CH. 1-7 Key Terms

Three Sisters Farming

Who: Native American farmers; What: Companion planting of maize, beans, and squash; When: Pre-contact to colonial era; Where: North America; How: Planting them together so they support each other; Why: To maximize crop yield and maintain soil fertility.

Columbian Exchange

Who: European explorers and Native Americans; What: Widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, and diseases; When: Late 15th century onward, after Columbus sailed in 1492; Where: Between the Americas, Europe, and Africa; How: Transatlantic voyages; Why: To trade resources and expand global empires, though it devastated native populations with disease.

Encomienda

Who: Spanish crown and indigenous peoples; What: A labor system rewarding conquerors with native labor; When: 16th century; Where: Spanish colonies in the Americas; How: Forcing natives to work in exchange for protection and Christian instruction; Why: To extract wealth and establish colonial infrastructure.

Mestizos

Who: People of mixed European and Indigenous descent; What: A new social class; When: Colonial period onward; Where: Spanish Americas; How: Intermarriage and relations between Spaniards and Native Americans; Why: To form a distinct demographic and social hierarchy in colonial society.

John Smith

Who: English soldier and explorer; What: Leader of the Jamestown colony; When: Early 17th century (1607-1609); Where: Jamestown, Virginia; How: Enforcing strict labor rules and negotiating with Powhatan; Why: To prevent the struggling colony from collapsing.

John Rolfe

Who: English colonist; What: Pioneer of tobacco cultivation; When: 1612 onward; Where: Jamestown, Virginia; How: Cultivating a sweet strain of West Indian tobacco and marrying Pocahontas; Why: To provide Virginia with a lucrative cash crop that ensured its economic survival.

House of Burgesses

Who: Elected representatives of Virginia landowners; What: The first legislative assembly; When: Established in 1619; Where: Virginia; How: Holding elections among property-owning men to pass local laws; Why: To provide local self-governance and manage colonial affairs.

Spanish Armada

Who: Spanish naval fleet; What: A massive fleet sent to invade England; When: 1588; Where: English Channel; How: Attacking England by sea; Why: To overthrow Queen Elizabeth I, halt English piracy, and restore Catholicism, though it was disastrously defeated.

Headright System

Who: Virginia Company and colonists; What: A land grant program; When: 1618 onward; Where: Virginia; How: Granting 50 acres of land to anyone who paid for a laborer's passage to America; Why: To solve the severe labor shortage and encourage immigration.

Puritans

Who: English religious reformers; What: Protestants seeking to purify the Church of England; When: 16th and 17th centuries; Where: England and New England; How: Emigrating to America and establishing strict biblical commonwealths; Why: To practice their faith freely and build a model religious society.

Half-way Covenant

Who: Puritan clergy and church members; What: A form of partial church membership; When: 1662; Where: New England; How: Allowing baptized children of church members who had not experienced full conversion to baptism their own children; Why: To maintain church influence and membership numbers as religious zeal waned.

Quakers

Who: Members of the Religious Society of Friends; What: A pacifist Protestant sect; When: Mid-17th century onward; Where: England and Pennsylvania; How: Advocating for religious tolerance, pacifism, and fair treatment of Native Americans; Why: To escape persecution and live according to their inner-light theology.

Maize

Who: Native American agriculturalists; What: Corn; When: Cultivated for millennia; Where: Americas; How: Domesticating wild grasses into high-yield crops; Why: To serve as the primary staple food that supported large sedentary civilizations.

Indentured Servants

Who: Poor Europeans seeking a new life; What: Laborers bound by contract; When: 17th and 18th centuries; Where: American colonies; How: Agreeing to work for a master for 4-7 years in exchange for passage, food, and shelter; Why: To supply cheap labor before African slavery became dominant.

King Philip's War

Who: Metacom (King Philip) and New England colonists; What: A brutal armed conflict; When: 1675-1676; Where: New England; How: Native American raids on colonial towns met with colonial retaliation; Why: To resist encroachment on native lands, ending in devastating defeat for indigenous peoples.

Bacon's Rebellion

Who: Nathaniel Bacon and disgruntled frontiersmen; What: An armed rebellion; When: 1675-1676; Where: Virginia; How: Attacking Native Americans and burning Jamestown to protest Governor Berkeley's policies; Why: To demand protection from native attacks and voice frustration of landless former indentured servants.

Mercantilism

Who: European imperial powers; What: An economic theory; When: 16th to 18th centuries; Where: Europe and its colonies; How: Maximizing exports, minimizing imports, and exploiting colonies for raw materials; Why: To build national wealth and power at the expense of rival empires.

Navigation Act

Who: English Parliament; What: A series of laws restricting colonial trade; When: 1651 onwards; Where: English colonies and Britain; How: Requiring all colonial goods to be carried on English ships and routed through England; Why: To enforce mercantilism and ensure the mother country profited from colonial trade.

Enlightenment

Who: European and American philosophers; What: An intellectual movement emphasizing reason and science; When: 18th century; Where: Europe and the American colonies; How: Questioning traditional authority and advocating for natural rights and social contracts; Why: To promote progress, liberty, and rational thought.

Salutary Neglect

Who: British government and American colonists; What: A policy of lax enforcement of parliamentary laws; When: Late 17th to mid-18th century; Where: British North America; How: Ignoring colonial smuggling and local self-governance; Why: To keep colonies obedient and economically productive without heavy-handed interference.

Albany Congress

Who: Representatives from seven colonies and Iroquois leaders; What: A meeting to discuss defense; When: 1754; Where: Albany, New York; How: Proposing Benjamin Franklin's Plan of Union for collective defense; Why: To coordinate strategy at the onset of the French and Indian War.

French and Indian War

Who: British, French, and Native American allies; What: A major imperial war; When: 1754-1763; Where: North America; How: Fought over territorial control of the Ohio River Valley; Why: To determine dominance in North America, resulting in British victory and massive debt.

Pontiac's Rebellion

Who: Native American tribes led by Chief Pontiac; What: An armed uprising against the British; When: 1763; Where: Great Lakes region; How: Attacking British frontier forts; Why: To resist harsh British policies and encroachment after the French and Indian War.

Proclamation of 1763

Who: King George III and British Parliament; What: A royal decree; When: 1763; Where: Appalachian Mountains; How: Banning colonial settlement west of the Appalachians; Why: To prevent costly conflicts with Native Americans following Pontiac's Rebellion.

1st Great Awakening

Who: Evangelical preachers and colonists; What: A massive religious revival; When: 1730s-1740s; Where: American colonies; How: Delivering emotional sermons emphasizing personal salvation and spiritual equality; Why: To revitalize religious piety and challenge traditional church hierarchies.

Stono Rebellion

Who: Enslaved Africans; What: A major slave uprising; When: 1739; Where: South Carolina; How: Seizing weapons, killing slaveholders, and marching toward Spanish Florida; Why: To escape bondage, though it was brutally suppressed and led to harsher slave codes.

Zenger Trial

Who: John Peter Zenger and colonial authorities; What: A landmark freedom of the press trial; When: 1735; Where: New York; How: Defending Zenger against libel charges by proving his criticisms of the governor were true; Why: To establish the precedent that truth is a defense against libel.

Stamp Act

Who: British Parliament and American colonists; What: A direct tax on paper goods; When: 1765; Where: American colonies; How: Requiring a stamp on all legal documents, newspapers, and playing cards; Why: To raise revenue to pay off British war debt from the French and Indian War.

Lord Dunmore's Proclamation

Who: Lord Dunmore and enslaved people; What: An offer of freedom; When: 1775; Where: Virginia; How: Promising emancipation to any enslaved person who fled to British lines to fight; Why: To disrupt the colonial economy and recruit military strength for Britain.

Tea Act

Who: British Parliament and the British East India Company; What: A law granting a monopoly on tea sales; When: 1773; Where: American colonies; How: Undercutting colonial merchants by allowing direct tea shipments with a small tax; Why: To bail out the East India Company, sparking protests like the Boston Tea Party.

Phyllis Wheatley

Who: Enslaved African American poet; What: The first published African American woman poet; When: Mid-to-late 18th century; Where: Boston, Massachusetts; How: Writing acclaimed neoclassical poetry; Why: To showcase intellectual equality and challenge assumptions about African inferiority.

Articles of Confederation

Who: Continental Congress delegates; What: The first national constitution; When: 1781-1789; Where: United States; How: Creating a weak central government with no executive or power to tax; Why: To prevent tyranny after the American Revolution, though it proved too weak to govern effectively.

Three-Fifths Clause

Who: Constitutional Convention delegates; What: A compromise on legislative representation; When: 1787; Where: Philadelphia; How: Counting three out of every five enslaved persons for population and taxation; Why: To satisfy southern states and secure ratification of the Constitution.

Common Sense

Who: Thomas Paine; What: A persuasive pamphlet; When: January 1776; Where: American colonies; How: Arguing in plain language for immediate independence from Britain; Why: To rally public opinion and shift colonial sentiment from reconciliation to revolution.

Saratoga

Who: American Continental Army and British forces; What: A decisive military battle; When: October 1777; Where: Saratoga, New York; How: Surrounding and capturing a British army under General Burgoyne; Why: To prove American military capability, serving as the turning point that convinced France to enter the war.

Olive Branch Petition

Who: Second Continental Congress and King George III; What: A final peace appeal; When: July 1775; Where: American colonies and Britain; How: Declaring loyalty and begging the king to prevent further conflict; Why: To avoid all-out war, though the king rejected it and declared the colonies in rebellion.

Great Compromise

Who: Constitutional Convention delegates; What: A plan blending large and small state proposals; When: 1787; Where: Philadelphia; How: Establishing a bicameral legislature with proportional house representation and equal senate representation; Why: To resolve a deadlock and save the Constitution.

Shays's Rebellion

Who: Impoverished Massachusetts farmers led by Daniel Shays; What: An armed uprising; When: 1786-1787; Where: Massachusetts; How: Closing courts to prevent property foreclosures for unpaid taxes; Why: To protest economic distress, highlighting the fatal weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.

Northwest Ordinance

Who: Confederation Congress; What: A law establishing a system for western territories; When: 1787; Where: Northwest Territory; How: Creating a process for statehood, banning slavery in the territory, and promising civil liberties; Why: To orderly organize westward expansion and manage new lands.