Indigenous North America (to 1770) and Early Colonial History Flashcards

A comprehensive set of Q&A flashcards covering Indigenous North America, early colonial history, slavery, and Enlightenment influence in the American colonies.

What is the Bering Land Bridge Theory?

The idea that the first peoples migrated from Asia to the Americas over a land bridge during the Ice Age.

Which region was home to advanced civilizations like the Aztec and Maya?

Mesoamerica.

What major shift in human society enabled permanent villages?

The Neolithic Revolution (shift to farming).

What are the 'Three Sisters' crops?

Corn, beans, and squash—the foundational crops of many Indigenous agricultural systems.

Who were the Native peoples of the Southwest known for adobe dwellings?

Pueblos.

Which group is known for cliff dwellings and irrigation and are ancestors of the Pueblos?

Anasazi.

What cultures built ceremonial and burial earthworks across the landscape?

Mound-building cultures.

What was Cahokia best known as?

A large Mississippian city near St. Louis.

How would you describe the linguistic landscape of Native North America?

Linguistic diversity with hundreds of distinct languages.

What field improved exploration by providing better maps and information?

Cartography.

In what year did Christopher Columbus voyage for Spain, opening the Americas to Europe?

1492.

What was the Columbian Exchange?

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

What term describes the massive decline of Native populations due to disease after contact with Europeans?

Great Dying.

What did the Spanish Empire in the Americas emphasize economically and religiously?

Silver and gold, the encomienda system, and Catholic missions.

What were the key economic activities of the Portuguese Empire in the Americas?

Brazil, sugar, and the African slave trade.

Where did the French empire focus in North America and what was its economic focus?

Canada and the Mississippi Valley; fur trade with Natives.

What was the Dutch Empire in North America mainly focused on, and what was its key colony?

Trade-focused; New Netherland (later New York).

What are Joint Stock Companies?

Investor-funded colonies.

Which company founded Jamestown in 1607?

The Virginia Company.

What was the first permanent English colony in North America?

Jamestown (1607).

What cash crop fueled Virginia’s economic success?

Tobacco.

What system granted 50 acres of land for each settler brought to a colony?

The Headright System.

Who were laborers who worked for passage to the colonies in exchange for years of service?

Indentured Servants.

Which Native alliance was located near Jamestown?

Powhatan Confederacy.

Who was the Virginia governor who favored the colonial elite?

William Berkeley.

What rebellion occurred in 1676–77 protesting Berkeley’s policies and inequality?

Bacon’s Rebellion.

What Maryland law (1649) granted religious freedom to Christians?

Act Concerning Religion.

What was the Mayflower Compact?

An agreement for self-rule among the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower (1620).

What was the Plymouth Colony?

The Pilgrim settlement; later merged with Massachusetts Bay in 1691.

Which colony was established in 1630 as a large Puritan settlement?

Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Who articulated the 'city upon a hill' vision for Massachusetts Bay Colony?

John Winthrop.

What 1637 event involved colonists attacking the Pequot and slaughtering many of them?

Pequot Massacre.

What was the Massachusetts Body of Liberties (1641)?

The first legal code in New England.

Which woman was banished for challenging Puritan leadership?

Anne Hutchinson.

Who was banished and founded Rhode Island for religious tolerance?

Roger Williams.

What colony promoted religious tolerance and separation of church and state?

Rhode Island.

What 1692 event involved witchcraft accusations and executions in Massachusetts?

Salem Witch Trials.

Which war in 1675–76 was a brutal Native–colonist conflict in New England?

King Philip’s War.

What era saw English civil conflict, the Commonwealth, and eventual restoration of the monarchy?

Restoration Colonies (1660–1690).

Which monarch’s reign was restored in 1660, leading to colonial expansion?

King Charles II.

What Dutch colony was seized by England in 1664 and renamed New York?

New Amsterdam.

What did New Amsterdam become after English takeover?

New York.

Which colony was royal and later split into North and South?

Carolina.

What was Charleston known for in the South Carolina colony?

A major port hub for trade and slavery.

Which colony was founded by William Penn as a Quaker haven?

Pennsylvania.

What pacifist religious group emphasized equality?

Quakers.

What 1688 event strengthened colonial resistance to royal power?

Glorious Revolution.

Which colony in Virginia first had African slavery in 1619 and slavery expanded with tobacco?

Virginia.

What is chattel slavery?

Slaves treated as property for life, with inheritance by descendants.

Which colony used enslaved Africans heavily for rice and indigo plantations?

South Carolina.

What English company controlled the slave trade to the colonies, chartered in 1672?

Royal African Company.

What were Black Codes?

Laws restricting movement, rights, and freedoms of enslaved Africans.

What did slave communities develop despite oppression?

Family ties, religion, music, and resistance.

What was the Transatlantic slave trade?

The system that transported millions of Africans to the Americas.

What was the Middle Passage?

The brutal Atlantic crossing for enslaved Africans with high death rates.

What was seasoning in the enslaved experience?

The period of adjustment to a new environment, labor, and discipline.

Which groups largely immigrated to the colonies during 1700–1770?

Scots-Irish and Germans.

Why was life expectancy often higher in New England compared to the South?

Cleaner environment and conditions; higher life expectancy in New England.

What was the Triangular Trade?

Trade system linking Africa, the Americas, and Europe: slaves → raw materials → manufactured goods.

Which region had higher literacy due to Puritan Bible reading emphasis?

New England.

Who was the Enlightenment thinker famous for natural rights (life, liberty, property)?

John Locke.

Which Enlightenment thinker argued for separation of powers?

Baron Montesquieu.

Which colonial leader authored the Declaration of Independence and was influenced by Enlightenment ideas?

Thomas Jefferson.

Which Great Awakening preacher drew huge crowds in the colonies?

George Whitefield.

Which preacher wrote 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God' and sparked revivalism?

Jonathan Edwards.