Midterm study guide

What is the Bering Land Bridge Theory?

The theory that humans migrated from Asia to North America across a land bridge that once connected Siberia and Alaska during the last Ice Age.

What is a Social Contract?

An agreement among the members of a society to cooperate for social benefits, for example by sacrificing some individual freedom for state protection. Influential in the Enlightenment.

What are Natural Rights?

Rights that are inherent to all human beings, regardless of culture or government, often considered to be life, liberty, and property (as articulated by John Locke).

What is Checks and Balances?

A system in which each branch of government (legislative, executive, judicial) has the power to limit, or check, the actions of the other branches, preventing any one branch from becoming too powerful.

What is Federalism?

A system of government in which power is divided between a national (federal) government and various regional (state) governments.

What is a Republic?

A form of government in which power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and in which there is an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch.

What is Migration?

The movement of people from one place to another with the intention of settling permanently or for a longer period of time.

Who were the Hessians/Mercenaries?

Foreign professional soldiers hired to serve in a foreign army. During the American Revolution, Hessian soldiers from German states were hired by the British to fight against the American colonists.

What is a Tariff?

A tax or duty to be paid on a particular class of imports or exports.

What is Ratification?

The official way to confirm something, usually by vote. It is the formal validation of a proposed law, treaty, or constitution.

What was the Triangle Trade?

A transatlantic slave trade route that operated from the late 16th to early 19th centuries, carrying enslaved Africans, cash crops, and manufactured goods between West Africa, the Caribbean/American colonies, and the European colonial powers.

What was the Middle Passage?

The sea journey undertaken by enslaved African people from West Africa to the West Indies (and later to the Americas). It was the middle leg of the Triangle Trade and was known for its horrific conditions.

What is Mercantilism?

An economic theory or practice common from the 16th to 18th centuries that promoted governmental regulation of a nation's economy for the purpose of augmenting state power at the expense of rival national powers, often through accumulating monetary reserves through a positive balance of trade.

What were the 'Three Gs' that motivated exploration?

These were the primary motivations for European exploration: God (spreading Christianity), Glory (individual fame and national power), and Gold (wealth, resources, and economic gain).

What was the Columbian Exchange?

The widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations (including enslaved people), technology, diseases, and ideas between the Americas (the New World) and the Old World (Afro-Eurasia) in the 15th and 16th centuries, following Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage.

What were Slave Codes?

Laws in the American colonies and states that defined the status of enslaved persons and the rights and responsibilities of enslaved individuals and enslavers, severely restricting the freedoms and agency of enslaved people.

How did Agriculture lead to civilization?

The development of agriculture allowed human societies to settle in one place, produce surplus food, and develop specialized labor, leading to the growth of towns, cities, complex social structures, and governments.

What is a Theocracy?

A system of government in which priests rule in the name of God or a god.

What were some major battles of the American Revolution?

Some major battles include:

• Lexington and Concord (1775)
• Bunker Hill (1775)
• Trenton (1776)
• Saratoga (1777)
• Yorktown (1781)

What was the Constitutional Convention?

A meeting held in Philadelphia in 1787 where delegates from most U.S. states drafted the U.S. Constitution to replace the ineffective Articles of Confederation.

Who was George Washington?

The commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and the first President of the United States.

Who was Thomas Jefferson?

A statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and the third President of the United States.

Who was James Madison?

An American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for his pivotal role in drafting the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

What were the causes of the French and Indian War?

Causes included territorial disputes between Britain and France in the Ohio River Valley, competition for control of resources (furs), and alliances with Native American tribes.

What were the effects of the French and Indian War?

Effects included:

• Britain gained vast North American territory
• France lost most of its colonies in North America
• Increased British debt, leading to new taxes on American colonists
• Increased tensions between Britain and its American colonies.

What were the causes of the American Revolution?

Causes included British attempts to assert greater control over the colonies and to make them pay for the French and Indian War (e.g., Stamp Act, Townshend Acts), lack of colonial representation in Parliament, Enlightenment ideas, and events like the Boston Massacre and Boston Tea Party.

What were the effects of the American Revolution?

Effects included:

• American independence from Great Britain
• Formation of the United States as a republic
• Inspiration for other revolutions worldwide
• Economic disruption in the newly formed U.S.

Who were the Federalists?

A political faction, led by figures like Alexander Hamilton and James Madison (early on), who supported a strong federal government and advocated for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

Who were the Anti-Federalists?

A political faction, led by figures like Patrick Henry and George Mason, who opposed the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, fearing it would create an overly powerful central government that could threaten individual liberties.

What was the Jamestown Colony?

The first permanent English settlement in North America, established in Virginia in 1607 by the Virginia Company.

What was The Enlightenment?

An intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated the world of ideas in Europe during the 18th century, emphasizing reason, individualism, and skepticism, and challenging traditional authority.

What was The Great Awakening?

A series of religious revivals in the American colonies during the 1730s and 1740s, characterized by impassioned sermons and a renewed focus on individual religious experience.

What was the Declaration of Independence?

A document adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, announcing the thirteen American colonies' separation from Great Britain and stating their grievances against the British crown and their natural rights.

What was the Treaty of Paris (1763)?

The treaty that officially ended the Seven Years' War (French and Indian War in North America), resulting in France ceding most of its North American territories to Great Britain and Spain.

What was the Proclamation of 1763?

A British decree that forbade American colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains, aiming to prevent conflict with Native Americans after the French and Indian War.

What was the Treaty of Paris (1783)?

The treaty that officially ended the American Revolutionary War, recognizing the independence of the United States and establishing its borders.

What was the Treaty of Ghent?

The treaty signed on December 24, 1814, in Ghent, Belgium, that officially ended the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain, essentially restoring pre-war boundaries and conditions.

What was Common Sense by Thomas Paine?

A powerful and widely read pamphlet published in 1776 by Thomas Paine, advocating for American independence from Great Britain in clear, persuasive language.

What were the Federalist Papers?

A series of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, published anonymously under the pseudonym "Publius," arguing for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

What were the Articles of Confederation?

The first constitution of the United States, adopted in 1781, which established a weak central government and empowered the states, ultimately proving ineffective and replaced by the U.S. Constitution.

What is the U.S. Constitution?

The supreme law of the United States, ratified in 1788, which establishes the framework for the federal government and guarantees the rights of its citizens.

What are the Branches and roles of the U.S. federal government?

The U.S. federal government consists of three branches:

• Legislative Branch (Congress): Makes laws
• Executive Branch (President): Enforces laws
• Judicial Branch (Supreme Court & lower federal courts): Interprets laws

What was The Great Compromise?

An agreement reached during the Constitutional Convention that established a bicameral legislature (Congress) with the House of Representatives apportioned by population and the Senate with equal representation for each state.

What was the 3/5th Compromise?

An agreement reached during the Constitutional Convention that counted each enslaved person as three-fifths of a person for the purpose of determining a state's population for representation in the House of Representatives and for direct taxation.

What was the Slave Trade Compromise?

An agreement during the Constitutional Convention that allowed the slave trade to continue unhindered for 20 years (until 1808), after which Congress could regulate or prohibit it.

What is the Bill of Rights?

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791, which guarantee fundamental rights and liberties to individuals and limit the power of the federal government.