Unit 1 Exam Review: Early American History

Vocabulary flashcards covering key topics, events, and historical concepts from Chapters 1 through 4 for Unit 1 Exam Review.

Bering Strait

The land bridge and migration route used by early inhabitants crossing over to the New World.

Columbian Exchange

The widespread transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and human populations between the Old World and the Americas following European contact.

French and Native American Relationship

Colonial interaction primarily characterized by trade relations and strategic alliances rather than large-scale displacement.

Powhatan Confederacy

The alliance of Native American tribes in Virginia that interacted with John Smith and early Jamestown settlers.

Indentured Servants

Laborers who contracted to work for a specified number of years in exchange for passage to the American colonies.

Roger Williams

Colonial founder of Rhode Island who advocated for religious freedom and the separation of church and state.

Mayflower Compact

An early 1620 agreement establishing autonomous self-government and representative rules for Plymouth Colony settlers.

House of Burgesses

The first elected representative colonial assembly established in Virginia.

Pequot War (1636-1638)

An early armed conflict between New England colonists and the Pequot tribe.

New England Colonies

Colonial region characterized by commerce/trade, fishing, shipbuilding, rocky soil, small towns, town meetings, and a short growing season.

Middle Colonies

Colonial region characterized by large farms, trade, navigable rivers, and a moderate growing season.

Southern Colonies

Colonial region characterized by plantations, the Tidewater Chesapeake Bay area, few cities, and a long growing season.

Mercantile System

An economic policy structured around imperial control of trade to ensure colonies enrich the mother country.

Navigation Acts

A series of English statutes designed to enforce mercantilism by restricting colonial trade to English shipping and ports.

Maryland Act of 1644

A historical colonial act passed in Maryland concerning colonial governance and religious rights.

King Philip's War (1675-1676)

A major conflict in New England between colonists and local indigenous tribes that had a severe demographic effect on Native Americans.

Bacon's Rebellion (1676-1677)

An armed uprising by Virginia settlers against Governor Berkeley reflecting class and frontier political tensions.

Pueblo Revolt of 1680

An uprising of indigenous Pueblo people against Spanish colonization in present-day New Mexico.

Salem, Massachusetts - Witch Trials (1692-1693)

A period of colonial witchcraft prosecutions and executions in Salem, Massachusetts.

Transatlantic Slave Trade / Middle Passage

The forced transportation of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas.