Key Concepts in Early American History and Colonial Systems

The Columbian Exchange

Definition: Transfer of people, animals, plants, diseases, and ideas between Europe, Africa, and the Americas after 1492. Context: Began with Christopher Columbus's voyage and colonization. Significance: Boosted European population, but killed millions of Natives and introduced slavery and new crops.

The Encomienda System

Definition: Spanish labor system forcing Native Americans to work for colonists in exchange for protection and religious instruction. Context: Used in Spanish colonies during the 1500s. Significance: Exploited Indigenous people and strengthened Spanish control.

Joint-Stock Companies

Definition: Companies funded by investors who shared profits and losses. Context: Used to finance colonies like Virginia. Significance: Enabled larger, long-term colonization efforts.

Bartolomé de las Casas

Definition: Spanish priest who defended Indigenous rights. Context: Witnessed abuses under Spanish rule. Significance: Led reforms and challenged Spanish cruelty.

The Starving Time

Definition: Winter of hunger in Jamestown (1609-1610). Context: Poor leadership and lack of preparation. Significance: Showed dangers of colonization without planning.

The Headright System

Definition: Gave land to settlers who paid for passage. Context: Created by Virginia Company. Significance: Increased immigration and expanded slavery-based plantations.

The Edict of Nantes (1598)

Definition: Law granting rights to French Protestants. Context: Ended French religious wars. Significance: Advanced religious tolerance; later revoked.

The Puritans

Definition: Protestants wanting to reform the Church of England. Context: Settled in New England for religious freedom. Significance: Shaped culture, law, and education.

The Mayflower Compact

Definition: Agreement to form a government in Plymouth. Context: Signed in 1620. Significance: Early example of democracy.

"City upon a hill"

Definition: Belief the colony would be an example to the world. Context: Said by John Winthrop. Significance: Established idea of American exceptionalism.

Proprietary Colony

Definition: Colony owned by individuals granted land by the king. Context: Maryland and Pennsylvania. Significance: Allowed self-governing control.

The Pequot War

Definition: War between Pequot tribe and English settlers. Context: New England, 1636-38. Significance: Strengthened English power and displaced Natives.

Triangular Trade

Definition: Trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas involving slaves and goods. Context: Part of Atlantic economy. Significance: Fueled slavery and economic growth.

The First Great Awakening

Definition: Religious revival movement. Context: 1730s-1740s. Significance: Encouraged personal faith and unity among colonies.

John Peter Zenger

Definition: Printer tried for criticizing the government. Context: Colonial New York. Significance: Strengthened freedom of press.

The Enlightenment

Definition: Movement emphasizing logic, reason, science. Context: Influenced by John Locke. Significance: Inspired democracy and rights-based government.

The Halfway Covenant

Definition: Allowed partial Puritan membership. Context: Response to decline in church attendance. Significance: Showed weakening religious unity.

Bacon's Rebellion

Definition: 1676 revolt by farmers against colonial leaders. Context: Led by Nathaniel Bacon. Significance: Increased reliance on slavery and fear of poor whites.

Mercantilism

Definition: System that benefited the mother country through colonies. Context: British trade limits. Significance: Angered colonists and led to revolution.

The Seven Years' War

Definition: War between Britain and France. Context: Called French and Indian War in America. Significance: Led to taxes that angered colonists.

The Pueblo Revolt

Definition: Native rebellion against Spanish rule. Context: Led by Popé, 1680. Significance: Forced Spanish retreat temporarily.

King Philip's War

Definition: War between colonists and Natives. Context: Led by Metacom. Significance: Destroyed Native alliances.

Anne Hutchinson

Definition: Puritan dissenter. Context: Banished from Massachusetts. Significance: Promoted religious freedom.

John Winthrop

Definition: Puritan leader and governor. Context: Led Massachusetts Bay Colony. Significance: Set moral and political tone of New England.

House of Burgesses

Definition: First colonial legislature. Context: Virginia, 1619. Significance: First step toward self-government.

Powhatan Confederacy

Definition: Native alliance in Virginia. Context: Encountered Jamestown settlers. Significance: Influenced early survival and conflict.

Juan de Sepúlveda

Definition: Argued Spanish domination was justified. Context: Debated Las Casas. Significance: Highlighted empire morality conflict.

Virginia Company

Definition: Joint-stock company that founded Jamestown. Context: Investment-based colonization. Significance: Opened English settlement.

Conquistadores

Definition: Spanish conquerors. Context: Conquered Native empires. Significance: Spread Catholicism and Spanish control.

Salutary Neglect

Definition: Britain's loose control over colonies. Context: Colonies governed themselves. Significance: Encouraged independence.

The Albany Plan of Union

Definition: Proposal to unite the colonies under one government. Context: Written by Benjamin Franklin in 1754 at the Albany Congress. Significance: First major attempt at colonial unity; later influenced the Constitution.

Pontiac's Rebellion

Definition: Native American uprising against British control. Context: Led by Pontiac after the French and Indian War. Significance: Caused British restrictions on westward expansion (Proclamation of 1763).

George Grenville

Definition: British Prime Minister. Context: Enforced strict colonial taxes like the Stamp Act. Significance: Increased colonial anger toward Britain.

Virtual Representation

Definition: Idea that Parliament represented all British citizens, even if they didn't vote. Context: British response to colonial protests. Significance: Colonists rejected it, supporting "no taxation without representation."

Nonconsumption

Definition: Colonists refusing British goods. Context: Used in boycott movements. Significance: Pressured Britain economically.

East India Company

Definition: British trading company controlling tea trade. Context: Given tax benefits under Tea Act. Significance: Angered colonists and led to Boston Tea Party.

The Intolerable Acts

Definition: Laws punishing Massachusetts. Context: Passed after Boston Tea Party. Significance: United colonies against Britain.

Battle of Lexington and Concord

Definition: First battles of the American Revolution. Context: British tried to seize weapons. Significance: Marked the start of war (1775).

Second Continental Congress

Definition: Meeting of colonial leaders. Context: Managed war effort and drafted Declaration. Significance: Acted as colonial government.

Thomas Paine

Definition: Writer who supported independence. Context: Wrote Common Sense. Significance: Encouraged revolution among ordinary colonists.

The Franco-American Alliance

Definition: Treaty of friendship and defense. Context: Signed with France in 1778. Significance: Supplied vital support to colonists.

Shays' Rebellion

Definition: Farmers' revolt against Massachusetts taxes. Context: 1786 uprising. Significance: Showed weakness of Articles of Confederation.

The Northwest Ordinance

Definition: Law governing western lands. Context: Passed in 1787. Significance: Banned slavery in new territories and encouraged settlement.

The Virginia Plan

Definition: Proposal for a strong federal government. Context: Presented by James Madison at Constitutional Convention. Significance: Basis for final Constitution.

The Anti-Federalists

Definition: Opponents of strong central government. Context: Criticized Constitution. Significance: Forced creation of Bill of Rights.

Loose Constructionism

Definition: Belief that the Constitution should be interpreted flexibly. Context: Supported by Alexander Hamilton to justify the national bank. Significance: Expanded federal power through the "implied powers" doctrine.

Neutrality Proclamation

Definition: Policy of staying out of European wars. Context: Issued by George Washington in 1793. Significance: Established tradition of U.S. neutrality.

Jay's Treaty

Definition: Treaty between U.S. and Britain to avoid war. Context: Negotiated by John Jay. Significance: Improved trade but angered France.

Washington's Farewell Address

Definition: Final speech urging unity and warning against alliances and political parties. Context: Written by George Washington in 1796. Significance: Influenced foreign and domestic policy.

Nullification

Definition: Idea that states can void federal laws. Context: Used by John C. Calhoun. Significance: Increased sectional conflict.

Judicial Review

Definition: Power of courts to declare laws unconstitutional. Context: Established in Marbury v. Madison. Significance: Strengthened the Supreme Court.

Embargo Act of 1807

Definition: Law banning foreign trade. Context: Passed under Thomas Jefferson. Significance: Hurt American economy and increased opposition.

"War Hawks"

Definition: Congressmen favoring war with Britain. Context: Led by Henry Clay. Significance: Caused War of 1812.

Hartford Convention

Definition: New England meeting opposing War of 1812. Context: Federalists met to criticize the war. Significance: Weakened Federalist Party.

Era of Good Feelings

Definition: Time of national unity. Context: During presidency of James Monroe. Significance: One-party politics masked regional tensions.

36º30' North

Definition: Line dividing slave and free territories. Context: Part of Missouri Compromise. Significance: Temporarily calmed sectionalism.

The Corrupt Bargain

Definition: Alleged deal between Adams and Clay. Context: Election of 1824. Significance: Destroyed trust in government.

Indian Removal Act (1830)

Definition: Law forcing Native relocation. Context: Passed by Andrew Jackson. Significance: Caused Trail of Tears.

Tariff of Abominations

Definition: Extremely high tariff. Context: Passed 1828. Significance: Triggered Nullification Crisis.

Second Bank of the U.S.

Definition: National bank controlling credit. Context: Destroyed by Andrew Jackson. Significance: Caused economic instability.

Nat Turner's Rebellion

Definition: Slave uprising. Context: Led by Nat Turner. Significance: Led to stricter slave laws.

Whig Party

Definition: Political party opposed to Jackson. Context: Supported Congress supremacy. Significance: Advocated modernization.

Cotton Gin

Definition: Machine separating cotton seeds. Context: Invented by Eli Whitney. Significance: Expanded slavery.

Lowell System

Definition: Factory work system for young women. Context: Textile mills in Massachusetts. Significance: Early industrial labor model.

National Road

Definition: First federal highway. Context: Built early 1800s. Significance: Boosted westward movement.

Railroad Gauge

Definition: Distance between rails. Context: Standardized later. Significance: Improved transportation.

Manifest Destiny

Definition: Belief in westward expansion. Context: 1800s ideology. Significance: Justified Native removal and war.

Cult of Domesticity

Definition: Gender role ideology. Context: Women as homemakers. Significance: Restricted women's freedoms.

Southern paternalism

Definition: Belief that enslavers acted as "protectors" of enslaved people. Context: Used by Southern slaveholders before the Civil War. Significance: Justified slavery as benevolent and natural.

The Second Great Awakening

Definition: Protestant religious revival movement. Context: Early 1800s. Significance: Encouraged reform movements and abolition.

Dorothea Dix

Definition: Reformer for the mentally ill. Context: Pushed for humane treatment. Significance: Led to institutional reform.

Henry David Thoreau

Definition: Transcendentalist writer. Context: Wrote Civil Disobedience. Significance: Encouraged individual conscience over government.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Definition: Women's rights leader. Context: Seneca Falls Convention. Significance: Started women's rights movement.

American Colonization Society

Definition: Group promoting return of freed Blacks to Africa. Context: Early 1800s. Significance: Racist solution to slavery issue.

The Underground Railroad

Definition: Network helping enslaved people escape. Context: Led by conductors like Harriet Tubman. Significance: Undermined slavery system.

Internal Improvements

Definition: Government-funded infrastructure projects (roads, canals, railroads). Context: Promoted in the early 1800s, especially by Henry Clay's "American System." Significance: Encouraged national economic growth, unified regions, and deepened sectional conflict because the South feared federal overreach and unequal benefits to the North.

The Wilmot Proviso

Definition: Proposal to ban slavery in territories gained from Mexico. Context: Introduced in 1846 during the Mexican-American War. Significance: Failed to pass but inflamed sectional tension and revealed Congress was divided strictly along North-South lines.

Popular Sovereignty

Definition: Idea that settlers vote on whether to allow slavery. Context: Major concept behind the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Significance: Led to violence in "Bleeding Kansas" and showed democracy could not resolve the slavery issue peacefully.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Definition: Influential novel exposing the cruelty of slavery. Context: Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852. Significance: Turned Northern public opinion against slavery; South rejected and banned it, widening cultural divide.

The Raid on Harpers Ferry

Definition: Armed attack on a U.S. arsenal by abolitionists. Context: Led by John Brown in 1859. Significance: Convicted the South that abolitionists would use violence; became a turning point toward war.

"Freeport" Doctrine

Definition: Allowed territories to exclude slavery by not passing supporting laws. Context: Articulated by Stephen A. Douglas in 1858. Significance: Split Democrats and weakened national political unity.

Habeas Corpus

Definition: Legal protection against unlawful imprisonment. Context: Suspended by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. Significance: Demonstrated wartime expansion of presidential power and sparked debate on civil liberties.

Salmon P. Chase

Definition: Lincoln's Treasury Secretary and later Chief Justice. Context: Managed wartime finances and pushed emancipation. Significance: Helped fund the Union war effort and influenced Reconstruction-era legal rulings.

William Tecumseh Sherman

Definition: Union general known for total war strategy. Context: Led March to the Sea. Significance: Crippled Confederate morale and resources, helping ensure Union victory.

The Freedmen's Bureau

Definition: Federal agency to assist formerly enslaved people. Context: Created in 1865 after the Civil War. Significance: Provided education and aid but had limited success due to Southern resistance.

Black Codes

Definition: Laws restricting African Americans' freedom. Context: Enacted in Southern states during Presidential Reconstruction. Significance: Recreated slavery-like conditions and led Congress to impose stricter Reconstruction.

Military Reconstruction (1867)

Definition: Division of the South into military districts. Context: Enforced by Congress after failure of Presidential Reconstruction. Significance: Protected Black rights temporarily and reshaped Southern governments.

The White League

Definition: White supremacist paramilitary group. Context: Active in Louisiana during Reconstruction. Significance: Used violence to overthrow Republican rule and suppress Black voters.

The Compromise of 1877

Definition: Political deal resolving the 1876 election. Context: Gave presidency to Hayes in exchange for troop withdrawal. Significance: Ended Reconstruction and allowed rise of Jim Crow.

The Emancipation Proclamation

Definition: Order freeing enslaved people in Confederate states. Context: Issued by Abraham Lincoln in 1863. Significance: Changed war aim to moral cause, discouraged foreign aid to Confederacy, and allowed Black enlistment in Union Army.

Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Definition: Supreme Court case establishing judicial review — the Court's authority to declare laws unconstitutional. Context: Arising from political chaos after the election of 1800, when outgoing President John Adams appointed "midnight judges" and the new administration under Thomas Jefferson refused to deliver some commissions (including Marbury's). Significance: Strengthened the Supreme Court's power and created a co-equal judicial branch; became one of the most important constitutional precedents in U.S. history.

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

Definition: Ruled that states cannot tax the federal government and upheld Congress's implied powers. Context: Maryland attempted to tax the Second Bank of the United States. Chief Justice John Marshall argued that the Constitution granted implied powers through the "necessary and proper" clause. Significance: Expanded federal authority and limited the power of states over federal institutions.

Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831)

Definition: Ruled that Native American tribes were not sovereign nations, but "domestic dependent nations." Context: The Cherokee sued to stop Georgia from seizing their land after the Indian Removal Act. Significance: Weakened Native legal standing and allowed federal and state governments to continue removal policies.

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

Definition: Ruled that African Americans were not citizens and Congress had no power to ban slavery in territories. Context: Dred Scott sued for freedom after living in free territory. Significance: Declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional and directly increased sectional conflict, pushing the nation closer to Civil War.

United States v. Cruikshank (1876)

Definition: Ruled the federal government could not prosecute individuals for civil rights violations. Context: Involved white supremacist violence after the Colfax Massacre. Significance: Weakened federal protection of Black citizens and allowed racial violence during Reconstruction.

United States v. Reese (1876)

Definition: Declared Justice Department powerless to use amendments to protect voting rights unless race was explicitly named. Context: Southern states used poll taxes and literacy tests. Significance: Opened the door to voter suppression and undermined the 15th Amendment.

Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

Definition: Ruled that only Congress can regulate interstate commerce. Context: Conflict over steamboat monopolies in New York. Significance: Strengthened federal role in the economy and encouraged national markets.

George Washington

Definition: First U.S. president (1789-1797). Context: Led new nation under the Constitution; created precedent of cabinet system and two-term tradition; dealt with Whiskey Rebellion. Significance: Established stability of government, civilian control of military, and neutrality policy; set enduring executive standards.

John Adams

Definition: Second U.S. president (1797-1801). Context: Faced undeclared naval conflict with France (Quasi-War); passed Alien and Sedition Acts. Significance: Protected neutrality but harmed civil liberties; strengthened political party conflict.

Thomas Jefferson

Definition: Third U.S. president (1801-1809). Context: Oversaw Louisiana Purchase; reduced national debt; Embargo Act; promoted agrarianism. Significance: Doubled U.S. size; limited federal power; trade failures hurt economy.