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Vocabulary flashcards covering the key identifications and their historical significance from the lecture notes.
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Beringia
A land bridge that connected Asia and North America, enabling early human migration to the Americas; crucial for explaining the peopling of the continent.
Aztec Empire
A powerful Mesoamerican civilization in central Mexico with Tenochtitlán as its capital, conquered by Cortés in 1519; known for urban complexity and religious practices.
Christopher Columbus
Italian navigator sponsored by Spain who landed in the Americas in 1492, initiating sustained European contact and colonization.
Columbian Exchange
Widespread transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and culture between the Old and New Worlds after 1492, reshaping global populations and economies.
Hernán Cortes
Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztec Empire and established Spanish rule in central Mexico; key figure in early colonization.
Society in New Spain
Spanish colonial social hierarchy in the Americas (peninsulares, criollos, mestizos, indigenous peoples, Africans) and its economic and religious structures.
Mercantilism
Economic theory emphasizing national wealth through a favorable balance of trade, bullion accumulation, and state control of colonial economies for the mother country.
Headright system
Colonial land grant policy awarding land (usually 50 acres) to settlers or those who paid for others' passage, encouraging migration and plantation growth.
House of Burgesses
Virginia's first representative assembly (established 1619) creating a precedent for colonial self-government and political authority.
Indentured Servitude
Labor system where individuals work for a fixed period in exchange for passage, room, and board; often 4–7 years before gaining freedom; precursor to slavery in some colonies.
Bacon's Rebellion
1676 uprising in Virginia led by Nathaniel Bacon against Governor Berkeley's policies toward Native Americans, highlighting frontier tensions and class conflict.
Plymouth Colony
New England settlement founded by the Pilgrims in 1620 seeking religious freedom; influenced by the Mayflower Compact and congregationalist traditions.
Puritanism
Religious reform movement within Anglicanism emphasizing personal piety, education, and covenant theology; shaped New England society and institutions.
A City Upon a Hill
Puritan motto from John Winthrop's sermon describing Massachusetts Bay Colony as a moral example for the world; emphasized communal covenant and virtue.
Anne Hutchinson
Religious dissenter in Massachusetts Bay who challenged clerical authority and gender norms during the Antinomian Controversy; banished from the colony.
Salem Witch Trials
1692–93 hysteria in Massachusetts resulting in trials and executions for witchcraft, revealing religious orthodoxy, social tensions, and gender dynamics.
Martha Ballard
18th-century Maine midwife whose diary in A Midwife's Tale records medical practices, women's labor, and daily life in colonial America.
Atlantic slave trade
Transatlantic system transporting enslaved Africans to the Americas, fueling plantation economies and creating enduring racial hierarchies.
Middle Passage
The brutal sea voyage enslaved Africans endured from Africa to the Americas as part of the Atlantic slave trade, marked by overcrowding and high mortality.
Elizabeth Key
Virginia case (1656–57) in which an enslaved woman challenged her status and won her freedom, illustrating early legal debates over slavery and personhood in English America.
Stono Rebellion
1739 slave uprising in South Carolina aiming to reach Spanish Florida; led to stricter slave codes and heightened fears of revolts.
Essay Topics
A set of suggested prompts for exam essays based on the identifications and themes from the lecture.