US History 1 study guide

Triangular trade

A transatlantic three-way trading process

Middle passage

The voyage that brought Africans to the West Indies and later to North America. It was called this because it was the considered the middle leg of the transatlantic triangle

Cash Crop

a crop grown for sale rather than for the farmers own use

Mercantilism

Which held that a country’s ultimate goal was self-sufficiency and that all countries were competing for gold and silver

Salutary neglect

English officials only lightly enforced the new measures as they settled into an overall colonial policy

Martial law

Rule of the military

John Smith

Navigated and played a crucial role in founding Jamestown, VA

Joint stock companies 

several investors to pooled their wealth in support of a colony to hopefully yield a profit

Jamestown

First American settlement

Powhatan

Nearby native tribe in Jamestown

Headright System

Anyone who paid for their own or another’s passage to Virginia received 50 acres of land

Indentured Servants

Imported workers from lower class England

Royal colony

Under one direct control of the king

Nathaniel Bacon

A tall dark haired son of a wealthy Englishman and well to do tobacco planter on the frontier who detested natives

Stamp Act

Required colonists to purchase special stamped paper for every legal document, license, newspaper, pamphlet and almanac

Townshend Acts

Levied duties on imported materials as they came into the colonies from Britain. It also imposed a three-penny tax on tea

Boston Massacre

A colonial presented British attack on defenseless citizens

Committees of Correspondence

Communicated with other colonies about hauling Americans to England for trial and other threats to liberties

Intolerable Acts

What the colonists called the British “Coercive Acts” which were intended to punish colonists

Minuteman

Civilian soldier who began quietly stockpiling firearms and gunpowder

What countries were part of Mercantilism? Name a couple of examples.

France, England, Spain, Netherlands.

Briefly describe the Glorious Revolution?

1869 Parliament voted to offer the throne to William of Orange and Mary.

Describe the differences between southern and northern colonial economies.

Northern was more industrial while south was more agriculture.

Why did slaves become more prevalent?

Slaves were more prevalent because indentured servants from England learned of the hardship of working in America so many started to just stay in England.

Why was Jamestown struggling at first?

Settlers were not familiar with the land. Lack of food and sufficient shelter.

Why did things get hostile in Virginia with the government?

The House of Burgesses was not representing the common people to a good extent so rebellion ensued.

Why was Lexington and Concord important?

British troops squashed American troops in Lexington however when they marched from Concord on the way to Boston. American troops butchered the British in an ambush.

September 1774 was the meeting of the 56 delegates at the ____?

Continental Congress

Briefly describe the Boston Massacre.

A mob gathered outside the customs house and taunted the guards. Three men died including Crispus Attucks.

What was the importance of minutemen?

They were crucial civilian soldiers who stockpiled weapons and responded fast for battle.