Lecture Notes Review - Early American History Terms

Flashcards generated from lecture notes covering key terms from early American history, globalization, colonial societies, English colonies, colonial protests, American Revolution, and the emerging republic.

Matriarchy

A social system in which the mother or a female elder is the head of the family, and descent and inheritance are traced through the female line.

Serf

An agricultural laborer bound to work on his lord's estate, essentially a feudal tenant reliant on the land.

Chattel slavery

A system of slavery where enslaved people are treated as property, bought and sold, and their offspring automatically become enslaved.

Black Death

A devastating pandemic that spread across Afro-Eurasia in the 14th century, significantly reducing the world's population.

Inquisition

A period of intense religious persecution by the Catholic Church, primarily against heresy, notably in Spain and Italy.

Reconquista

A series of campaigns by Christian states to recapture territory from the Muslims (Moors) who had occupied most of the Iberian Peninsula from the early 8th century.

Taino people

Indigenous Arawak people of the Caribbean, the first people encountered by Christopher Columbus and his crew.

Aztec Empire

A powerful Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico from the 14th to the 16th centuries, known for its advanced culture and military.

Tenochtitlan

The capital city of the Aztec Empire, built on an island in Lake Texcoco, which later became Mexico City.

Conquistadors

Spanish conquerors and explorers who ventured into the Americas in the 16th century, overthrowing indigenous empires.

Hernán Cortés

A Spanish conquistador who led the expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire.

Christopher Columbus

An Italian explorer who completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean, initiating European colonization of the Americas.

La Malinche

An indigenous Nahua woman who served as a translator, advisor, and intermediary for Hernán Cortés during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire.

Scientific Revolution

A fundamental change in the way Europeans studied the natural world, characterized by new methods and discoveries in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Isaac Newton

An English mathematician, physicist, and astronomer, a key figure in the Scientific Revolution, known for his laws of motion and universal gravitation.

John Locke

An influential English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential thinkers of the Enlightenment, known for his theories on natural rights and social contract.

Olaudah Equiano

A prominent African writer and abolitionist who wrote an autobiography depicting the horrors of slavery and the slave trade.

Columbian Exchange

The widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, diseases, and ideas between the Americas, West Africa, and the Old World in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Encomienda

A labor system in Spanish colonies where the Spanish Crown granted colonists the right to demand tribute and forced labor from indigenous inhabitants of an area.

Mercantilism

An economic theory prevalent in the 17th and 18th centuries that viewed wealth creation as a zero-sum game, prioritizing exports, accumulation of precious metals, and colonial exploitation to strengthen the mother country.

Patroonship

A system utilized by the Dutch West India Company where large tracts of land in New Netherland were granted to wealthy individuals (patroons) who brought 50 or more settlers to the colony.

Protestant Reformation

A major 16th-century European movement aimed at reforming the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church, leading to the establishment of Protestant churches.

Pilgrims

English Separatists who fled religious persecution and established the Plymouth Colony in North America in 1620.

Puritans

A group of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England from what they considered to be lingering Roman Catholic practices.

Jesuits

Members of the Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic order of priests founded by St. Ignatius Loyola, known for their educational and missionary work.

Smallpox

An acute contagious viral disease, responsible for devastating epidemics, especially lethal to Native American populations due to lack of immunity.

Casta system

A social hierarchy based on racial ancestry, used in Spanish American colonies to classify people by bloodline and assign social status, often depicted in specific paintings.

Indentured servant

A person who worked for another for a set period, typically four to seven years, in exchange for passage to an overseas colony, food, and shelter.

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade/Middle Passage

The segment of the global slave trade that transported enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas, notorious for its brutal and inhumane conditions.

Traditional Native American views on territory and land

Unlike European concepts of private ownership, many Native American cultures viewed land as a communal resource to be used by all, not as property to be bought, sold, or exclusively owned.

Pueblo Revolt

A successful revolt in 1680 by the Pueblo Native Americans against Spanish colonizers in the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, temporarily expelling the Spanish.

Métis people

Descendants of intermarriages between indigenous people (primarily Cree, Ojibwe, and Saulteaux) and European settlers (primarily French and Scottish fur traders) in North America.

Villasur Expedition

A Spanish military expedition in 1720 led by Pedro de Villasur, aimed at countering French influence in the Great Plains, which ended in a massacre by Pawnee and Otoe warriors.

King Philip's War

A brutal and devastating conflict (1675-1678) between English colonists and Native American inhabitants of New England, led by Metacomet.

Metacomet

Also known as King Philip, a Wampanoag leader who led a major Native American uprising against New England colonists in the 1670s (King Philip's War).

Navigation Acts

A series of English laws from the 17th century that mandated that most colonial trade be carried on English ships and regulated which goods could be exported to and from the colonies, benefiting the mother country.

Proclamation Line

A boundary established by the British Proclamation of 1763, forbidding all settlement by colonists west of a line drawn along the Appalachian Mountains.

Deism

A belief in a supreme being (God) who created the universe but does not intervene in its affairs or interact with humankind, popular during the Enlightenment.

Enlightenment

An 18th-century intellectual and cultural movement emphasizing reason, individualism, and skepticism over tradition and faith, profoundly influencing political thought in the American colonies.

Glorious Revolution

The overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III, leading to a constitutional monarchy and a Bill of Rights.

Bacon's Rebellion

An armed rebellion in 1676 led by Nathaniel Bacon against the rule of Governor William Berkeley in colonial Virginia, driven by economic grievances and conflicts with Native Americans.

French and Indian War (Seven Years' War)

A major conflict (1754-1763) fought between Great Britain and France, with Native American allies on both sides, for control of territory in North America, resulting in British victory.

Joint stock company

A business entity where different stocks can be bought and sold by shareholders, who own shares of the company stock, such as the Virginia Company that funded Jamestown.

Great Awakening

A series of religious revivals that swept across the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, emphasizing personal religious experience and challenging established religious authority.

William Pitt

A British statesman who served as Prime Minister and effectively led Britain during the Seven Years' War, securing victory against France.

Pontiac

An Ottawa chief who led a confederation of Native American tribes in a large-scale uprising (Pontiac's Rebellion) against British rule after the French and Indian War.

Pontiac's Rebellion

A major uprising of various Native American tribes in 1763 against British expansion into the Ohio Country and Great Lakes region, following the conclusion of the French and Indian War.

Stamp Act

A 1765 British Act that imposed a tax on all paper documents in the colonies, requiring that a stamp be purchased and affixed to the document, leading to widespread colonial protest.

Townshend Acts

A series of British Acts passed in 1767 that imposed duties on glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea imported into the American colonies, which colonists largely resisted.

Boston Massacre

A confrontational incident on March 5, 1770, in which British soldiers fired into a crowd of protesting Bostonians, killing five people.

Crispus Attucks

A man of African and Native American descent, widely considered to be the first person killed in the Boston Massacre and thus the first casualty of the American Revolution.

Boston Tea Party

A political protest by American colonists on December 16, 1773, in Boston, Massachusetts, against taxation without representation, dumping British tea into the harbor.

Intolerable Acts (Coercive Acts)

A series of punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party, designed to punish Massachusetts and suppress colonial defiance.

First Continental Congress

A meeting of delegates from twelve of the thirteen British colonies (Georgia not present) in 1774 in Philadelphia, to address grievances against British rule and plan collective resistance.

Second Continental Congress

A convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that started meeting in 1775 in Philadelphia, which managed the colonial war effort and moved towards independence by adopting the Declaration of Independence.

George Washington

The commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and the first President of the United States.

Thomas Jefferson

An American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and the third President of the United States.

John Adams

An American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second President of the United States.

Benjamin Franklin

One of the Founding Fathers of the United States, known for his roles as a statesman, author, scientist, inventor, and diplomat.

Lee Resolution

A formal assertion by Richard Henry Lee to the Second Continental Congress on June 7, 1776, proposing that the American colonies declare independence from Great Britain.

Molly Pitcher

A nickname given to a woman said to have fought in the American Revolutionary War, bringing water to soldiers and manning a cannon.

Declaration of Independence

A document adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, proclaiming the thirteen American colonies independent from Great Britain and stating the reasons for separation.

Minutemen

Members of a militia during the American Revolutionary War who could be ready to fight at a minute's notice.

Battles of Lexington & Concord

The first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War, fought on April 19, 1775, in Massachusetts.

Republicanism

A political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic, where citizens hold popular sovereignty over the state and its representatives focus on the common good.

Thirteen colonies

The original British colonies in North America that declared independence and formed the United States of America.

Common Sense

A pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1776 that advocated for the independence of the American colonies from Great Britain, powerfully influencing public opinion.

Thomas Paine

An English-born American political activist, philosopher, political theorist, and revolutionary, author of 'Common Sense' and 'The American Crisis.'

Valley Forge

The site in Pennsylvania where the Continental Army under George Washington encamped during the winter of 1777-1778, enduring severe hardship but emerging as a more disciplined force.

Battles of Saratoga

A decisive American victory over the British in 1777 during the Revolutionary War, convincing France to formally ally with the United States.

Battle of Yorktown

The conclusive battle of the American Revolutionary War in 1781, where a combined force of American and French troops trapped and forced the surrender of a large British army.

Articles of Confederation

The first written constitution of the United States, adopted in 1781, establishing a loose confederation of sovereign states with a weak central government.

Treaty of Paris

The treaty signed in Paris in 1783 officially ending the American Revolutionary War and recognizing the United States as an independent nation.

Monarchy

A system of government in which a single person, the monarch, serves as head of state, usually until death or abdication, often through hereditary succession.

Democracy

A system of government where the whole population or all eligible members of the state, typically through elected representatives, hold power.

Republic

A state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, rather than by a monarch.

James Madison

An American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fourth President of the United States, considered the 'Father of the Constitution.'

Federalists

Supporters of the proposed Constitution during the ratification debates, advocating for a strong central government.

Anti-Federalists

Opponents of the proposed Constitution during the ratification debates, fearing a too-strong central government and advocating for greater state sovereignty and individual rights.

Checks and balances

A system incorporated into the U.S. Constitution to ensure that no one branch of government becomes too powerful, by allowing each branch to limit the powers of the others.

Shays's Rebellion

An armed uprising in 1786-1787 by western Massachusetts farmers, led by Daniel Shays, protesting high taxes and debt collection, which highlighted the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.

Constitutional Convention

A gathering of delegates in Philadelphia in 1787 to revise the Articles of Confederation, which ultimately resulted in the drafting of the new U.S. Constitution.

Constitution of the United States

The supreme law of the United States, adopted in 1787, establishing the framework of the federal government and guaranteeing the rights of its citizens.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791, designed to protect individual liberties and limit the power of the federal government.

Virginia Plan

A proposal by Virginia delegates at the Constitutional Convention for a strong national government with a bicameral legislature, proportional representation, and a powerful executive.

New Jersey Plan

A proposal by New Jersey delegates at the Constitutional Convention for a weaker national government with a unicameral legislature where all states had equal representation, similar to the Articles of Confederation.

Connecticut Compromise

Also known as the Great Compromise, an agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention establishing a bicameral legislature with proportional representation in the House of Representatives and equal representation in the Senate.

Electoral College

A body of electors established by the U.S. Constitution, formed every four years for the sole purpose of electing the President and Vice President of the United States.

Coverture

A legal doctrine derived from English common law under which a married woman's legal identity was subsumed by that of her husband, limiting her rights and independence.

Three-Fifths Compromise

An agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention that counted each enslaved person as three-fifths of a person for the purpose of legislative representation and taxation.

Judith Sargent Murray (Constantia)

An early American advocate for women's rights, particularly in education, writing under the pseudonym 'Constantia.'

Abigail Adams

The wife of John Adams, known for her intelligent letters advocating for women's rights and inclusion in the new republic, famously urging her husband to 'Remember the Ladies.'

Northwest Ordinance

A 1787 act of the Confederation Congress that provided a method for admitting new states to the Union from the Northwest Territory and banned slavery in those territories.

Newburgh Conspiracy/Address

A planned military coup in 1783 by Continental Army officers who were frustrated over unpaid salaries and pensions, which was defused by George Washington's powerful address to his officers.