Native Americans, 13 Colonies, & Revolution Notes

Vocabulary flashcards covering Indigenous nations, early European settlement, colonial push and pull factors, and the founding documents of the American Revolution.

Main Cause of the American Revolution

England taxing the colonies to pay war debts without giving them any say in the matter ('No taxation without representation').

Coercive Acts

British laws passed after the Boston Tea Party and Boston Massacre that placed Boston under military control.

Articles of Confederation

The original frame of U.S. government used for 10 years (1777–1787) where the central government had very limited power, could not regulate trade or impose taxes, had no separate branches, and gave each state one vote.

U.S. Constitution

The framework of U.S. government used starting in 1787, establishing a central government that could regulate trade and impose taxes, with three separate branches and state representation of more than one vote.

Legislative Branch

The branch of government responsible for making laws, consisting of Congress.

Executive Branch

The branch of government headed by the president that carries out executive duties.

Judicial Branch

The branch of government consisting of the Supreme Court and judicial law system.

Push Factors

Conditions that force people to leave a place, such as poverty and religious persecution.

Pull Factors

Conditions that attract people to move to a new place.

Joint-Stock Companies

Companies that sent lower-class Europeans to farm in the American colonies while keeping most of the profits.

Indentured Servants

People who performed labor for a specified period of time in exchange for paid travel fees to the colonies and eventual freedom.

Puritans / Separatists

Religious groups who left England and immigrated to the 13 colonies to escape persecution from the oppressive Church of England.

Pennsylvania Colony

A colony established to help Quakers escape religious persecution.

Rhode Island Colony

The first colonial refuge created for religious freedom.

Great Basin Tribes

Indigenous nations living in a dry area where agriculture was not practiced, who sustained themselves as hunter-gatherers, traded, believed in Pahah, and engaged shamans in sacred ceremonies.

Nez Perce

An Indigenous nation that practiced sustainable salmon fishing along rivers and traded obsidian from Yellowstone in their trade network.

Muscogee

An Indigenous people descended from Mississippian cultures who lived in small villages after internal conflicts caused the collapse of Mississippian kingdoms in the early 1400s.

Navajo Crafts and Architecture

A nation known for multi-sided hogans (four-sided for women), beautiful jewelry making, and weaving styles.

Pueblo Architecture

Large multi-story stone village structures built by Pueblo communities who farmed corn and gourds.

Iroquois Nation Agreement

A peace agreement among 5 nations (Mohawk, Oneida/ohiotta, Tuscarora/chakta, Seneca/Senanca, Cayuga/kaiuga) promising to never go to war against each other.

Sioux Primary Food Sources

Foods harvested and hunted by the Sioux living around Lake Superior and Minnesota, including rice, bison, fish, and deer.