Early American History Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering historical terms, key figures, and major concepts from early American history.

95 Theses

A list of propositions written by Martin Luther in 1517 challenging Catholic Church practices, particularly the sale of indulgences, which sparked the Protestant Reformation.

Anne Hutchinson

A Puritan woman banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for challenging religious leaders and asserting that individuals could communicate directly with God.

Aztec Empire

A powerful Native American empire centered in central Mexico (capital: Tenochtitlan) known for advanced engineering, military power, and agriculture; conquered by Hernán Cortés in 1521.

Bacon's Rebellion

An armed uprising of landless frontier settlers and former indentured servants led by Nathaniel Bacon against Virginia Governor William Berkeley; accelerated the transition from indentured servitude to African chattel slavery.

Bartolomé de Las Casas

A Spanish Dominican friar who condemned the brutal treatment of Native Americans under the Spanish colonial system and advocated for their rights.

Benjamin Franklin

An American Enlightenment thinker, scientist, inventor, printer, and diplomat who embodied social mobility and practical intellect in the American colonies.

Calvinism

A branch of Protestantism founded by John Calvin emphasizing God's absolute power and predestination (the belief that God has already chosen who will be saved).

Captain John Smith

An English soldier who took control of the struggling Jamestown settlement in 1608, establishing strict discipline to help the colony survive.

Christopher Columbus

An Italian navigator sailing for Spain whose 1492 transatlantic voyage initiated permanent contact, colonization, and trade between Europe and the Americas.

Columbian Exchange

The global transfer of plants, animals, human populations, cultures, and diseases between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres following Columbus's 1492 voyage.

Conquistadores

16th-century Spanish military explorers and conquerors who subjugated Indigenous civilizations across Central and South America.

Defeat of the Spanish Armada

A decisive English naval victory over Spain's massive fleet that ended Spanish naval supremacy and cleared the way for English colonization of North America.

Encomienda System

A Spanish colonial labor system granting conquistadors land and control over specific Native American populations for forced labor in exchange for converting them to Catholicism.

Enlightenment

An 18th-century European intellectual movement emphasizing reason, science, individual liberty, and religious tolerance over traditional authority.

Francisco Pizarro

Spanish conquistador who conquered the Inca Empire in 1533 and claimed Peru's vast wealth for Spain.

George Whitefield

A charismatic English evangelical preacher whose energetic tours throughout the American colonies ignited the Great Awakening.

Great Awakening

A major evangelical religious revival across the American colonies that emphasized emotional preaching, personal salvation, and spiritual equality.

Half-Way Covenant

A New England Puritan policy granting partial church membership to the children of unconverted members to maintain church influence in society.

Headright System

A policy offering 50 acres of land to anyone who paid for their own or another person's passage to Virginia, benefiting wealthy land buyers.

Henry VIII

King of England who broke away from the Roman Catholic Church in the 1530s to establish the Church of England (Anglican Church).

Hereditary Aristocracy

A social system where wealth, noble titles, and political power pass automatically through bloodlines; virtually absent in the American colonies compared to Europe.

Hernando de Soto

Spanish conquistador who led the first European expedition deep into the modern-day Southeastern United States and crossed the Mississippi River.

Hernán Cortés

Spanish conquistador who led the expedition that overthrew the Aztec Empire and brought large areas of mainland Mexico under Spanish control.

House of Burgesses

The first elected representative legislative assembly in English North America, established in Virginia.

Inca Empire

A vast empire along the Andes Mountains in South America featuring advanced engineering, terrace farming, and road systems; conquered by Francisco Pizarro.

Indentured Servants

Unfree laborers who signed contracts to work without wages for a set number of years in exchange for ocean passage, food, and shelter in America.

Iroquois Confederacy

A powerful alliance of five (later six) Native nations in present-day New York that used diplomacy and military force to maintain power between French and British expansion.

James Oglethorpe

British general and social reformer who founded Georgia in 1733 as a haven for English debtors and a defensive buffer against Spanish Florida.

Jamestown

The first permanent English settlement in North America, established in Virginia by the joint-stock Virginia Company.

John Calvin

French theologian during the Protestant Reformation whose writings formed the basis of Calvinism and predestination doctrine.

John Winthrop

First governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony who famously envisioned the Puritan settlement as a moral "City upon a Hill."

Joint-Stock Company

A business entity where investors pool their financial capital to share the risks and potential profits of colonial ventures.

Jonathan Edwards

A New England Congregationalist preacher during the Great Awakening famous for his vivid revival sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."

Martin Luther

A German monk who sparked the Protestant Reformation in 1517 by publishing his 95 Theses.

Mayan Empire

A Mesoamerican civilization in present-day southern Mexico and Central America known for its fully developed written language, mathematics, astronomy, and architecture.

Mayflower Compact

An agreement signed by Separatist Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower establishing a self-governing political body based on majority rule.

Mercantilism

An economic theory stating that colonies exist solely to enrich the mother country by supplying raw materials and maintaining a favorable balance of trade.

Metacom’s War (King Philip's War, 1675–1676)

A destructive conflict between New England colonists and a Native alliance led by Wampanoag chief Metacom, ending major Native resistance in southern New England.

Navigation Acts

British trade laws designed to enforce mercantilism by requiring colonial goods to be transported exclusively on British or colonial ships through British ports.

Pequot War

An armed conflict between New England colonists (along with Mohegan and Narragansett allies) and the Pequot tribe, resulting in the near-total destruction of the Pequots.

Plymouth

The settlement established in 1620 by Separatist Puritans (Pilgrims) who arrived on the Mayflower.

Powhatan

Paramount chief of the Powhatan Confederacy of Native tribes in tidewater Virginia; father of Pocahontas.

Proprietary Colony

A colony granted by the British monarch to an individual or family with full authority to govern and own the land (e.g., Maryland, Pennsylvania).

Protestant

Any member or church of Western Christian denominations that separated from the Roman Catholic Church following the Reformation.

Pueblo Revolt

A coordinated Indigenous uprising led by Popé that successfully expelled Spanish colonizers from present-day New Mexico for twelve years.

Puritans

English Protestants who wished to "purify" the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices; many migrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Quaker

A Protestant Christian group (Society of Friends) dedicated to pacifism, religious tolerance, personal spiritual revelation, and social equality; settled in Pennsylvania.

Queen Elizabeth I

English monarch whose reign stabilized Protestantism in England, defeated the Spanish Armada, and sparked English interest in Atlantic exploration.

Reformation

A 16th-century religious movement aimed at reforming the Roman Catholic Church, resulting in the creation of Protestant denominations.

Roanoke Island

England's first attempt at a North American colony off the coast of North Carolina, established by Sir Walter Raleigh; became known as the "Lost Colony" after completely disappearing by 1590.

Roger Williams

A Puritan minister banished from Massachusetts for advocating religious freedom and separation of church and state; founded Rhode Island.

Salem Witch Trials

A period of mass hysteria in Massachusetts resulting in the trial and execution of 20 people accused of witchcraft, reflecting severe social and religious anxiety.

Salutary Neglect

Unofficial British policy of lax enforcement of parliamentary trade laws in exchange for colonial economic loyalty and profitability.

Sir Walter Raleigh

An English courtier and explorer who sponsored the failed Roanoke Island colonial expeditions.

Sir William Berkeley

Royal Governor of Virginia whose autocratic rule, trade monopolies, and refusal to protect frontier settlers sparked Bacon's Rebellion.

Slavery

A system of forced labor where human beings are legally owned as property; became legally institutionalized in British America as lifelong, hereditary chattel slavery based on race.

Subsistence Farming

Agriculture aimed at producing just enough food to feed a single household, leaving little to no surplus for commercial sale.

Tenochtitlan

The grand capital city of the Aztec Empire, built on an island in Lake Texcoco; site of modern-day Mexico City.

Triangular Trade

A transatlantic trade network carrying manufactured goods from Europe to Africa, enslaved Africans to the Americas (Middle Passage), and raw materials back to Europe.

Vikings

Norse seafarers led by Leif Erikson who established a short-lived European settlement in North America (L'Anse aux Meadows) around 1000 CE.

Virginia Company

A joint-stock company chartered by King James I that financed and founded the Jamestown colony in 1607.

William Penn

Quaker leader who founded Pennsylvania as a proprietary colony designed as a haven for persecuted religious groups.