US History 1- Sophia Course

Key terms, people, places, and concepts from the Unit 1 tutorials on Pre-Columbian America, European exploration, colonization patterns, and the Atlantic World. Includes historiography, sources, lenses, and major events and figures.

What is history according to the American Historical Association (2011)?

The never-ending process whereby people seek to understand the past and its many meanings.

What is historiography?

The study of historical writing, or the history of history.

What is the historian’s practice?

Reading and interpreting evidence from the past to create narratives, asking deep questions, and understanding how history is constructed.

What is a primary source?

Firsthand accounts or evidence from the time period a historian is studying.

What is a secondary source?

Analyses of primary sources and other works by historians; used for context and interpretation.

What does bias mean in historical study?

Prejudice toward an event, group, or object when compared to another.

What is objective history?

Viewing past events without the historian’s personal view; unbiased history.

What are the five Cs of thinking historically?

Change over time; Context; Causality; Contingency; Complexity.

What are the 5 Ws in primary-source analysis?

Who, What, When, Where, Why (and How) to guide source analysis.

Define primary sources in one sentence.

Firsthand accounts/evidence from the time period that a historian is studying.

Define secondary sources in one sentence.

Analyses of primary sources or events by historians; they provide context and interpretation.

What is prehistory?

A period of time before written records existed.

What is archeology?

The study of past human events, especially prehistoric, using evidence from excavation.

What is a calendar stick, and who used them?

Ribs from a saguaro cactus used by the Tohono O’odham to mark important dates and events in their history.

What is a quipu?

An Incan device for recording information using knotted colored strings.

Name the major Mesoamerican civilizations.

Olmecs, Maya, Aztec, and their successors, with the Inca in South America.

Who were the Olmecs known as in the broader history of Mesoamerica?

The mother of Mesoamerican civilizations; they created a written system and calendar and influenced later cultures.

What were the Maya known for?

A powerful Mesoamerican empire famed for architecture, calendars, and a written language.

What were the Aztecs famous for in the pre-Columbian era?

A wealthy empire centered in Tenochtitlán known for complex temples, tribute systems, and human sacrifice.

What was the Inca’s notable achievement in administration and communication?

An expansive road system and the quipu, which kept records without a written script.

What is Cahokia?

The major Mississippian urban center along the Mississippi River with large mounds and thousands of residents.

What is the Great Lakes Native American confederacy discussed in these notes?

The Iroquois Confederacy (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca).

What is the Beavers Wars about?

A series of conflicts between Iroquois and French interests over beaver hunting and trade.

What is Ber­ingia?

An ancient land bridge linking Asia and North America, through which early peoples migrated.

What is globalization in the context of early Atlantic history?

The rapid increase in global interconnectedness through trade, exchange, and contact across continents.

What is mercantilism?

An economic theory where governments regulate trade to increase national wealth, often through colonies supplying raw materials.

What is the Columbian Exchange?

The movement of plants, animals, and diseases across the Atlantic resulting from European exploration and colonization.

What is commodification?

Transforming something with cultural or ritual value into a commodity with monetary value.

What is the Middle Passage?

The brutal transatlantic voyage that enslaved Africans endured from Africa to the Americas.

What is the Atlantic World?

A network of trade and cultural exchange linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

What is a triangular trade?

A three-legged exchange system: enslaved Africans to the Americas, commodities to Europe, and goods back to Africa.

What is chattel slavery?

A form of slavery where a person is treated as personal property with hereditary status.

What is racial slavery?

A form of involuntary servitude tied to race, where enslaved people are treated as property due to appearance.

What is Encomienda?

A Spanish system granting legal rights to native labor to conquerors, often exploited in practice.

What was the Requerimiento?

A Spanish royal decree read to Indigenous peoples justifying conquest and demanding submission.

Who were the Conquistadores?

Spanish conquerors who sought wealth, land, and religious conversion in the New World.

Who was Hernán Cortés?

Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztec empire and captured Tenochtitlán.

Who was Francisco Pizarro?

Spanish conquistador who conquered the Inca empire.

What is mestizo?

A person of mixed Indigenous American and Spanish descent.

What is Métis?

The offspring of French fur traders and Native women; many became guides or intermediaries in New France.

What role did the Jesuits play in New France?

Jesuit missionaries who sought to convert Indigenous peoples and documented their efforts in the Jesuit Relations.

What is New Netherland?

Dutch colonial settlement along the Hudson River, with Fort Amsterdam/New Amsterdam (later New York City).

Who was Peter Stuyvesant?

Dutch director-general of New Netherland who defended New Amsterdam against English attacks.

What is a patroonship?

Large Dutch land grants given to settlers to encourage colonization in New Netherland.

What is the significance of Wall Street’s name?

Wall Street derives from the protective wall built by enslaved Africans in New Amsterdam.

Who were the Five Nations in the Iroquois Confederacy?

Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca.

What colonies formed the Middle Colonies under the English crown?

New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

What is a joint-stock company?

A business venture where investors pool resources to fund colonies and share profits.

Who founded Pennsylvania and why?

William Penn; a Quaker colony founded for religious tolerance and economic opportunity.

What is a Mayflower Compact?

A 1620 agreement among Plymouth settlers establishing a civil body politic for the colony.

What was King Philip’s War?

A 1675-76 conflict led by Metacom (King Philip) against Puritan settlements in New England.

What was the Pequot War?

Conflict in 1637 between Puritans and allied tribes against the Pequot in CT, ending in Pequot destruction.

Who was Roger Williams?

Puritan minister who advocated soul liberty and religious tolerance; founded Rhode Island.

Who was Anne Hutchinson?

Puritan dissenter banished for claiming direct religious revelation; played a key role in early Massachusetts history.

What is the Germantown Protest?

1688 Quaker protest against slavery in Philadelphia’s Germantown meeting.

What are Puritans?

English Protestants who sought to purify the Church of England and formed a large part of MA Bay’s leadership.

What is a town meeting?

Local Puritan form of governance where male church members gathered to decide on local matters.

What was the Mayflower’s significance for Plymouth Colony?

Carried the Pilgrims who established Plymouth Colony in 1620 and helped shape Puritan governance and culture.

What was the House of Burgesses?

Virginia’s 1619 colonial assembly representing tobacco-growing elites’ interests.

What is a headright?

A grant of 50 acres (plus 50 for each additional servant) to migrants who paid their own way to Virginia.

What sparked Bacon’s Rebellion?

Frontier settlers’ grievances over land access and Native American policy, leading to revolt in 1675–76.

What was the significance of tobacco in Virginia?

A cash crop that stabilized the Virginia economy and helped sustain colonial life after initial hardships.

What policy shift occurred in the Chesapeake by the late 17th century?

A shift from indentured servitude to lifelong, hereditary slavery as the main labor force.

Who was Pocahontas?

Daughter of Powhatan who married John Rolfe in 1614, aiding a temporary peace between Jamestown and Powhatan.”

What is a covenant in Puritan New England?

A community agreement signed by town residents, guiding religious and civil life.

What is soul liberty?

Roger Williams’s idea that individuals should have the freedom to follow their own conscience in matters of religion.

What was the Great Migration related to Puritans?

Migration of Puritans to New England in the 17th century to escape persecution and build new communities.

What was the Salem Witch Trials?

1692 accusations, trials, and executions in Massachusetts that highlighted Puritan religious extremism.

What was the Edict of toleration movement in the Middle Colonies?

A more tolerant religious environment, especially for Quakers in Pennsylvania.

What is the significance of the Quaker Peace Testimony in Philadelphia?

Quakers, including those in Philadelphia, opposed slavery and promoted religious liberty and equality.

Who was William Penn?

Quaker founder of Pennsylvania who promoted religious liberty and fair dealing with Indigenous peoples.

What is a patroonship’s purpose?

To attract settlers to New Netherland by granting land and governing rights to promoters.

What city did the Dutch name Fort Amsterdam become under English rule?

New Amsterdam, later renamed New York City.

What is a covenant community in Puritan New England?

A town governed by a church-led covenant aiming for a godly, ordered society.

Who were the Mohegan and Narragansett in Puritan lore?

Native tribes that allied with Puritans against rivals like the Pequot during King Philip’s War.

What was the Tenochitlán core of Aztec power?

Tenochtitlán, a vast city with causeways and elaborate temples; capital of the Aztec Empire.

Who was Malintzin (La Malinche)?

A Nahua woman who assisted Cortés as translator and advisor; linked to mestizaje in colonial history.

What is the Cantino World Map famous for showing?

A 1502 map illustrating early European and Atlantic World geography, including Spanish and Portuguese claims.

What is Vespucci’s significance in naming America?

Amerigo Vespucci’s accounts helped lead Martin Waldseemüller to label the new continent 'America'.

Who explored the Gulf of St. Lawrence and started New France?

Jacques Cartier; he claimed northern North America for France and established early contact with Indigenous peoples.

What is the significance of the Five Nations’ diplomacy with European powers?

Showed how Indigenous groups leveraged alliances with French and English for their own interests; exemplified the Iroquois Confederacy’s political agency.

What was the role of the Spanish in shaping the Americas’ early colonial system?

Conquistadores, the encomienda system, missionary efforts, and the extraction of gold and silver helped build a vast empire at enormous human cost.

What factors contribute to understanding bias in primary sources like Requerimiento?

Language, purpose, audience, and cultural context can distort interpretation; sources must be read critically.

What is the significance of Pocahontas’s marriage to John Rolfe?

A symbolic alliance that temporarily eased tensions between Jamestown and Powhatan, influencing early colonial relations.

What is the significance of the Starving Time at Jamestown?

The winter of 1609–1610 when a large portion of the colony died due to famine and disease, highlighting harsh early conditions.

What is a joint-stock company?

A business arrangement where investors fund colonies and share profits and risks, such as the Virginia Company.

Who was John Smith?

Leader of early Jamestown whose leadership helped ensure survival during the colony’s toughest years.