American History: First Settlements to Constitution

What was the 'Big Idea' of the Chesapeake colonies?

They were built on profit, not community, and tobacco shaped everything.

What was the 'Lost Colony'?

Roanoke (1587). John White left for 3 years and returned to find no one.

What was Jamestown (1607)?

Funded by the London Company. It had a bad location (swampy, hot, malaria) and colonists hunted for gold instead of growing food.

What was the 'Starving Time'?

Winter of 1609-10 where nearly the entire Jamestown colony died.

Who was John Smith?

He brought discipline to the Jamestown colony.

Who was Lord De La Warr?

First governor of Jamestown. He used harsh work gangs, but the colony began to grow.

What was the significance of tobacco (1612, John Rolfe)?

It made Virginia profitable and created a demand for land and labor.

What was the headright system?

50 acres for each person you brought over. It rewarded bringing servants.

What happened in 1619?

First elected legislature (House of Burgesses) was established. The company sent 100 women.

How did the Powhatan conflicts end?

Pocahontas married John Rolfe. Virginia became a royal colony in 1624.

What was Maryland (1632-34)?

A haven for Catholics founded by the Calvert family. Protestants outnumbered Catholics, leading to religious toleration.

What was Bacon's Rebellion?

Backcountry settlers (Nathaniel Bacon) vs. Governor Berkeley over how to deal with Native Americans. They burned Jamestown. Bacon died of dysentery.

Why did Bacon's Rebellion matter?

It showed the danger of angry, landless free men. Elites turned to the slave trade as an answer to that unrest.

What is the Memory Hook for Chapter 1?

Gold, then tobacco, then land, then labor: Each problem led to the next.

Check Yourself: Why did the headright system encourage families to move together, and why did it also encourage the use of servants?

It encouraged families to move together because they would get more land. It encouraged servants because indentured servants were a source of labor to work the land.

What was the 'Big Idea' of New England?

Colonists came for religion, built tight-knit communities, and clashed with Native Americans and dissenters.

Who were the Pilgrims (1620)?

Separatists who sailed on the Mayflower. They set up a civil government with the Mayflower Compact. Squanto helped them. William Bradford was governor.

What was Massachusetts Bay (1630)?

Puritans led by John Winthrop. About 1,000 people came (the largest migration). It was a theocratic society where ministers had influence but no political power.

Who were the Dissenters?

Roger Williams wanted full separation from the Church of England and founded Rhode Island. Anne Hutchinson challenged a woman's expected role.

What was the Pequot War (1637)?

Colonists nearly wiped out the Pequots.

What was King Philip's War (1675)?

Metacom (Wampanoag) resisted the English. He was killed, and native alliances were destroyed.

Who were the Quakers / Pennsylvania?

William Penn respected native land claims. Quakers rejected predestination, were pacifists, gave women roles in the church, and had no paid clergy. The 1701 Charter of Liberties created a representative assembly.

What was the difference between the Carolinas?

Eight proprietors used headrights and welcomed any settlers. North Carolina was less wealthy, while South Carolina developed as an aristocratic society.

What were the Navigation Acts (1660, 1663, 1673)?

Colonial trade had to go through English ships and ports, with taxes. England was applying mercantilism to its empire.

What is the Memory Hook for Chapter 2?

Pilgrims = Plymouth, Puritans = Massachusetts Bay, Quakers = Pennsylvania.

Check Yourself: How were Puritans and Quakers different in their beliefs about religion and government?

Puritans believed in predestination and a theocratic society where ministers had influence. Quakers rejected predestination, were pacifists, allowed women in the church, and had no paid clergy.

What was the 'Big Idea' of Chapter 3?

Where you lived (Chesapeake or New England) shaped your family, work, and economy. New ideas (Great Awakening and Enlightenment) shook up colonial thinking.

Who came to the Chesapeake vs. New England?

Chesapeake: About 3/4 were indentured servants. New England: Religious dissenters and whole families paying their own way.

How were families different in the Chesapeake vs. New England?

Chesapeake: High death rates, young marriages, labor shortage made childbearing important. New England: Stable, more balanced gender ratio, children more likely to survive.

How were women's roles different in the Chesapeake vs. New England?

Chesapeake: More freedom and power, especially widows running plantations. New England: Fathers controlled marriage choices; Puritanism reinforced male authority.

How were the economies different in the Chesapeake vs. New England?

Chesapeake: Tobacco; overproduction caused the first bust in 1640. New England: Families settled and farmed their own land.

What was the Great Awakening (1730s-40s)?

A wave of religious fervor that appealed to women and younger sons. Message: anyone can start fresh with God. Key figures: Jonathan Edwards, John & Charles Wesley.

What is the difference between 'New Lights' and 'Old Lights'?

New Lights were revivalists, Old Lights were traditionalists.

What was the Enlightenment?

Thinkers celebrated reason and science (e.g., John Locke). It weakened traditional authority and encouraged interest in education and politics.

What is the Memory Hook for Chapter 3?

Great Awakening = heart and faith. Enlightenment = head and reason.

Check Yourself: Why might a younger son in a third-generation colonial family be drawn to the Great Awakening?

Because they stood to inherit little, and the Great Awakening's message that anyone can start fresh with God appealed to them.

What was the 'Big Idea' of Chapter 4?

Britain barely supervised its colonies, so colonial governments grew strong. The French & Indian War ended the neglect and left Britain in debt.

What was the policy of Neglect?

PM Robert Walpole deliberately did not enforce the Navigation Acts strictly.

Why did the colonies stay divided?

They thought of themselves as English and of each other as foreigners.

What was the Albany Plan (1754)?

Ben Franklin proposed 'one general government' for defense. All colonies rejected it.

Who were the rivals for the continent?

France held Canada and the Mississippi/Louisiana region. The Iroquois Confederacy played the French and British against each other.

What was the spark of the war (1754)?

George Washington built Fort Necessity, lost, and surrendered.

What were the three phases of the war?

1) 1754-56 local fighting (British losses, Braddock killed). 2) William Pitt takes control, drafts colonists, and wins. 3) Pitt relaxes policies, reimburses colonists, and the British win.

What was the result of the war?

France gave Canada and land east of the Mississippi to Britain (New Orleans went to Spain).

What were the effects on Britain?

They had more land but a bigger debt, and resentment that colonists contributed too little.

What were the effects on colonists?

They learned to work together, resented impressment, and saw themselves as a 'people's army.'

What were the effects on Native Americans?

Alliances with Britain fell apart.

What is the Memory Hook for Chapter 4?

Neglect made colonies strong, war made Britain broke. Broke Britain will soon look to the colonies for money.

Check Yourself: How did the colonies' experience in the French & Indian War make them more connected, and yet more resentful of Britain?

They learned to work together as a 'people's army' and saw themselves as connected, but they resented impressment and British policies.

What was the 'Big Idea' of Chapter 5?

After 1763, Britain tried to tax and control the colonies more tightly. Each new law triggered protest, and protest escalated into war.

What was the Proclamation Line of 1763?

It banned settling west of the Appalachians. PM Grenville wanted colonists to pay part of the war cost. Colonists were not effective in their response.

What was the Sugar Act and Currency Act (1764)?

It put a tax on sugar and banned paper money. It mostly hit New England merchants.

What was the Stamp Act (1765)?

A tax on printed documents that hit ALL colonists. Patrick Henry's Virginia Resolves, the Stamp Act Congress, and Sons of Liberty riots and boycotts followed.

What was the Declaratory Act (1766)?

After the Stamp Act was repealed, this declared Britain had the right to tax. Boycotts had worked.

What were the Townshend Duties (1767)?

Taxes on goods. More boycotts followed; all duties were repealed except tea.

What happened with Troops in Boston (1770)?

The Boston Massacre: 5 killed, including Crispus Attucks. Paul Revere's image spread the story.

What were the Committees of Correspondence (1772)?

Samuel Adams organized them.

What was the Tea Act (1773)?

It helped East India Company undercut colonial merchants. The Boston Tea Party followed.

What were the Coercive Acts (1774)?

They closed Boston harbor. The First Continental Congress (12 of 13 colonies) attended and made a boycott agreement ('continental association').

What happened in 1775?

General Gage sent 1,000 soldiers to seize gunpowder. Lexington & Concord: war begins.

What was the key idea of 'No taxation without representation'?

Colonists wanted actual representation (people elect their own representatives). Britain used virtual representation (every member of Parliament represents the whole nation).

What was the division of sovereignty?

Americans wanted Parliament to rule the empire and local assemblies to rule the colonies. Britain said only one authority could exist.

Why did women lead boycotts?

Because they were the main tea drinkers.

What was the Second Continental Congress?

Delegates were split. John and Samuel Adams wanted independence, while John Dickinson wanted modest reform. The Olive Branch Petition was a last appeal to the King.

What is the Memory Hook for Chapter 5?

Tax, protest, repeal, new tax. The cycle repeats until the colonies feel only two choices: submit or fight.

Check Yourself: Why did the Stamp Act cause a bigger crisis than the Sugar Act?

Because the Stamp Act was an internal tax that hit ALL colonists directly, while the Sugar Act mostly hit New England merchants.

What was the 'Big Idea' of Chapter 6?

America declared independence and won against a stronger army, but the war changed society in uneven ways.

What was the Declaration of Independence?

Congress voted for independence July 2 and approved the Declaration July 4, 1776. Jefferson wrote most of it. Part 1 = social contract theory. Part 2 = list of the King's offenses.

Who were Loyalists vs. Patriots?

Loyalists were at least 1/5 of the white population. About 100,000 fled the country.

What were the Articles of Confederation?

Adopted 1777, ratified 1781. Congress coordinated the war but had weak power over states, and no power to tax.

What were the war problems?

Supply shortages, inflation from paper money, and merchants selling to the British for hard money (one reason for the food shortage at Valley Forge). Congress borrowed from France and Prussia. Washington led the Continental Army, helped by foreign experts like Lafayette.

What were American advantages?

Fighting on their own land, deeply committed to the cause. Britain's support was half-hearted and it made early blunders.

What were the three phases of the war?

1. New England: Bunker Hill, failed invasion of Canada, British leaving Boston (1776). 2. Mid-Atlantic (1776-78): Americans were overmatched. Saratoga was the turning point. After it, France recognized the U.S., making the war international. 3. The South: Britain overestimated Loyalist support. Cornwallis was defeated. Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized the U.S.

What was the impact of the war on slavery?

Some enslaved people gained freedom through the British. The Black share of the South's population fell from 60% to 44% by 1790. Antislavery feeling grew in the North. The South built new justifications for slavery while holding people in bondage.

What was the impact of the war on women?

Ran homes and businesses. Abigail Adams asked for expanded rights, and Judith Sargent Murray argued for women's education. Legal customs changed little, and married women still had no property rights.

What was the impact of the war on Native Americans?

Raids and settler expansion continued.

What was the impact of the war on the economy?

Britain closed its ports to American ships, but the U.S. found new trade in the Caribbean, South America, and Asia, and domestic manufacturing grew.

What is the Memory Hook for Chapter 6?

Saratoga = France joins. Without French help, the war likely goes differently.

Check Yourself: Why was Congress's lack of power to tax such a big problem during the war?

Because they could not raise money to supply the army, leading to shortages and inflation.

What did state governments agree on?

Americans agreed on republican government (power from the people), which depended on independent property owners with civic virtue. Equality meant equal opportunity, but in reality, slaves, women, and Native Americans were not equal.

What were the two big changes in state governments?

Written constitutions made at constitutional conventions, and stronger executives (directly elected, fixed salary, veto power). Virginia's Statute of Religious Liberty (1786) separated church and state. Slavery survived in the South.

What were the powers of the Articles of Confederation (in effect 1781-1789)?

Could declare war, conduct foreign relations, borrow, and issue money. Could NOT tax, regulate trade, or draft troops. One vote per state, and 9 states needed to pass measures. States could refuse requests.

What were the diplomatic failures under the Articles?

Britain kept its frontier posts. Britain did not know whether it was dealing with 13 nations or one.

What were the land laws?

1784 divided the West into self-governing districts. 1785 created the survey grid for selling land. Northwest Ordinance (1787) created the Northwest Territory, required 60,000 people for statehood, guaranteed religious freedom and trial by jury, and banned slavery.

What was the debt crisis?

Postwar depression (1784-87). Congress got only 1/6 of the money it asked from the states, and farmers were crushed by debt and taxes.

What was Shays' Rebellion (1786-87)?

Veterans led by Daniel Shays used force to stop courts from collecting debts. A state militia, paid for by wealthy merchants, put it down. It still won some tax relief and added urgency to writing a new constitution.

What is the Memory Hook for Chapter 7?

No tax power = no money = no strength. Every Articles problem traces back to that.

Check Yourself: Why did Shays' Rebellion convince many leaders that the Articles of Confederation were not enough?

Because it showed the national government could not maintain order or pay its debts, and a rebellion could only be stopped by a privately funded militia.

What was the 'Big Idea' of Chapter 7?

After the Revolution, Americans built strong state governments but a national government too weak to pay its debts or solve problems.