US History Key terms Exam 1

ACC US history key terms test exam 1 based on powerpoint provided in class

Agricultural Revolution

Shift from hunting to farming; allowed permanent settlements and population growth.

Beringia

Ice Age land bridge connecting Asia and North America; first settlers crossed it.

Columbian Exchange

Exchange of plants, animals, diseases, people, and ideas after 1492.

Conquistadores

Spanish soldiers and explorers who conquered Native American empires.

Coureurs de Bois

Independent French fur traders who traded with Native Americans.

Eastern Woodland Cultures

Native American societies living east of the Mississippi River.

Encomienda System

Spanish labor system forcing Native Americans to work for colonists.

Protestant Reformation

Religious movement challenging the Catholic Church; led to Protestantism.

Spanish Armada

Spanish fleet defeated by England in 1588, increasing English power.

Treaty of Tordesillas

1494 treaty dividing newly discovered lands between Spain and Portugal.

Virgin of Guadalupe

Catholic religious symbol of Christianity and Mexican identity.

Antinomianism

Belief that God guided individuals directly without church authority.

Great Puritan Migration

Movement of about 16,000 Puritans to Massachusetts in the 1630s.

Headright System

Gave 50 acres of land for paying someone's passage to Virginia.

House of Burgesses

First elected legislature in English North America (Virginia, 1619).

Indentured Servants

People who worked for years in exchange for passage to America.

Joint-Stock Company

Business where investors shared risks and profits.

Mayflower Compact

Pilgrim agreement establishing self-government and majority rule.

Puritans

English Protestants who wanted to purify the Church of England.

Quakers

Members of the Society of Friends who believed in equality, tolerance, and the Inner Light.

Bacon's Rebellion

1676 revolt led by Nathaniel Bacon against Virginia's governor.

Coverture

Law giving a married woman's legal rights to her husband.

Dominion of New England

Royal union of several New England colonies under British control.

Enumerated Goods

Colonial products that had to be shipped through England.

Glorious Revolution

1688 overthrow of James II; strengthened Parliament.

Mercantilism

Idea that colonies existed to benefit the mother country's economy.

Navigation Acts

English laws regulating colonial trade to benefit England.

Royal African Company

English company that supplied enslaved Africans to the colonies.

Spectral Evidence

Dreams and visions used as evidence during the Salem Witch Trials.

Yeoman

Independent farmer who owned and worked his own land.

Albany Plan

Benjamin Franklin's proposal to unite the colonies for defense.

Backcountry

Colonial frontier west of the settled Atlantic coast.

Consumer Revolution

Increase in colonists buying British manufactured goods.

Enlightenment

Intellectual movement emphasizing reason, science, and natural rights.

Great Awakening

Religious revival stressing emotional faith and personal conversion.

Itinerant Preachers

Traveling ministers who spread revival messages.

Middle Ground

Region where Native Americans and Europeans cooperated through trade and negotiation.

Peace of Paris (1763)

Treaty ending the Seven Years' War; Britain gained most French land in North America.

Seven Years' War

Global war between Britain and France; called the French and Indian War in North America.