Period 1 & 2 (1491-1754): Native American Societies and European Colonization

Flashcards covering key concepts from Native American societies and European colonization (1491-1754).

What farming technique did Native Americans use to grow maize, beans, and squash together?

The Three Sisters companion planting.

Which Southwestern group lived in stone masonry pueblos and adobe cliff dwellings?

The Pueblo.

The Iroquois Confederacy consisted of which five tribes?

Mohawk, Seneca, Oneida, Onondaga, and Cayuga.

On the Great Plains, which nomadic tribe hunted bison and lived in teepees?

The Comanche.

How did the Apache organize their communities and leadership?_

As nomadic hunter-gatherers with semi-sedentary farming; small kinship bands and decentralized leadership.

What are the 'Three F’s' associated with Great Basin natives?

Foraging, Fishing, and Following Game; generally no large-scale agriculture; nomadic.

What features characterized the Cherokee in the Southeast?

Large mound-building settlements, semi-permanent villages, matrilineal clans, centralized leadership, and extensive agriculture.

What practices and symbols are associated with the Chinook?

Coastal fishing (salmon), permanent wooden dwellings, canoes, potlatch, totem poles, and stratified society.

What was the Columbian Exchange?

The transfer of crops, animals, and diseases between the Old and New Worlds after contact.

What was the Encomienda System and its impact on Indigenous peoples?

A labor system where Spanish encomenderos controlled Natives and resources, leading to exploitation and high mortality.

Who conquered the Aztec Empire and when did it occur?

Hernán Cortés, 1519–1521.

What role did smallpox and other Old World elements play in the Spanish conquest?

Smallpox and other diseases devastated Native populations and aided conquest and colonization.

What was the Treaty of Tordesillas?

A papal division of newly discovered lands between Spain (west) and Portugal (east).

What was the Dutch role in New Netherland and the Atlantic slave trade?

The Dutch West India Company established trading posts and helped expand African chattel slavery in the Americas.

Who founded Quebec and what was the focus of New France?

Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec; focus on fur trade and alliances with Native peoples.

Who explored the Mississippi River basin and claimed it for France, naming it Louisiana?

Robert de La Salle.

Who explored the Hudson River and established New Netherland?

Henry Hudson.

What was Jamestown and why is it significant?

The first permanent English settlement in North America (1607), established by the Virginia Company; tobacco and later slavery followed.

What cash crop transformed Virginia and led to the use of indentured servants and later enslaved labor?

Tobacco.

What was the Headright System (1618)?

A land grant of about 50 acres for each person whose passage to Virginia was paid.

What was the Virginia House of Burgesses?

The first elected legislative assembly in British North America, laying the groundwork for representative government.

What was the Mayflower Compact?

A 1620 agreement aboard the Mayflower establishing self-government and consent of the governed.

What characterized the Massachusetts Bay Colony's government?

Theocracy where church membership was required for voting and office; decisions were made by the General Court.

What was the Maryland Act of Toleration (1649)?

Granted religious freedom to all Christians (though not to non-Christians).

What was Rhode Island founded for and who founded it?

A refuge for religious freedom and the separation of church and state, founded by Roger Williams.

What characterized the Carolinas (1663) and their development after 1712?

Proprietary colonies with plantation economies; North Carolina focused on tobacco, South Carolina on rice and Indigo; both relied on enslaved labor.

What is notable about New York after English control?

Cultural diversity, religious toleration, and commercial trade; a major port and trade hub.

What was the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639)?

Often cited as the first written constitution in the American colonies, establishing a representative government.

Who founded Pennsylvania and what were Quaker beliefs?

William Penn; Quakers preached inner light, equality, pacifism, religious tolerance, and anti-slavery sentiments.

What was the Stono Rebellion (1739) and its consequence?

The largest colonial slave uprising before the U.S. Revolution; led to the Negro Act of 1740 tightening restrictions on enslaved people.

What was the Dominion of New England (1686-1689)?

An attempt to consolidate New England colonies to enforce mercantilist policies and centralized royal authority; increased colonial resentment.

What was the Zenger Trial (1735) and its significance?

John Zenger's acquittal supported the freedom of the press and the idea that truth could be a defense against libel.