American Colonial and Native History: Key Explorers, Empires, and Events

Jamestown

First permanent English settlement in America. It was founded in Virginia in 1607.

Pocahontas

Powhatan princess, daughter of Chief Powhatan, married John Rolfe, and died in England before she could return to Virginia.

Bartolomé de las Casas

Spaniard who spent 50 years fighting against slavery and colonial abuse of Indigenous peoples. He wrote 'A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies.'

Beringia

Geographic area between Siberia and Alaska that was a massive land bridge in the last great ice age.

Hernando de Soto

Spanish conquistador who explored under Pizarro but led his own brutal expedition into Florida in search of gold. First Spaniard to reach the Mississippi River.

Ferdinand Magellan

Portuguese explorer who set out to circumnavigate the globe for Spain. He didn't return alive, but one of his ships made it back to Spain.

Amerigo Vespucci

Italian explorer for both Spain and Portugal, namesake of the 'Americas.'

Aztec Empire

Powerful Mesoamerican empire conquered by Hernán Cortés in 1521.

Bartholomew Gosnold

Leading explorer, founder of the Virginia Company of London, early governor at Jamestown, and encouraged John Smith to join the expedition.

Lord De La Warr

Royal governor of Jamestown who saved the colony in 1610 during the Starving Time. Ruled with an iron fist and waged war on the Powhatan.

King James I

English king (first of the House of Stuart, namesake of the King James Bible) who gave a land grant in Virginia.

Middle Passage

The area of a ship where slaves were kept on the Atlantic voyage; also the name of the trip along the Triangular Trade route.

Indentured Servant

A person who sold themselves and their labor for passage to the colonies; often debtors or orphaned children.

Joint-Stock Company

Group of investors who pooled money to establish colonial enterprises in the 17th century.

King Charles II

Restored the crown after Oliver Cromwell; granted large colonial land grants in Pennsylvania and the Carolinas.

John Cabot

Italian-born explorer hired by England in 1497 to find a Northwest Passage; reached Newfoundland.

Lord Baltimore

Title held by George and Cecil Calvert, founders of Maryland as a refuge for Catholics.

House of Burgesses

First representative government in the English colonies, established in Jamestown in 1619.

Church of England (Anglican Church)

Established church of England and the Southern colonies, founded by Henry VIII.

King Charles I

English king responsible for colonization of Maryland; son of James I; overthrown and executed during the English Civil War.

Anglo-Powhatan Wars

Series of violent wars between Jamestown settlers and local Natives (1607-1646); deadliest attack in 1622 killed 342 settlers.

Maryland Act of Toleration (1649)

Religious statute allowing freedom for Christians but death penalty for Jews, atheists, and others denying Jesus.

Sir Francis Drake

English captain, privateer, explorer, and one of Queen Elizabeth's 'Sea Dogs.' First Englishman to circumnavigate the globe.

Primogeniture

English law that firstborn sons inherited all land/wealth; drove many younger sons to migrate to the colonies.

Powhatan Confederacy

Powerful Algonquin-speaking Native tribe in Virginia; alternated between peace and war with colonists.

Roanoke (Lost Colony)

Island colony funded by Sir Walter Raleigh, led by John White, mysteriously disappeared in 1580s.

John Smith

Military leader and governor of Jamestown (1607-1609); allied with Powhatan; enforced "No work, no food" policy.

James Oglethorpe

Founder of Georgia (1733); established colony as buffer against Spain and for debtors.

St. Augustine

Spanish fortress (Castillo de San Marcos) founded 1565; oldest continually inhabited European settlement in the U.S.

Henry Hudson

English explorer hired by the Dutch East India Company; namesake of Hudson River and Bay.

New Amsterdam

Dutch settlement (1624) by the Dutch West India Company; later became New York City.

Maya

Mesoamerican civilization credited with calendar, writing system, and corn cultivation.

Samuel de Champlain

French explorer, founder of Quebec (1608); "Father of New France."

Iroquois Confederacy

Powerful Native confederation in New York/Eastern Great Lakes; matrilineal politics; had a constitution.

Smallpox

European disease that devastated Native populations.

Montezuma II

Aztec emperor who welcomed the Spanish, mistaking them for gods; later taken prisoner.

Junípero Serra

Franciscan friar who founded missions in California from San Diego to Sonoma; later canonized as a saint.

Vasco da Gama

Portuguese explorer, first to reach India by sea; became viceroy of India.

Bartolomeu Dias

Portuguese explorer, first to round Cape of Good Hope; lost at sea on later voyage.

Prince Henry the Navigator

Portuguese royal who established a school for navigation in the 1450s.

Marco Polo

Italian explorer who traveled to China and India; documented journeys with Mongols in his autobiography.

Olmec Heads

Colossal Native American sculptures in present-day Mexico and Central America.

John Rolfe

English settler at Jamestown; cultivated tobacco; married Pocahontas; later killed in Powhatan attack.

Virginia Company of London

Joint-stock company that funded Jamestown.

Vasco Núñez de Balboa

Spanish conquistador who crossed Panama and was first European to reach the Pacific Ocean.

Mita System

Incan labor system before Spanish arrival.

Quipu

Incan system of recordkeeping using knotted strings.

Pueblo Revolt (1680)

Large Native rebellion against Spanish in New Mexico, led by Popé.

Tenochtitlán

Capital of the Aztec Empire; present-day Mexico City.

Francisco Coronado

Spanish conquistador seeking the Seven Cities of Gold; claimed the American Southwest.

Francisco Pizarro

Spanish conquistador who conquered the Inca in the 1530s.

Juan Ponce de León

Spanish conquistador who explored Florida in early 1500s; linked to legend of Fountain of Youth; led to settlement of St. Augustine.

Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)

Divided the Americas between Spain and Portugal.

Inca Empire

Powerful South American empire in Peru; conquered by Pizarro.

Maize (Corn)

Key Mesoamerican crop; became a staple worldwide.

St. Brendan

Irish monk, patron saint of sailors, said to have reached America in 500s.

Cahokia

Ancient Mississippian city near present-day St. Louis; home to 30,000 people with mound temples.

Ferdinand and Isabella

Spanish monarchs who sponsored Columbus.

Encomienda System

Spanish system forcing Native labor in exchange for Christianization.

Hernán Cortés

Spanish conquistador who conquered the Aztec in 1520s.

Leif Erikson & Norsemen

Norse explorers who landed in Newfoundland around 1000 CE.

Columbian Exchange

Transfer of goods, people, and ideas between Old and New Worlds.

Appalachian Mountains

Oldest mountain range in North America, resource-rich, home to many Native tribes.