History-1301 Key Terms (Midterm)

Franciscans

Catholic missionaries who sought to convert Indigenous peoples to Christianity.

Black Legend

The portrayal of Spain as especially cruel and oppressive toward Indigenous peoples in the Americas.

Northwest Passage

A hoped-for sea route through North America connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Samuel de Champlain

French explorer who founded Quebec in 1608 and helped establish New France.

Jesuits

Catholic religious order that sent missionaries to convert Indigenous peoples and spread Christianity.

Métis

People of mixed Indigenous and European ancestry, especially in French colonial regions.

Middle ground

A region where Europeans and Indigenous peoples adapted to one another through negotiation, trade, and cultural exchange.

New Netherland

Dutch colony in North America that included present-day New York and surrounding areas.

Wampum

Beads made from shells that Indigenous peoples used for trade, communication, and diplomacy.

Iroquois Confederation

Alliance of Indigenous nations in northeastern North America formed for mutual cooperation and political strength.

Treaty of Tordesillas

1494 agreement between Spain and Portugal dividing claims to newly encountered lands outside Europe.

Richard Hakluyt

English writer who promoted overseas exploration and colonization to expand England’s power and wealth.

Joint-stock companies

Businesses funded by investors who shared the costs, risks, and profits of colonial ventures.

Piracy

Robbery or attacks at sea; European powers sometimes supported pirates to weaken rival nations.

Spanish Armada

Spanish naval fleet defeated by England in 1588, weakening Spain’s effort to invade England.

Jamestown

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

Powhatan Confederacy

Alliance of Indigenous communities in Virginia led by Powhatan when the English established Jamestown.

Tobacco

Profitable cash crop that helped Jamestown survive economically and increased demand for labor.

Curse of Ham

Misinterpretation of a biblical story used by some Europeans to justify racial slavery.

Puritans

English Protestants who wanted to reform the Church of England and establish communities based on their religious beliefs.

Race

A socially constructed category used to classify people based on physical traits, often used to justify inequality and slavery.

Enslaved Indians

Indigenous people forced into slavery by European colonists, especially during early colonization.

Middle Passage

The forced voyage of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas.

British West Indies

Caribbean colonies controlled by Britain that produced profitable crops, especially sugar, using enslaved labor.

English Civil War

A conflict (1642–1651) between supporters of King Charles I and Parliament over political and religious power.

Navigation Acts

English laws that restricted colonial trade to benefit England and its merchants.

Glorious Revolution

The 1688 overthrow of King James II that brought William and Mary to the English throne and strengthened Parliament.

Dominion of New England

A colonial government created by England in 1686 that combined several northern colonies under centralized royal control.

Maryland

An English colony founded in 1634 by the Calvert family as a refuge for English Catholics.

Connecticut

An English colony founded by Puritans in New England that developed a degree of self-government.

Rhode Island

A colony founded by Roger Williams that promoted religious freedom and separation of church and state.

New York

Formerly Dutch New Netherland, it became an English colony in 1664 after England seized control.

William Penn

Quaker who founded Pennsylvania in 1681 as a colony offering religious freedom.

Carolina

An English colony established in the southern region of North America that later split into North and South Carolina.

Pequot War

A war (1636–1638) between English colonists and their Indigenous allies against the Pequot people in New England.

Metacom

Wampanoag leader, also known as King Philip, who led a major Indigenous resistance war against New England colonists in 1675–1676.

Bacon’s Rebellion

A 1676 Virginia uprising led by Nathaniel Bacon against Governor William Berkeley’s government, partly over frontier policies and conflicts with Indigenous peoples.

Popé

Pueblo religious leader who organized the 1680 Pueblo Revolt against Spanish rule in present-day New Mexico.

Yamasee War

A war (1715–1717) in which the Yamasee and other Indigenous groups fought South Carolina colonists over trade abuses, debt, and land encroachment.

Walking Purchase

A 1737 land deal in which Pennsylvania officials used a deceptive “walk” to claim a large area of Lenape land.

Columbian Exchange

The transfer of plants, animals, diseases, people, and goods between the Americas, Europe, and Africa after 1492.

Three Sisters

The Indigenous farming method of growing corn, beans, and squash together.

Matrilineal

A kinship system in which family descent and inheritance are traced through the mother’s line.

Pre-Columbian Environmental Disasters

Environmental crises, such as droughts, that affected Indigenous societies in the Americas before Columbus arrived.

Cahokia

A major Indigenous city near present-day St. Louis known for its large earthen mounds and complex society.

Native American Slavery

The forced enslavement of Indigenous peoples by European colonists and other groups.

Kinship

Social relationships based on family, ancestry, marriage, or other recognized bonds.

Potlatch

A ceremonial gathering among some Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest involving feasting and the giving away of gifts to establish status and strengthen relationships.

Crusades

Medieval religious wars in which European Christians fought to gain control of sacred lands, especially Jerusalem.

Reconquista

The centuries-long Christian campaign to take control of the Iberian Peninsula from Muslim rulers, completed in 1492.

Sugar Cultivation

The growing and processing of sugarcane, which became a major colonial industry reliant on enslaved labor.

Christopher Columbus

Italian explorer who sailed for Spain and reached the Caribbean in 1492, initiating sustained contact between Europe and the Americas.

Encomienda

Spanish colonial system that granted colonists the right to demand Indigenous labor or tribute in exchange for supposedly providing protection and Christian instruction.

Bartolomé de Las Casas

Spanish priest who criticized the mistreatment and enslavement of Indigenous peoples in the Americas.

Tenochtitlán

Capital of the Aztec Empire, located on the site of present-day Mexico City.

Aztecs

Indigenous civilization in central Mexico that built a powerful empire centered on Tenochtitlán.

Hernán Cortés

Spanish conquistador who led the expedition that defeated the Aztec Empire in 1521 with Indigenous allies.

La Malinche

Indigenous woman who served as an interpreter and intermediary for Hernán Cortés during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire.

Inca

Indigenous civilization that ruled a vast empire in the Andes Mountains of South America.

Sistema de Castas

Spanish colonial social hierarchy that classified people based largely on ancestry, birthplace, and perceived racial background.

Virgen de Guadalupe

Catholic image of the Virgin Mary that became an important religious symbol in Mexico, associated with Indigenous identity and Mexican culture.

Consumer Revolution

The 1700s increase in colonists’ purchasing of British manufactured goods and luxury items.

Currency Acts

British laws that restricted colonial paper money, making it harder for colonists to pay debts.

Caribbean Exports

Goods such as sugar, molasses, and rum produced or traded in the Caribbean that connected the colonies to Atlantic commerce.

Navigation Acts

British laws that controlled colonial trade to benefit England and its merchants.

Colonial Cities

Growing urban centers such as Boston, New York, and Philadelphia that served as hubs for trade, politics, and culture.

Gang System

A system of enslaved labor in which groups of workers performed continuous labor under supervision, especially on plantations.

Task System

A labor system in which enslaved workers were assigned specific daily tasks and often had some control over their time after completing them.

Stono Rebellion

A 1739 uprising in South Carolina in which enslaved Africans rebelled against slavery and attempted to escape toward Spanish Florida.

Quaker Antislavery

Quaker opposition to slavery based on religious beliefs about spiritual equality; some Quakers became early abolitionists.

Slave Trade

The buying, selling, and forced transportation of enslaved people, especially Africans across the Atlantic.

Companionate Ideal

The belief that marriage should be based on mutual affection, companionship, and shared responsibilities.

Print Culture

The spread of ideas and information through printed materials such as newspapers, books, and pamphlets.

Great Awakening

A religious revival movement in the 1730s and 1740s that emphasized personal faith and emotional religious experiences.

George Whitefield

A popular evangelical preacher who helped spread the Great Awakening throughout the American colonies.

Seven Years’ War

A global conflict (1756–1763) between major European powers; in North America, Britain and its colonists fought France and its Indigenous allies in the French and Indian War.

Paris and Hubertusburg Treaties

The 1763 Treaty of Paris ended the war between Britain, France, and Spain, while the Treaty of Hubertusburg ended the war between Prussia and Austria and their allies.

Neolin

A Delaware religious prophet who encouraged Indigenous peoples to reject European influence and return to traditional ways.

Pontiac’s War

An Indigenous resistance movement beginning in 1763 against British control and expansion in the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley regions.

Proclamation of 1763

British decree that restricted colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains to reduce conflict with Indigenous peoples.

Provincial Colonies

provincial colonies were under royal control

Proprietary Colonies

proprietary colonies were granted to individuals or groups

Charter Colonies

charter colonies operated under charters that provided self-government.

John Locke

English Enlightenment philosopher who argued that people have natural rights, including life, liberty, and property, and that government depends on the consent of the governed.

King George III

King of Great Britain during the American Revolution who opposed colonial independence.

Sugar Act and Currency Act

The Sugar Act of 1764 taxed certain imports and strengthened customs enforcement; the Currency Act restricted colonial paper money.

Stamp Act

1765 law requiring colonists to pay a tax on printed materials, such as newspapers, legal documents, and playing cards.

Townshend Acts

1767 laws that taxed imported goods, including tea, glass, and paper, and increased tensions between Britain and the colonies.

Homespun

Homemade cloth and clothing that colonists produced and wore to boycott British goods.

Committees of Correspondence

Networks established by colonists to share information and coordinate resistance to British policies.

Boston Massacre

1770 incident in which British soldiers killed five colonists while confronting a crowd in Boston.

Boston Tea Party

1773 protest in which colonists dumped British tea into Boston Harbor to oppose British taxation and the Tea Act.

Coercive Acts

Punitive British laws passed in 1774 to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party; colonists called them the Intolerable Acts.Continental Congress

Continental Congress

Meetings of colonial representatives that coordinated resistance to Britain and eventually helped lead the colonies toward independence.

Lexington and Concord

Battles fought in April 1775 that began the American Revolutionary War.

George Washington

Commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolution and the first U.S. president.

Common Sense

Thomas Paine’s 1776 pamphlet arguing that the colonies should break away from Britain and establish independence.

Lord Dunmore

Royal governor of Virginia who issued a 1775 proclamation offering freedom to enslaved people who escaped rebel owners and joined the British forces.

Declaration of Independence

Document adopted on July 4, 1776, declaring the colonies independent from Britain and expressing principles of natural rights and government by consent.

Battle of Saratoga

1777 American victory that encouraged France to formally ally with the United States.