Unit 2

Native American Societies

Diverse communities in North America ranging from centralized polities like the Mississippian culture to nomadic tribes, often organized matrilineally.

The Columbian Exchange

The transatlantic exchange of crops, livestock, human populations, and diseases between the Old World and New World that dramatically reshaped global agriculture and demographics.

Mayflower Compact

An early document signed by Pilgrims in 1620 establishing self-governance and communal agreement in Plymouth Colony.

Act of Toleration (1649)

Legislation in Maryland granting religious toleration to all Christians, it was pioneering but limited, as it prescribed the death penalty for denying the divinity of Jesus.

The Iroquois Confederacy

A political and military alliance of the Five Nations, which played a key role in diplomacy and warfare between Europeans and Native Americans.

Indentured Servitude

A labor system where individuals worked for a fixed number of years in exchange for passage to America and eventual freedom, common in early Virginia.

Chattel Slavery

A system where enslaved people are treated as personal property of owners, legally enforced by slave codes in the colonies.

The Great Awakening

A religious revival movement in the American colonies during the 1730s-1740s, emphasizing personal faith and emotional experience.

Encomienda System

A system granting Spanish settlers control over Native American labor and tribute in exchange for protection and Christianization.

Jamestown

The first permanent English settlement in North America, established in 1607, which faced hardships due to disease and conflicts.

Native American Societies

Diverse communities in North America ranging from centralized polities like the Mississippian culture to nomadic tribes, often organized matrilineally.

The Columbian Exchange

The transatlantic exchange of crops, livestock, human populations, and diseases between the Old World and New World that dramatically reshaped global agriculture and demographics.

Mayflower Compact

An early document signed by Pilgrims in 1620 establishing self-governance and communal agreement in Plymouth Colony.

Act of Toleration (1649)

Legislation in Maryland granting religious toleration to all Christians, it was pioneering but limited, as it prescribed the death penalty for denying the divinity of Jesus.

The Iroquois Confederacy

A political and military alliance of the Five Nations, which played a key role in diplomacy and warfare between Europeans and Native Americans.

Indentured Servitude

A labor system where individuals worked for a fixed number of years in exchange for passage to America and eventual freedom, common in early Virginia.

Chattel Slavery

A system where enslaved people are treated as personal property of owners, legally enforced by slave codes in the colonies.

The Great Awakening

A religious revival movement in the American colonies during the 1730s-1740s, emphasizing personal faith and emotional experience.

Encomienda System

A system granting Spanish settlers control over Native American labor and tribute in exchange for protection and Christianization.

Jamestown

The first permanent English settlement in North America, established in 1607, which faced hardships due to disease and conflicts.

Headright System

A system where colonists received land (typically 50 acres) for each person whose passage to America they financed, primarily used in Virginia to encourage migration and labor.

Bacon's Rebellion (1676)

An armed rebellion led by Nathaniel Bacon against Governor William Berkeley in Virginia, driven by grievances over land, Native American policies, and political exclusion. It contributed to the shift from indentured servitude to racial chattel slavery.

Puritanism

A religious reform movement seeking to purify the Church of England of Catholic practices. Puritans settled in New England, notably in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, aiming to establish a 'city upon a hill' based on strict moral and religious principles.

Salutary Neglect

An unofficial British policy in the 18th century of relaxing strict enforcement of parliamentary laws in the American colonies, which allowed colonies to develop a sense of economic and political autonomy.