USH unit 1 vocab

Pristine myth

false belief that americas were an untouched, pristine wilderness where natives lived in complete harmony w/o altering nature

Myth of the noble savage

false belief that Natives were peaceful and innocent, and were corrupted by Europeans

Matrilineal

social system in which ancestry, tribal membership & property are passed down via mother’s side

three sisters

three main agricultural crops of natives: corn (maize), climbing beans, and squashaf

adobe

sun-dried brick made from clay / sand OR building made of these bricks

nomadic

american tribes who moved seasonally to follow food resources

joint stock company

type of business organization where multiple investors pooled their money by buying shares to fund ventures (overseas / colonial)

columbian exchange

widespread transfer of plants/animals/culture/human population/diseases between americas and the old world (eurasia)

indentured servants

a laborer who signe da contract to work for a fixed term in exchange for food/clothing/shelter

middle passage

brutal, forced sea voyage that transported millions of enslaved africans across atlantic ocean to americas

chattel

personal property that could be sold/bought/traded
(__slavery = defined enslaved people as personal properties)

slave code

set of laws passed by colonial / state legislatures in US to regulate slavery and define enslaved people as property rather than legal persons (actual rulebooks written to enforce that social control)

mercantilism

economic policy where great britain controlled trade of its american colonies to maximize its wealth & power

salutary neglect

unofficial british policy that relaxed the strict enforcement of trade restrictions / colonial supervision in american colonies

predestination

religious doctrine teaching that god has alr determiend everyone’s eternal destiny (hell/heaven)

smuggling

illegal movements of goods to avoid taxes/trade restrictions

boycott

organized refusal to buy/use/participate in sth

patriot

colonist who supported the cause of american independence from great britain

loyalists

american colonists who remained royal to british crown and opposed independence

quartering

act of providing housing/fod for military troops in homes

coercive acts (intolerable acts)

series of punitive laws passed by british parliament to punish massachusetts for the boston tea party