DCUSH Midterm Study

Mound Builders

Native American groups (especially in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys) who built large earthen mounds for ceremonial, burial, and residential purposes.

Diversity of Native American life

the variation in culture, social structures, economies, and beliefs among different Indigenous peoples across North America.

Great League of Peace (confederacy)

a political alliance of several Iroquois nations (Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, Onondaga) that maintained peace among them.

Trade networks

systems through which goods, people, and ideas moved among Native American societies and later with Europeans.

Buffalo

a key resource (especially on the Great Plains) for many Native American groups, used for food, tools, clothing, and other needs.

Native definitions of freedom

the conceptions of freedom held by Indigenous peoples, often tied to communal relations, land use, and sovereignty.

Caravel

a small, maneuverable sailing ship developed by the Portuguese, helpful for long ocean voyages during the Age of Exploration.

Motivations for exploration

factors like the search for new trade routes, desire for wealth (gold, spices), spreading Christianity, and national prestige.

Columbian Exchange

the transfer of plants, animals, people, diseases, and ideas between the Old World and the New World following Columbus’s voyages.

Spanish Empire, The Black Legend

the Spanish colonial empire, often criticized (via the “Black Legend”) for cruelty, exploitation, and oppression of indigenous peoples.

French Empire

French colonial holdings in North America, emphasizing trade (especially fur), alliances with Native Americans, and missionary activity.

Dutch Empire / New Netherland

Dutch colonial presence in North America, centered in New Netherland (area around present-day New York), focusing on trade and commerce.

Northwest Passage

a hypothesized sea route through North America to Asia, sought by European explorers but never fully navigable.

Great Migration

the movement of English Puritans in the 1630s from England to New England to escape religious persecution.

Indentured servants

people who agreed to work for a set number of years in exchange for passage to America, room, and board.

Changes to Indian Life

transformations in Native American societies due to European contact: disease, land loss, cultural disruption, trade dependence.

Jamestown

the first permanent English settlement in North America, founded in Virginia in 1607.

John Smith

a leader in early Jamestown who enforced discipline and organized work to help the colony survive.

Headright system

a policy that granted land (typically 50 acres) to colonists or settlers who paid for their own or others’ passage to America.

House of Burgesses

the elected representative assembly in colonial Virginia, the first legislative body in English America.

Powhatan

leader of a powerful Native American confederacy in the Virginia area who interacted (often conflictually) with the English settlers.

Pocahontas

a Native American woman associated with the Jamestown colony; she acted as intermediary and later married colonist John Rolfe.

Origins of slavery

the development of coerced African labor in the English colonies, growing from indentured servitude to hereditary race-based slavery.

Maryland

a proprietary colony founded as a haven for Catholics, which later also had religious toleration provisions.

Puritans

English Protestants who wanted to purify the Church of England and emphasized moral discipline, community, and scripture.

Pilgrims

a group of English Separatists who sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 to found a colony (Plymouth) in New England.

Mayflower Compact

an agreement signed by the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower establishing governance by majority rule in their new colony.

John Winthrop

Puritan leader and first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, known for his “city upon a hill” vision.

Anne Hutchinson

a Puritan spiritual adviser who challenged the authorities of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and was banished.

Role of wealthy merchants

in colonial America, they often financed colonies, held political power, and influenced trade and economic development.

Half way Covenant

a Puritan church policy that allowed partial membership (and baptism for children) even if full church membership was not held.

Rhode Island and Connecticut

colonies founded for religious freedom or more liberal governments (e.g. Rhode Island by Roger Williams, Connecticut’s more open political structure).

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

one of the first written constitutions in the colonies, establishing a government based on consent of the governed.

Mercantilism

an economic theory that a nation should export more than it imports and accumulate precious metals by controlling trade.

Navigation Acts

British laws regulating colonial trade so that it benefited the mother country (e.g. requiring use of English ships, routing through England).

New York

originally New Netherland (Dutch), captured by the English, becoming a key colonial center for trade and government.

Carolinas

English colonies in the southern Atlantic region, with agricultural economies (rice, indigo) and later division into North and South Carolina.

Pennsylvania

a proprietary colony founded by William Penn as a “holy experiment” emphasizing religious tolerance and good relations with Native Americans.

Bacon’s Rebellion

1676 uprising in Virginia led by Nathaniel Bacon, involving frontier settlers angered at colonial government policies.

Nathaniel Bacon

leader of Bacon’s Rebellion, challenged colonial authorities over protection and representation.

Salem Witch Trials

1692–1693 prosecutions and executions in Salem, Massachusetts, of people accused of witchcraft.

German Migration

influx of German settlers (e.g. Pennsylvania) in the 18th century, influencing colonial culture, religion, and politics.

Consumer Revolution

increase in consumption of goods (especially imported British goods) in the colonies in the 18th century, tied to higher standards of living.

Colonial Social Classes

the structured hierarchy in colonial society: elites, middling farmers, artisans, laborers, indentured servants, enslaved people.

Transatlantic Slave Trade

the system of forced migration of Africans to the Americas to be enslaved, forming the backbone of plantation economies.

Middle Passage

the voyage by which enslaved Africans were transported across the Atlantic to the Americas under brutal conditions.

Political and Social Implications of Slavery

how slavery shaped colonial laws, racial hierarchies, politics, family life, and social divisions.

Slave Cultures

the diverse cultural traditions (religion, music, language) that enslaved Africans developed in the Americas.

Resistance to Slavery

acts by enslaved people to resist control: rebellion, work slowdowns, escape, maintaining culture, sabotage.

Republicanism

a political ideology emphasizing civic virtue, the common good, and the absence of corruption or monarchy.

Liberalism

political philosophy prioritizing individual rights, private property, and limited government.

John Locke

English philosopher whose ideas about natural rights, property, and government by consent shaped American thought.

Social Contract

the theory that government is based on an agreement between rulers and the ruled, who consent to be governed in return for protection of rights.

Suffrage

the right to vote in political elections.

Salutary Neglect

British policy of loosely enforcing colonial laws and trade regulations, allowing significant colonial autonomy.

Zenger Trial

1735 legal case in which printer John Peter Zenger was acquitted of libel, advancing freedom of the press.

Enlightenment

intellectual movement during the 17th–18th centuries stressing reason, science, individualism, and skepticism toward traditional authority.

Great Awakening

series of religious revivals in the 18th century in the colonies that emphasized personal faith and challenged established churches.

Aftermath of the 7 Years War

consequences of the global conflict (French and Indian War), including British debt, colonial taxation, and tensions between Britain and colonists.

Proclamation Line of 1763

British decree after the 7 Years War forbidding colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains to reduce conflict with Native Americans.

Pontiac’s Rebellion

1763 uprising of Native American groups (led by Pontiac) against British postwar policies in the Great Lakes region.

Stamp Act

1765 British law requiring that many printed materials in the colonies carry a tax stamp; sparked colonial protests.

Colonial resistance

various forms of opposition by colonists to British policies and taxes (boycotts, petitions, violence, nonimportation).

Boston Massacre

1770 incident in which British soldiers killed five colonists during a confrontation in Boston.

Boston Tea Party

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

Intolerable Acts

punitive British laws passed in 1774 in response to colonial protests, especially in Massachusetts.

1st Continental Congress

1774 meeting of colonial delegates to coordinate resistance to British policies and assert colonial rights.

Battle of Lexington and Concord

April 1775 skirmishes that marked the start of armed conflict between Britain and the colonies.

2nd Continental Congress

1775-1781 colonial assembly managing the war, raising armies, and adopting the Declaration of Independence.

Common Sense

1776 pamphlet by Thomas Paine arguing for American independence from Britain.

Declaration of Independence

1776 document in which the colonies formally declared themselves independent, asserting rights and grievances.

Battle of Saratoga

1777 battle in New York; colonial victory that became a turning point by securing French aid.

Native Americans’ role

Indigenous peoples took sides, fought, negotiated, and were deeply affected by the war and land conflicts.

Battle of Yorktown

1781 siege in Virginia in which British General Cornwallis surrendered, effectively ending major fighting.

Treaty of Paris 1783

the agreement that ended the Revolutionary War and recognized American independence.

Republics and New State Constitutions

the creation of governments based on popular sovereignty, written constitutions, separation of powers after independence.

Religious Toleration

policies or laws ensuring freedom of religious practice and preventing established churches from dominating.

Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations

1776 work arguing for free markets, division of labor, and limited government in economic life.

Free Black Communities

groups of emancipated or free Blacks who formed their own social, economic, and religious institutions.

Republican Motherhood

the idea that women’s role was to raise virtuous citizens and instill republican values in children.

Articles of Confederation

the first constitution of the U.S. (1781–1789), creating a weak central government and stronger state sovereignty.

Northwest Ordinance

1787 law establishing a system for admitting new states from the Northwest Territory and banning slavery there.

Shays Rebellion

1786–1787 armed uprising by Massachusetts farmers protesting debt, taxes, and weak government.

Constitutional Convention

1787 meeting in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation, resulting in the U.S. Constitution.

New Jersey Plan

proposal for representation in Congress with equal votes per state, favoring small states.

Virginia Plan

proposal for representation based on population, favoring large states.

Great Compromise

agreement combining the New Jersey and Virginia plans: bicameral legislature, House by population and Senate with equal representation.

3/5th Clause

constitutional rule counting each enslaved person as three-fifths of a free person for purposes of taxation and representation.

Federalists

supporters of the Constitution who favored a stronger national government.

Anti-Federalists

opponents of the Constitution who feared centralized power and demanded protections for individual rights.

Bill of Rights

the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing fundamental liberties and protections.

Ratification

the process of formally approving a constitutional document (like the Constitution) by the states.

Treaty of Greenville

1795 treaty in which Native American tribes ceded much of Ohio and other territory to the U.S. after military defeat.

Jefferson’s Notes of the State of Virginia

Thomas Jefferson’s 1785 work describing Virginia’s geography, society, and race; also controversial views on slavery and race.