Studied by 9 people
Pangaea
The supercontinent that began to break apart 225 million years ago, forming today's continents.
Canadian Shield
The ancient geological core of North America shaped about 10 million years ago by nature.
Great Ice Age
A period starting about 2 million years ago when ice sheets spread across North America, affecting human migration.
Bering Isthmus
Land bridge exposed around 35,000 years ago, connecting Asia and North America, allowing human migration.
Christopher Columbus
Italian explorer who discovered the Americas in 1492 while seeking a new route to the Indies.
Columbian Exchange
The transfer of crops, goods, and diseases between the New World and Old World following Columbus's voyages.
Taino Natives
Indigenous people of Hispaniola who drastically decreased due to diseases brought by Europeans after 1492.
Treaty of Tordesillas
1494 agreement between Spain and Portugal dividing newly discovered lands outside Europe.
Encomienda System
Spanish labor system granting colonists authority to enslave Native Americans for Christianizing them.
Hernán Cortés
Spanish conquistador who conquered the Aztec Empire in Mexico between 1519 and 1521.
Aztec Empire
Advanced Native American civilization in Mexico conquered by Cortés in 1521.
Mestizos
People of mixed European and Native American descent, forming a cultural bridge in Latin America.
Pueblo Revolt
1680 uprising of Pueblo Indians against Spanish rule in New Mexico, also known as Popé's Rebellion.
St. Augustine
The oldest European-established settlement in the U.S., founded by Spain in Florida in 1565.
Black Legend
The misconception that Spanish conquerors only brought misery to Native Americans.
Francisco Pizarro
Spanish conquistador who conquered the Incan Empire in Peru in 1532.
Ferdinand Magellan
Explorer whose expedition completed the first circumnavigation of the globe from 1519 to 1522.
Francisco Coronado
Spanish explorer who led an expedition through the American Southwest from 1540 to 1542.
John Cabot
Italian explorer commissioned by England to explore North America's northeastern coast in 1497-98.
Juan Ponce de León
Spanish explorer who explored Florida seeking the Fountain of Youth in 1513 and 1521.
Defeat of the Spanish Armada
1588 naval battle where England defeated Spain, marking the decline of Spanish power.
Roanoke Island
The failed English colony established by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1585, known as the "Lost Colony."
King Henry VIII
English king who initiated the English Reformation by breaking with the Catholic Church in the 1530s.
Virginia Company
Joint-stock company that established the Jamestown colony in Virginia in 1607.
Jamestown
The first permanent English settlement in North America, founded in 1607.
Captain John Smith
Leader who helped Jamestown survive by enforcing discipline in 1608.
Pocahontas
Native American woman who aided Jamestown settlers and married John Rolfe in 1614.
Starving Time
The harsh winter of 1609-1610 in Jamestown when many settlers died of starvation.
Lord De La Warr
Arrived in Jamestown in 1610, imposing a harsh military regime and initiating conflicts with Native Americans.
First Anglo-Powhatan War
Conflict from 1610-1614 between Jamestown settlers and Powhatan Indians, ended by a peace settlement.
Second Anglo-Powhatan War
Final effort by Native Americans to dislodge Virginia settlements, defeated in 1644.
John Rolfe
Jamestown colonist who developed tobacco cultivation in Virginia and married Pocahontas.
House of Burgesses
Established in 1619, the first representative legislative assembly in the American colonies.
Lord Baltimore
Founded Maryland in 1634 as a haven for Catholics facing persecution in England.
Act of Toleration
1649 Maryland law granting religious freedom to all Christians.
Barbados Slave Code
1661 law that established the legal basis for slavery in the Caribbean, denying rights to slaves.
James Oglethorpe
Founder of Georgia in 1733, intended as a buffer colony and a haven for debtors.
Pilgrims
Separatist group that founded Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts in 1620 seeking religious freedom.
Mayflower Compact
1620 agreement aboard the Mayflower to form a governmental body and abide by majority rule.
Puritans
English Protestants who sought to purify the Church of England, significant in founding Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Massachusetts Bay Colony
Established in 1630 by Puritans seeking religious freedom.
John Winthrop
First governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, envisioned it as a "city upon a hill."
Anne Hutchinson
Banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1638 for challenging Puritan doctrines.
Roger Williams
Founded Rhode Island in 1636 advocating for separation of church and state and religious freedom.
Rhode Island
Colony known for religious tolerance and separation of church and state, founded in 1636.
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
Adopted in 1639, first written constitution establishing a democratic government.
Pequot War
1637 conflict between New England settlers and Pequot Indians resulting in the destruction of the Pequot tribe.
King Philip's War
1675-1676 conflict where Native Americans led by Metacom attacked New England settlements.
New England Confederation
1643 alliance of four colonies for mutual defense against foes.
Dominion of New England
1686 administrative union of New England colonies imposed by King James II.
Sir Edmund Andros
Governor of the Dominion of New England, overthrown after the Glorious Revolution in 1689.
Glorious Revolution
1688 event where James II was overthrown and William III and Mary II took the English throne.
William Penn
Quaker founder of Pennsylvania in 1681, promoting tolerance and good relations with Native Americans.
Quakers
Religious group promoting equality and pacifism, significant in Pennsylvania.
Half-Way Covenant
1662 Puritan church policy allowing partial church membership without full conversion.
Salem Witch Trials
1692 series of trials in Massachusetts resulting in executions over witchcraft accusations.
Bacon's Rebellion
1676 Virginia settlers led by Nathaniel Bacon rebelled against Governor William Berkeley.
Middle Passage
Part of the triangular trade where Africans were transported to the Americas under horrific conditions.
Triangular Trade
Trade system between Africa, the Americas, and Europe exchanging slaves, raw materials, and goods.
Stono Rebellion
1739 slave uprising in South Carolina, the largest in the British colonies.
Great Awakening
Religious revival in the colonies during the 1730s and 1740s emphasizing personal faith.
Jonathan Edwards
Minister whose sermons started the Great Awakening in 1734, notably "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."
George Whitefield
Evangelist who spread the Great Awakening through emotional sermons.
Old Lights
Traditional ministers skeptical of the emotionalism of the Great Awakening.
New Lights
Ministers who embraced the Great Awakening, leading to new denominations.
Zenger Trial
1735 trial that established freedom of the press after John Peter Zenger was acquitted of libel.
Leisler's Rebellion
1689-1691 uprising in New York against royal officials led by Jacob Leisler.
Scots-Irish
Ethnic group settling in frontier areas, known for clashing with Native Americans and colonial governments.
Paxton Boys
1764 armed march in Philadelphia protesting Quaker policies towards Native Americans.
Regulator Movement
1760s uprising in North Carolina against corrupt colonial officials.
Harvard College
Founded in 1636 in Massachusetts to train Puritan ministers; first college in America.
William and Mary College
Established in 1693 in Virginia to educate Anglican clergy.
Town Meetings
New England form of local government where male citizens met to make decisions.
Indentured Servants
Individuals who exchanged years of labor for passage to America.
Headright System
System granting 50 acres of land to those who paid for indentured servants' passage.
Slave Codes
Laws beginning in 1662 defining the status of slaves and rights of masters.
Jeremiads
Sermons lamenting declining piety among Puritans in the mid-1600s.
Peter Stuyvesant
Director-General of New Netherland who surrendered to the English in 1664.
New Netherland
Dutch colony in present-day New York established in 1624.
King William's War
1689-1697 conflict between English and French colonists, part of broader European wars.
John Calvin
Reformer whose ideas formed Calvinism, influencing Puritan beliefs.
Calvinism
Protestant theological system emphasizing predestination and the sovereignty of God.
James I
King of England who chartered the Virginia Company and opposed Puritan separatists.
Navigation Acts
Laws starting in 1651 regulating colonial trade to benefit England.
Salutary Neglect
Period where British enforcement of trade laws was lax in the colonies.
Slave Revolt in NYC
1712 uprising resulting in deaths of 12 whites and execution of 21 blacks.
Molasses Act
1733 law taxing molasses imports to discourage trade with French West Indies.
Benjamin Franklin
Influential colonial figure in science and politics, born in 1706.
"Gullah"
Creole language developed by African Americans in the Sea Islands blending English and African languages.
Middle Colonies
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware; known for diversity and grain production.
Chesapeake Colonies
Virginia and Maryland; economies based on tobacco and use of indentured servants.
Yamasee War
1715-1716 conflict in South Carolina between settlers and Native Americans.
Old Deluder Satan Act
1647 Massachusetts law mandating schools to teach reading to thwart Satan's influence.
George II
King who granted the charter for Georgia colony in 1732.
Metacom
Native American leader also known as King Philip who led attacks against New England settlers.
Phillis Wheatley
African American poet who published works in the late 1700s.
Enlightenment
18th-century intellectual movement emphasizing reason and science, influencing colonial leaders.
Thomas Hooker
Puritan minister who founded Connecticut after dissenting with Massachusetts leaders.
Peter Minuit
Dutch colonial governor who purchased Manhattan from Native Americans in 1626.
William Bradford
Governor of Plymouth Colony, elected 30 times.
