American History

15th century monarchs who established the Spanish inquisition, completed the Reconquista, and sponsored Christopher Columbus' first voyage in 1492.

Ferdinand & Isabella

Transfer of flora, fauna, and disease between the Americas and Eurasia after centuries of relative isolation

Columbian Exchange

16th century movement that established Protestantism and fueled migration to the American colonies from western and central Europe

Reformation

Economic system centered around the market economy, private property, and profits

Capitalism

Members of the Society of Friends for whom the Pennsylvania colony was established as a haven from persecution

Quakers

Expelled Puritan minister who established the Rhode Island colony as a haven for religious dissenters

Roger Williams

1688 ascension of William and Mary seen as vindication of traditional liberties, Protestantism, and Parliamentary supremacy

Glorious Revolution

First permanent English settlement in the Americas established in 1607.

Jamestown

Colonists who contracted for passage to the Americas in return for a fixed term of forced labor

Indentured Servants

Religious dissenters who fled Britain for Holland before establishing a colony at Plymouth in 1620

Puritans

Philadelphia polymath who experimented with electricity, founded libraries and educational institutions, and successfully navigated colonial politics prior to his roles in adopting the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution

Benjamin Franklin

North American theater of the Seven Years War between France and Britain that involved competing colonial claims and their respective Indian allies

French & Indian War

Religious revival movement that swept the colonies in the 1730s under the influence of itinerant preachers like George Whitehead

Great Awakening

Name for the arduous overseas journey of enslaved persons from Africa to the Americas under inhumane, life-threatening conditions

Middle Passage

Boundary set by the British to restrict colonial settlement beyond the Appalachian Mountains and resulting conflict with Native Americans

Proclamation Line of 1763

18th century philosophical movement that applied science and reason to political, economic, and social concerns

Enlightenment

Colonial era international exchange among Europe, Africa, and the Americas featuring slaves, agricultural products, and finished goods

Triangle Trade

Pamphlet published by Thomas Paine encouraging American colonists to separate politically from Britain

Common Sense

Document adopted by the Second Continental Congress in 1776 to formally sever political ties between Britain and the American colonies.

Declaration of Independence

1764 act of Parliament taxing printed paper in the colonies subsequently repealed in response to widespread protest

Stamp Act

1775 edict by the British governor of Virginia offering freedom to slaves and indentured servants who took up arms in defense against revolting colonists

Lord Dunmore's Proclamation

Virginia planter who served as commander of the Continental Army

George Washington

Virginia planter who drafted the Declaration of Independence.

Thomas Jefferson

Act of Confederation Congress that divided territory acquired in the Treaty of Paris into townships and sections, facilitating settlement and the admission of free states northwest of the Ohio River.

Northwest Ordinance

Agreement reached in Constitutional Convention as to apportionment of enslaved population for Congressional representation and federal taxation

Three-Fifths Compromise

Limited joint-defense agreement among the American colonies adopted by the Continental Congress in 1777 that proved ineffective during and after the Revolution

Articles of Confederation

Agreement reached during the Constitutional Convention providing for apportionment based on population in the House of Representatives and equal representation for each state in the Senate

Great Compromise

Name shared by supporters of the proposed Constitution during the ratification debate and proponents of expansive national powers during the early republic

Federalists

New York delegate to the Constitutional Convention, co-author of the Federalist papers, and first United States Secretary of the Treasury

Alexander Hamilton

Collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution adopted in 1789.

Bill of Rights

Series of events beginning in 1789 that culminated in the overthrow and execution of Louis XVI and divided American foreign policy in the early republic

French Revolution

Virginia delegate to the Constitutional Convention, drafter of the Bill of Rights, and fourth President of the United States

James Madison

Opponents of the Federalists during the early republic who advocated for limited federal powers and states' rights

Republicans

Acts of Congress regulating immigration and anti-government speech passed in the runup to war with France and deployed against political opponents of the Federalists

Alien and Sedition Acts

Massachusetts attorney who served as a member of the committee to draft the Declaration of Independence, the first Vice President of the United States, and the second President of the United States

John Adams

1820 act of Congress that admitted Maine and Missouri to the union and set a boundary line controlling the future admission of free and slave states

Missouri Compromise

Conflict between Britain and the United States fomented by impressment and Indian relations and officially concluded by the Treaty of Ghent

War of 1812

United States foreign policy statement declaring the western hemisphere closed to European colonization and military intervention

Monroe Doctrine

Two year voyage of discovery to map new United States territory and attempt a river passage from the Mississippi to the Pacific

Lewis & Clark Expedition

Territorial acquisition from France that doubled the size of the United States in 1803

Louisiana Purchase