American Pageant 16th Edition Chapters 1-8 Notecards

Inca

Natives of Peru

Aztec

Mexican natives (not Mayans)

nation-state

Societies in which political legitimacy and authority overlay a large degree of cultural commonality.

Cahokia

Mississippian settlement near present-day East St. Louis, home to as many as 25,000 Native Americans

"three-sister" farming

Maize, beans and squash were grown together to maximize yields.

"three G's"

God, gold, glory

caravel

Small boats that allowed Europeans to explore Africa's coast

plantation

Large-scale agricultural enterprise growing commercial crops; usually employing coerced or slave labor.

encomienda

Spanish government's policy to give Indians to certain colonists in return for the promise to Christianize them

Columbian Exchange

The transfer of goods, crops, and diseases between New and Old World societies after 1492

capitalism

Economic system characterized by private property, generally free trade, and open and accessible markets.

mestizos

Indian + European

mulattoes

African + European

Conquistadors

16th century Spaniards who fanned out across the Americas for the "three g's"

"Black Legend"

False notion that Spanish conquerors did little but butcher the Indians and steal their gold in the name of Christ

Pope's Rebellion

Pueblo Indian rebellion that drove Spanish settlers from New Mexico

Roanoke

Sir Walter Raleigh's failed colonial settlement off the coast of North Carolina

Spanish Armada

Spanish fleet defeated in the English Channel in 1588. The defeat of this marked the beginning of the decline of the Spanish Empire

primogeniture

The oldest son inherits all family property or land

joint-stock company

Short-term partnership between multiple investors to fund a commercial enterprise

charter

Legal document granted by a government to some group or agency to implement a stated purpose and spelling out the attending rights and obligations

Virginia Company

English joint-stock company that received a charter from King James I that allowed it to found the first British North American colony

Jamestown

First permanent English settlement in North America

John Smith

Kidnapped by Indians and subjected to a mock execution. Developed relations with Pocahontas.

Powhatan

The Indian tribe surrounding Jamestown.

Tobacco

The cash crop that allowed the first colonies to prosper

House of Burgesses

Representative parliamentary assembly created to govern Virginia

Act of Toleration

Passed in Maryland, it guaranteed toleration to all Christians but decreed the death penalty to those who denied the divinity of Jesus Christ

buffer

A territory between two antagonistic powers, intended to minimize the possibility of conflict between them. (Ex: Georgia)

Iroquois

The Indian tribes inhabiting the area of New York. See "Makers of America" (p. 38)

Calvinism

Dominant theological credo of the New England Puritans based on the teachings of John Calvin.

Puritans

English Protestant reformers who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholicism

Separatists

Small group of Puritans who sought to break away entirely from the Church of England

Plymouth

Where the Pilgrims landed instead of Virginia.

Mayflower Compact

Agreement to form a majoritarian government in Plymouth, signed aboard the Mayflower.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

Established by non-separating Puritans, it soon grew to be the largest and most influential of the New England colonies

John Winthrop

First governor of Massachusetts Bay colony. "We shall build a city upon a hill."

Anne Hutchinson

A woman who challenged the beliefs of the Puritans, especially of predestination.

Roger Williams

Established Rhode Island with complete religious freedom.

Fundamental Orders

Drafted by settlers in the Connecticut River Valley, this document was the first "modern constitution" establishing a democratically controlled government

King Philip's War

Series of assaults by Metacom, King Philip, on English settlements in New England

Dominion of New England

Administrative union created by royal authority, incorporating all of New England, New York, and East and West Jersey.

"salutary neglect"

Unofficial policy of relaxed royal control over colonial trade and only weak enforcement of Navigation Laws

Quakers

Religious group known for their tolerance, emphasis on peace, and idealistic Indian policy, who settled heavily in Pennsylvania in the 17th and 18th century

William Penn

Founded Pennsylvania as a Quaker haven.

"blue laws"

Also known as sumptuary laws, they are designed to restrict personal behavior in accord with a strict code of morality

indentured servants

Migrants who, in exchange for transatlantic passage, bound themselves to a colonial employer for a term of service, typically between four and seven years.

headright system

Employed in the tobacco colonies to encourage the importation of indentured servants, the system allowed an individual to acquire 50 acres of land if he paid for a laborer's passage to the colony.

Bacon's Rebellion

Uprising of Virginia backcountry farmers and indentured servants; initially a response to Governor William Berkeley's refusal to protect backcountry settlers from Indian attacks, but eventually grew into a broader conflict between impoverished settlers and the planter elite

Triangular Trade

Exchange of rum, slaves, and molasses between the North American colonies, Africa, and the West Indies.

Middle Passage

The middle leg of the triangular trade in which slaves were transported to the Americas

"slave codes"

Set of laws beginning in 1662 defining racial slavery, establishing the hereditary nature of slavery and limited the rights and education of slaves

Congregational Church

Self-governing Puritan congregations without the hierarchical establishment of the Anglican Church

Half-Way Convenant

Agreement allowing unconverted offspring of church members to baptize their children. It signified a waning of religious zeal among second and third generation Puritans.

Salem Witch Trials

Series of witchcraft trials launched after a group of adolescent girls claimed to have been bewitched by certain older women of the town.

Germans and Scotts-Irish

Two groups of non-English migrants to North America

Paxton Boys

Armed march on Philadelphia by Scotts-Irish frontiersmen in protest against the Quaker establishment's lenient policies toward Native Americans

Molasses Act

Tax on imported molasses passed by Parliament in an effort to squelch the North American trade with the French West Indies. It proved largely ineffective due to widespread smuggling

Arminianism

Belief that salvation is offered to all humans but is conditional on acceptance of God's grace.

Great Awakening

Religious revival that swept the colonies. Participating ministers, most notably Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield, placed an emphasis on direct, emotive spirituality.

Harvard College

The first colonial college.

Ben Franklin

Founding father and genius. Lightning experiment and Poor Richard's Almanac.

Poor Richard's Almanac

A famous publication that emphasized homespun virtues such as thrift, industry, morality, and common sense.

Zenger Trial

A newspaper journalist printed a story about the governor that was truthful, but did not make him look good. Found not guilty, showed that colonists started to want freedom of the press.

Royal colony

Colony where governors were appointed directly by the king.

Proprietary colony

Colony, under the control of local proprietors, who appointed colonial governors.

Huguenots

French protestants

Voyageurs

French that recruited Indians into the fur business.

Ohio Valley

Extremely fertile area that belonged to the French and was a reason for many wars.

George Washington

Lieutenant Colonel for Virginia, basically started French and Indian War at Fort Duquesne. American General during the Revolutionary War.

French and Indian War

Seven year war between the British and the French in North America.

Albany Congress

Intercolonial congress summoned by the British government to foster greater colonial unity and assure Iroquois support in the escalating war against the French.

Treaty of Paris

(1763) The treaty that ended the French and Indian War. France is completely kicked out of North America.

Pontiac's Rebellion

A group of Indians kill English frontiersmen because they did not like their rapid expansion.

Proclamation of 1763

Decree issued by Parliament in the wake of Pontiac's uprising, prohibiting settlement beyond the Appalachians. Contributed to rising resentment of British rule in the American colonies

Republicanism

Political theory of representative government, based on the principle of popular sovereignty, with a strong emphasis on liberty and civic virtue.

Mercantilism

Economic theory that closely linked a nation's political and military power to its bullion reserves. People who practiced this generally favored protectionism and colonial acquisition as a means to increase exports.

Quartering Act

Required colonies to provide food and quarters for British troops. Many colonists resented this act, which they perceived as an encroachment on their rights.

Stamp Tax

Widely unpopular tax on an array of paper goods, repealed in 1766 after mass protests erupted across the colonies. Colonists developed the principle of "no taxation without representation" that questioned Parliament's authority over the colonies and laid the foundation for future revolutionary claims.

Admiralty courts

Used to try offenders for violating the various Navigation Acts passed by the crown after the French and Indian War. Colonists argued that the courts encroached on their rights as Englishmen because they lacked juries and placed the burden of proof on the accused.

Sons of Liberty

Patriotic groups that played a central role in agitating against the Stamp Act and enforcing nonimportation agreements.

Sam Adams

A key person in the American Revolution and fundamental to the protests. (Hint: S...)

John Hancock

A famous smuggler for the colonies, known for large signature, president of the Continental Congress.

Townshend Acts

External, or indirect, levies on glass, white lead, paper, paint, and tea, the proceeds of which were used to pay colonial governors, who had previously been paid directly by colonial assemblies. Sparked another round of protests in the colonies.

Boston Massacre

Clash between unruly Bostonian protestors and locally stationed British redcoats, who fired on the jeering crowd, killing or wounding 11 citizens.

Committees of Correspondence

Local committees established across Massachusetts, and later in each of the 13 colonies, to maintain colonial opposition to British policies through the exchange of letters and pamphlets.

Boston Tea Party

Rowdy protest against the British East India Company's newly acquired monopoly on the tea trade. Colonists, disguised as Indians, dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston harbor, prompting harsh sanctions from the British Parliament.

Intolerable Acts

Series of punitive measures passed in retaliation for the Boston Tea Party, closing the Port of Boston, revoking a number of rights in the Massachusetts colonial charter, and expanding the Quartering Act to allow for lodging of soldiers in private homes. In response, colonists convened the First Continental Congress and called for a complete boycott of British goods.

First Continental Congress

Convention of delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies that convened in Philadelphia to craft a response to the Intolerable Acts. Delegates established The Association, which called for a complete boycott of British goods.

Battles of Lexington and Concord

First battles of the Revolutionary War, fought outside of Boston. The colonial militia successfully defended their stores of munitions, forcing the British to retreat to Boston.

Thomas Jefferson

Drafted the Declaration of Independence.

Battle of Saratoga

Decisive colonial victory in upstate New York, which helped secure French support for the Revolutionary Cause.

Battle of Yorktown

George Washington, with the aid of the French army, besieged Cornwallis at Yorktown, while the French naval fleet prevented British reinforcements from coming ashore. Cornwallis surrendered, dealing a heavy blow to the British war effort and paving the way for an eventual peace.

Declaration of Independence

Formal pronouncement of independence drafted by Thomas Jefferson and approved by Congress. The Declaration allowed Americans to appeal for foreign aid and served as an inspiration for later revolutionary movements worldwide.

Rights as Englishmen

What the colonists first wanted when the Revolutionary War started.

Independence

What the motive for the war changed to in 1776.

True

True or false? The Africans joined loyalist ranks in the hope that it would bring them freedom. (See Makers of America p. 144)

Iroquois Confederacy

The Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, and the Senecas united to become one big power against their enemies. This group is known as what? (See Makers of America p. 38)

Southern Colonies

Georgia, Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Massachusetts

Middle Colonies

New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware