period 1&2 key terms

Anasazi –

Early Southwest Native Americans who built cliff dwellings; important for showing adaptation to arid environments.

Pueblos

Descendants of Anasazi; built permanent towns in the Southwest; resisted Spanish colonization in the Pueblo Revolt (1680).

Adena-Hopewell (Woodland Mound Builders)

– Ohio Valley culture that built large burial/ceremonial mounds; demonstrated complex society before European contact.

Mayas –

Mesoamerican civilization known for cities, writing, calendars; influenced later cultures.

Aztecs –

Powerful empire in central Mexico; conquered by Hernán Cortés; introduced Europeans to large-scale agriculture and urban centers.

Incas –

Andean empire in Peru with advanced road systems and centralized government; conquered by Francisco Pizarro.

Maize (corn) –

Staple crop; spread from Mexico northward; supported population growth and settlement.

Algonquin –

Native tribes along the Atlantic coast; often allied with French in fur trade.

Longhouses –

Communal wooden homes of Iroquois/Algonquian tribes; sign of settled agriculture.

Iroquois Confederation –

Alliance of five tribes in New York; powerful Native group that balanced diplomacy between Europeans.

Gunpowder –

Military technology from Asia; allowed European dominance.

Printing Press –

Spread Renaissance/Reformation ideas; enabled wider circulation of exploration accounts.

Christopher Columbus –

Initiated European colonization of Americas in 1492; controversial for treatment of Natives.

Treaty of Tordesillas –

1494 agreement dividing New World between Spain and Portugal; sign of early European imperialism.

Roanoke –

Failed English colony (“Lost Colony”); showed early struggles of colonization.

Protestant Reformation –

Split from Catholic Church; drove English colonization to spread Protestant faith.

Horses –

Introduced by Spanish; transformed Native Plains cultures.

Diseases

Smallpox and others devastated Native populations (up to 90% decline); introduced by European colonizers, leading to massive societal and demographic changes.

Encomienda –

Spanish system granting settlers Native labor; led to exploitation.

Slavery

Shift from Native to African slave labor to sustain colonies; African slavery became a central institution in the Americas, driven by economic demand and the transatlantic slave trade.

Conquistadores –

Spanish conquerors (e.g., Cortés, Pizarro); toppled great empires.

Hernán Cortés –

Defeated Aztecs; symbol of Spanish conquest.

Slave Trade –

Transatlantic system supplying labor to colonies; one of the largest trades and primary economic driver of the colonies

Middle Passage –

Brutal voyage enslaved Africans endured; high mortality rate.

Bartolomé de Las Casas –

Spanish priest advocating for Native rights; criticized encomienda.

Valladolid Debate –

Debate over Native treatment (Las Casas vs. Sepúlveda); early human rights discussion.

Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda –

Argued for Spanish superiority and conquest.

Joint-Stock Company –

Investors pooled money to fund colonies (e.g., the Virginia Company); which allowed for greater investing with less liability and facilitated the expansion of trade and settlement in the New World.

Virginia Company –

Chartered to establish Jamestown in 1607; early example of English corporate colony.

Jamestown –

First permanent English settlement; struggled until tobacco cultivation.

Captain John Smith –

Provided leadership to keep Jamestown alive.

John Rolfe

Introduced tobacco cultivation; married Pocahontas; key to Virginia’s survival.

Virginia –

Became a royal colony after Virginia Company collapsed; relied on tobacco economy.

Tobacco Farms –

Cash crop foundation of Chesapeake colonies.

Chesapeake Colonies –

Virginia and Maryland; economy based on tobacco, indentured servitude, and slavery.

Plymouth Colony –

Founded by Pilgrims (1620); sought religious freedom.

Pilgrims –

Separatists who wanted to leave the Church of England; established Plymouth.

Mayflower/Mayflower Compact –

Ship that brought Pilgrims; compact established self-government.

Massachusetts Bay Colony –

Founded by Puritans (1630); religious “city upon a hill.”

Puritans –

Wanted to purify Church of England; established strict communities.

John Winthrop –

Governor of Massachusetts Bay; emphasized community and moral example.

Great Migration –

Mass movement of Puritans from England (1630s).

Roger Williams –

Banished from Massachusetts; founded Rhode Island with religious toleration.

Providence –

Settlement founded by Williams in 1636; emphasized religious toleration

Anne Hutchinson –

Banished Puritan; advocated for religious freedom and women’s role in faith.

Rhode Island –

Haven for dissenters; religious freedom.

Halfway Covenant –

Allowed partial church membership; showed declining piety.

Quakers –

Pacifist religious group emphasizing equality.

William Penn –

Founded Pennsylvania as a “Holy Experiment” for Quakers.

New York/New Jersey/Delaware –

Middle colonies with diverse populations and trade economies; breadbaskets

Pennsylvania –

Religious tolerance, representative assembly, Quaker influence.

Georgia –

Last English colony; buffer against Spanish Florida; haven for debtors.

Virginia House of Burgesses –

First elected assembly (1619); foundation of representative government.

Corporate Colonies –

Governed by joint-stock companies; they were established for profit and required a charter from the crown.

Royal Colonies –

Directly controlled by the crown; More autocratic, showed crown’s effort to centralize.

Proprietary Colonies –

Granted to individuals by the king; allowed for experimentation in governance

Triangular Trade –

Trade system: slaves to Americas, raw goods to Europe, manufactured goods to Africa.

Mercantilism –

Economic policy: colonies exist to enrich the mother country.

Navigation Acts –

British laws restricting colonial trade to benefit England; led to growing discord in the colonies

Metacom (King Philip) –

Wampanoag leader who led resistance in King Philip’s War; show of Native Resistance and crumbling political relations

King Philip’s War –

Native resistance in New England (1675–76); weakened Native power.

Bacon’s Rebellion –

1676 Virginia uprising of frontier settlers against elite rule; exposed tensions over Native policy and class, led plantation owners to favor slavery

Indentured Servants –

Europeans contracted to work for passage; early labor source in colonies.

Ben Franklin –

Key Enlightenment figure in colonies; science, politics, diplomacy.

Religious Toleration –

Acceptance of different Christian denominations in colonies; allowed for diversity in the American Colonies (practiced by Quakers especially)

George Whitefield –

Great Awakening preacher known for emotional sermons; one of the key figures of the Great Awakening

Jonathan Edwards –

Preacher who sparked the Great Awakening with “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”

John Peter Zenger –

Trial (1735) established precedent for freedom of press in colonies.