Early American History Survey – Vocabulary Review

These vocabulary flashcards highlight the principal people, events, laws, and ideas covered in the lecture notes—from the invention of the printing press through the early Federal period—giving a concise definition for each key term to aid exam review.

Printing Press

15th-century German invention by Johannes Gutenberg that greatly accelerated the spread of Renaissance secular and scientific ideas and later aided the Protestant Reformation.

Johannes Gutenberg

German goldsmith who invented movable-type printing in Europe, revolutionizing communication and knowledge dissemination.

Columbian Exchange

The transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and cultures between the Old World and the New World following Columbus’s voyages.

Christopher Columbus

Genoese navigator backed by Queen Isabel of Castile who made four voyages to the New World, opening trans-Atlantic contact.

Isabel of Castile

Spanish monarch who financed Columbus’s 1492 voyage, helping launch Spain’s Atlantic empire.

Chickens (Old World)

Domesticated fowl introduced to the Americas by Europeans; absent in the New World before 1492.

Wheat (Old World)

Staple grain brought by Europeans to the New World; not native to the Americas before contact.

Prince Henry the Navigator

Portuguese royal who sponsored 15th-century Atlantic and African voyages, spurring European exploration.

Henry VII of England

Tudor king who cautiously backed John Cabot’s 1497 voyage but was not an early Atlantic exploration enthusiast compared with other nobles.

“Glory, God, and Gold”

Primary motives driving Spanish (and later other European) exploration and conquest in the Americas.

Headright System

Virginia policy (1618) granting 50 acres to settlers who paid their own or others’ passage, stimulating immigration.

John Smith

Early Jamestown leader whose strict discipline helped the Virginia colony survive its first years.

John Rolfe

Virginia planter who introduced profitable tobacco cultivation, ensuring the colony’s economic success.

Bacon’s Rebellion (1676)

Virginia uprising of frontier farmers and indentured servants led by Nathaniel Bacon against Governor Berkeley’s elite rule.

Indentured Servant

European immigrant who exchanged 4–7 years of labor for passage to America, central to 17th-century labor force.

George Fox

English religious leader who founded the Society of Friends (Quakers) emphasizing the “Inner Light” and refusal of oaths.

Quakers

Pacifist Protestant sect believing in equality and a divine spark within all; influential in Pennsylvania.

Puritans

English Calvinists who sought to “purify” the Church of England; founded Massachusetts Bay as a “city upon a hill.”

John Winthrop

Puritan governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony who envisioned it as a model Christian society.

“City upon a Hill”

Winthrop’s phrase expressing Puritan aspiration to create an exemplary godly community in New England.

John Calvin

French theologian whose Institutes (1536) promoted predestination, strict morality, and hard work.

Predestination

Calvinist doctrine that God has pre-ordained salvation for some and damnation for others.

Spanish Armada (1588)

Fleet defeated by England under Elizabeth I, ushering in British naval dominance and encouraging colonization.

Sir Walter Raleigh

English adventurer who sponsored failed Roanoke colony and promoted New World settlement.

Sir Francis Drake

English sea captain and privateer who circumnavigated the globe and harassed Spanish shipping.

John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto)

Italian-born navigator sailing for England (1497) whose voyage gave England early claims to North America.

Smallpox

Old World disease that decimated Native American populations far more than warfare did.

Hernán Cortés

Spanish conquistador who toppled the Aztec Empire with indigenous allies and disease advantage in 1521.

Navigation Acts (1651, 1660, 1663)

English mercantilist laws restricting colonial trade to British-controlled ships and markets, targeting Dutch competition.

Enumerated Articles

Colonial products (e.g., sugar, tobacco) that, by the Navigation Act of 1660, could be shipped only to England or its colonies.

John Locke

English philosopher whose contract theory (life, liberty, property) influenced colonial resistance and the Declaration of Independence.

King William’s War

First of four major Anglo-French conflicts in North America (1689-1697).

Glorious Revolution (1688)

Overthrow of James II; led colonies to resist royal oversight and ended the Dominion of New England.

Peace of Paris (1763)

Treaty ending the Seven Years’ War; Britain gained Canada and lands to the Mississippi, Spain received Louisiana.

George Grenville

British prime minister who, seeking to pay war debt, initiated the Sugar and Stamp Acts on the colonies.

Stamp Act (1765)

First direct tax on the colonies, requiring revenue stamps on printed materials; spurred widespread protest.

Sons of Liberty

Colonial organization that used protests and intimidation against British taxation, notably the Stamp Act.

Declaratory Act (1766)

Parliamentary statement asserting its right to legislate for the colonies “in all cases whatsoever” after repealing the Stamp Act.

Townshend Acts (1767)

Duties on glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea; revenue used to pay royal officials, reigniting colonial resistance.

Tea Act (1773)

Law allowing cheap British East India Company tea in colonies, provoking the Boston Tea Party.

Coercive (Intolerable) Acts

1774 British laws punishing Massachusetts (e.g., closing Boston port) for the Tea Party; united colonial opposition.

Lexington and Concord (1775)

First battles of the American Revolution, sparked by British move to seize colonial arms.

Thomas Paine

Author of Common Sense and The American Crisis, writings that galvanized support for independence.

Declaration of Independence (1776)

Document asserting colonial freedom based on natural rights and Locke’s contract theory; authored by Jefferson.

Articles of Confederation

First U.S. constitution (1781-1789) creating a weak central government with limited powers over the states.

Land Ordinance of 1785

Confederation measure surveying western lands into townships, reserving proceeds partly for public education.

Northwest Ordinance (1787)

Provided for orderly statehood north of the Ohio River, banned slavery there, and guaranteed civil liberties.

Shays’s Rebellion (1786-87)

Massachusetts farmers’ uprising over debt and taxes, highlighting weaknesses of the Confederation.

Virginia Plan

Constitutional proposal for a strong national government with three branches and proportional representation.

Great Compromise

Constitutional agreement creating a bicameral Congress with proportional House and equal Senate representation.

Federalists

Supporters of the new Constitution who argued that a large republic would prevent tyranny by factions.

Anti-Federalists

Opponents of the Constitution who feared centralized power and demanded a Bill of Rights.

Bill of Rights (1791)

First ten amendments guaranteeing individual liberties and reserving powers to the states and people.

Tenth Amendment

States that powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states or the people.

Alexander Hamilton

First Treasury secretary who created customs service, advocated assumption of state debts, and promoted manufacturing incentives.

Jay’s Treaty (1794)

Agreement with Britain securing evacuation of northwest forts and limited trade concessions, averting war.

Whiskey Rebellion (1794)

Western Pennsylvania protest against federal excise tax; suppressed by Washington, proving federal authority.

Sedition Act (1798)

Federalist law criminalizing criticism of government officials, aimed at Jeffersonian Republicans and French radicals.

Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions

Jefferson and Madison’s essays asserting states’ rights to nullify unconstitutional federal laws.

Benjamin Franklin

American polymath and Enlightenment exemplar; author of Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind and key diplomat.

Great Awakening

18th-century religious revival emphasizing personal faith and undermining established churches, fostering individual judgment.

John Peter Zenger Trial (1735)

Colonial court case resulting in acquittal for libel, laying groundwork for freedom of the press.

Navigation Act of 1651

Parliamentary law mandating that all trade to and from England or its colonies be carried in English ships.

Scotch-Irish

Ulster Protestant immigrants who settled America’s backcountry, noted for frontier farming and independence.

South Carolina Cash Crops

Colonial economy based on rice and indigo; cotton became significant only much later.

Baron von Steuben

Prussian officer who trained Continental Army at Valley Forge, improving its discipline and effectiveness.

Yorktown (1781)

Decisive Revolutionary victory where Franco-American forces and French naval blockade compelled Cornwallis’s surrender.