocated religious liberty and separation of church and state.

Rhode Island

Colony founded by Roger Williams; guaranteed religious liberty and became a haven for dissenters.

Anne Hutchinson

Puritan dissenter banished for antinomianism; her trial highlighted tensions in the Bay Colony.

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

Early colonial constitution that established a democratically controlled regime in Connecticut.

King Philip’s War

Metacom (King Philip) led a 1675–1676 Native uprising against English settlers in New England; slowed colonial expansion.

Albany Plan of Union

Benjamin Franklin’s 1754 proposal for intercolonial unity; “Join, or Die” cartoon; rejected by colonies and Britain.

Albany Congress

1754 intercolonial conference to coordinate defense; highlighted colonists’ desire for limited unity.

Proclamation of 1763

British decree prohibiting settlement beyond the Appalachian Mountains to stabilize relations with Native Americans.

Zenger Trial

1734–35 case in which John Peter Zenger’s newspaper was defended for printing truth; helped establish freedom of the press.

Great Awakening

Religious revival in the 1730s–1740s led by Edwards and Whitefield; broadened religious participation and weakened old clergy.

Mercantilism

Economic theory that nations should accumulate wealth through trade regulation; colonies exist for the benefit of the mother country.

Quakers

Religious group (Religious Society of Friends) known for pacifism, religious tolerance, and William Penn’s founding of Pennsylvania.

William Penn

Founder of Pennsylvania; a Quaker who promoted religious liberty and established Philadelphia.

Pennsylvania

Colony founded by William Penn in 1681; known for tolerance, diverse settlers, and the “bread colonies.”

New France

France’s North American empire centered in Canada (Quebec and Montreal); focused on fur trade and missionary efforts.

Coureurs de bois

French fur-traders and explorers who linked beaver territories with Indigenous allies; played a key role in early French expansion.

Pontiac’s uprising

1763 Native American rebellion led by Pontiac against British postwar policies in the Ohio country; suppressed by British and colonial forces.

French and Indian War (Seven Years’ War)

Conflict (1754–1763) between Britain and France in North America; British victory expelled France from Canada and reshaped North American power.