Midterm Study Guide: Early American History

Cahokia

The largest city in North America and center of an empire built on complex alliances, warfare, and slavery; located near major rivers, serving as a trading hub that brought goods together.

Chaco Canyon

The center of Zuni (Puebloan) culture that collapsed in the 1300s.

Encomienda

A system of collective forced labor implemented to exploit Native Americans.

Sistema de castas

A system of socio-racial classification in the Spanish colonies organizing ethno-racial groups based on "purity of blood."

Métis culture

A culture arising from French men marrying Indigenous women; "métis" means mixed in French.

Patroon System

A land-grant system implemented by the Dutch West India Company to encourage colonization in New Netherland; failed to attract enough tenants, leading to the enslavement of Africans.

Treaty of Tordesillas

A 1494 agreement divided by the Pope that split Catholic-claimed territory between Spain and Portugal, codifying the doctrine of discovery.

Black Legend

Anti-Catholic and anti-Spanish propaganda promoted by Europeans using accounts of Spanish cruelty in South America, stemming from religious differences and political divides.

Chattel slavery

A system that codified the legal status of enslaved people as property and determined that the status of children would follow that of their mothers.

English Civil War

A 1642–1651 conflict between Royalists and Parliamentarians (King vs. Parliament) in which Charles I was executed for treason, Oliver Cromwell established a republic, and Charles II restored the monarchy; led American colonists to side with the Royalists.

Lords of Trade & Plantations

An administrative body created by the English government to oversee commerce in the American colonies.

King Philip's War

A 1675–1676 conflict between Indigenous peoples and New England colonists during which the English enslaved many Indigenous people.

Bacon's Rebellion

An uprising stemming from tensions between Native Americans and English settlers on the Virginia frontier, as well as class conflict between wealthy English landowners and poor settlers.

Stono Rebellion

A 1739 South Carolina uprising in which 80 enslaved individuals burned plantations and killed at least 20 white settlers before being defeated by local militia while heading toward Fort Mose.

Enlightenment

An intellectual movement emphasizing reason, science, and natural law over traditional religious authority, laying the groundwork for questioning monarchy and advocating individual rights.

Great Awakening

A religious revival movement that challenged traditional church authority and promoted religious individualism.

Seven Years' War / French & Indian War

A conflict fought between France and England in the colonies and Europe ending in an English victory, which contributed to colonists feeling separate from England.

Royal Proclamation of 1763

Britain's first major postwar imperial action targeting North America, which forbade colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains to decrease wars with Native Americans and cut expenditures.

Stamp Act

A 1765 direct or "internal" tax requiring printed documents to be stamped to prove payment, directly taxing colonists and angering numerous groups.

Boston Massacre

A confrontation resulting from British regiments sent to enforce acts and quell resistance; colonists provoked Redcoats, leading to a miscommunication to fire that left 5 people dead and heightened colonial anger.

Coercive / Intolerable Acts

Legislation passed to weaken and punish Massachusetts by shutting down Boston Port, cutting trade, placing the colony under British control, and quartering troops on colonists' property.

Continental Association

A radical colonial agreement designed to unite the colonies, establish economic and moral policies, empower colonists, and institute a system of economic boycotts banning trade with Britain.

Common Sense

A pamphlet by Thomas Paine that challenged the logic of the British Empire, argued for colonial independence, and promoted breaking away from monarchy.

Articles of Confederation

The 1781 foundational document creating a structure for national government characterized by a weak central government and a "one state, one vote" rule.

Shays' Rebellion

An armed uprising led by Daniel Shays involving debt-ridden farmers and war veterans in Western Massachusetts, demonstrating the need for a strong central government.

James Madison

A nationalist leader who authored portions of the Federalist Papers, favored a strong national government and a new Constitution, advocated for disestablishment (separation of church and state), and later aligned with the Anti-Federalists.

Federalists

A conservative and pro-elite faction that advocated for a strong central government, the ratification of the Constitution, and trade ties with Britain before eventually disintegrating.

Anti-Federalists (Democratic-Republicans)

A group opposed to a strong federal government out of fear of losing personal liberty, viewing the Constitution as potential tyranny while favoring the Articles of Confederation and trade with France.