Native American Societies & European Exploration to American Revolution

Flashcards covering essential vocabulary and key concepts from the lecture on Native American societies, European exploration, colonization, and the American Revolution.

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of goods, ideas, and diseases between the Americas and Europe after 1492.

Encomienda system

A labor system that granted Spanish colonists the right to demand tribute and labor from Native Americans.

Treaty of Tordesillas

A 1494 agreement between Spain and Portugal that divided newly discovered lands.

House of Burgesses

The first legislative assembly in the American colonies, established in Virginia in 1619.

Mayflower Compact

A 1620 agreement for self-government among the Pilgrims in Plymouth.

Maryland Toleration Act

A 1649 law that granted religious freedom to all Christians in Maryland.

First Great Awakening

An emotional evangelical revival in the 1730s and 1740s that emphasized individual piety and a personal relationship with God.

Proclamation of 1763

A British declaration that forbade colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains.

Declaration of Independence

The 1776 document declaring the colonies' independence from Britain, emphasizing natural rights.

Battle of Saratoga

The turning point of the American Revolution in 1777 that secured French support for the colonies.

Treaty of Paris (1783)

The agreement that officially ended the American Revolutionary War and recognized U.S. independence.