Civics and Colonial History Review

Critical vocabulary and concepts regarding US citizenship, forms of government, and early colonial history based on the lecture notes.

Civics

The study of the rights and duties of citizens

Naturalization

A legal process to obtain citizenship

E Pluribus Unum

Latin phrase meaning "Out of many, one."

Duties

Things that everyone must do such as obey laws, pay taxes, defend our nation, serve in court, and attend school.

Responsibilities

Things that people should do such as vote, respect other's rights, and respect diversity.

Democracy

A government in which the citizens have the power to rule.

Direct Democracy

A form of democracy in which citizens play a direct role in the government, such as the Greek city state of Athens.

Republic

A representative form of government in which citizens choose a smaller group to govern on their behalf, such as the US.

Constitutional Monarchy

A government with a hereditary ruler, such as a king or queen, but who has to abide by the country's constitution and other democratic practices.

Authoritarian Government

A government where power is held by an individual or a group that are not accountable to the people.

Absolute Monarchy

A government with a hereditary ruler such as a king or queen who has absolute rule over their country.

Dictatorship

A government controlled by one person or a small group of people that usually takes control by force and relies on the police and military to stay in power.

Totalitarian Government

A system in which government control extends to almost all aspects of people's lives and restricts individual freedom.

Anarchy

The absence of government.

Triangle Trade

A trade network between Africa, the Americas, and Europe.

Columbian Exchange

The widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, and ideas between the Americas and the Old World in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Joint stock company

A business in which investors combine their wealth for a common purpose to reduce risk to the investors.

Indentured servant

A person who agreed to work for a master for a number of years in order to gain passage to the New World.

Plantation Economy

An industry in the Southern colonies based on cash crops such as tobacco, rice, and indigo that relied heavily on slave labor.

Middle Passage

The journey made by slaves from Africa to the Americas.

New England Industry

Economic activities including sawing lumber, harvesting fish, building ships, producing rum, and producing iron.

Magna Carta

A 1215 contract that limited the power of the monarch by guaranteeing that no one would be above the law and granting rights such as equal treatment and trial by one's peers.

Glorious Revolution

A peaceful transfer of power in England where King James was dethroned and replaced by William and Mary, establishing that no ruler would be more powerful than Parliament.

House of Lords

The house of Parliament composed of Nobles and Clergy.

House of Commons

The house of Parliament composed of merchants and town representatives.

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

The first written constitution in history which created a government and is seen as a prototype for the US Constitution.

Albany Plan of Union

A plan suggested during the French and Indian War for colonial governments to unite for mutual protection; though never enacted, it was a stepping stone for the American Revolution.

Maryland Act of Toleration

A law granted religious freedom to all who believed in the Trinity to ensure the religious liberty of Maryland's Catholics among a growing Protestant population.

Bacon's Rebellion

An uprising where poor frontier settlersled by Nathaniel Bacon marched on Jamestown to protest lack of representation in the House of Burgesses and high taxes.

Zenger Trial

A trial where German immigrant John Peter Zenger was found innocent of libel after exposing corruption, helping to establish freedom of the press.

Mayflower Compact

A contract signed by 41 men promising to work together to make "just and equal" laws, establishing the tradition of direct democracy in America.

House of Burgesses

Formed by 22 chosen men in Virginia, it was the first legislature in the English colonies and marked the beginning of self government in colonial America.