Phase I: Pre-Columbian Native Americans to Late-Colonial Era Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, historical figures, and religious concepts from pre-Columbian America through the late-colonial era.

Bering Straits theory (Beringia)

A geographic and historical theory explaining the migration of Native Americans into the Americas from Siberia, Mongolia, and Manchuria. Also an ancient land bridge linking Asia and North America

Pantheism

A Native American religious belief system in which hunters prayed for an animal's spirit to transmigrate after a successful hunt.

Manitou

Spirits within Native American religious and spiritual beliefs.

Shamans

Native American religious figures who interpreted the unseen world and explained cultural origins through deeply moving myths.

Nok culture

Ancient West African culture in the Niger Valley.

Trans-Saharan trade route

A major trade network active from $600\text{ CE}$ to $1885\text{ CE}$ that generated immense wealth and fostered Islamic influence across West Africa.

Caravel

A type of sailing ship borrowed by European mariners from the Arabs during the Age of Exploration.

Reconquista

Spanish military campaigns undertaken in the $1490\text{s AD}$ to reclaim control of the Iberian Peninsula. Also enabled Spain to pursue exploration and colonization. Spain’s nearly eight-hundred-year holy war against Islam, which ended in 1492

Amerigo Vespuchi

An explorer whose rise coincided with the fall of Christopher Columbus in early modern European exploration.

The New Slavery

A high-volume, race-based system of enslavement emerging in the $1500\text{s AD}$ characterized by lifelong generational chattel status, absence of legal rights, and heavy outdoor labor.

Hernand Cortez

The Spanish conquistador who led the sack of the Aztec empire in $1519\text{ AD}$.

Separatists

A group of $17\text{th}$-century English Puritans who advocated for total separation from the Anglican Church.

Non-Separatists

A group of $17\text{th}$-century English Puritans who sought to reform the Anglican Church from within rather than break away completely.

Social Reciprocity

John Winthrop's model of communal harmony and Christian socialist utopianism in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Conversion relation

A ritual process required by New England Puritans to demonstrate personal piety and qualify for sainthood and full church standing.

Half-Way Covenant

A religious arrangement in Puritan New England designed to extend partial church membership to descendants of original church members.

Lord Baltimore

A Catholic investor who founded Maryland as a refuge for English Catholics.

Fundamental Constitution of Carolina

A colonial governance document that instituted colonial feudalism, nobility, and tobacco estates.

Stono Rebellion

An uprising of African slaves that occurred in Carolina in $1739\text{ AD}$.

Peter Stuyvesant

The Dutch director-general of New Netherlands prior to the English invasion of $1664\text{ AD}$.

Society of Friends (Quakers)

A religious group founded by George Fox and promoted by William Penn in the proprietary colonization of Pennsylvania.

James Oglethorpe

The founder of Georgia who prohibited slavery and plantations to establish a yeoman-driven colony and maintain fair relations with Native Americans.

Economic Systems

Includes Hunting and Gathering, Pastoral, and Agricultural economies.

Demographic Density

High density of Native Americans prior to European arrival.

Chronological Eras of Native Americans

Stages: Paleo-Indians, Archaic Indians, Classical Indians.

Major Mesoamerican Civilizations

The Mayas, The Incas, and The Aztecs.

Major Ancient West African Civilizations

Includes Ancient Ghana (200CE-1230CE), Ancient Mali (1200CE-1460CE), and Ancient Songhai (1460CE-1600CE).

Historical Eras in Europe

The Classical period (800BCE-600CE), Medieval Era/Dark Ages (600CE-1300CE), and Renaissance/Reformation (1300CE-1600CE).

Trade Exports between Europe and the Venetian/Arab World

African gold, Native Arab goods, and Asian goods from India and China.

Christopher Columbus' Background

Nautical experiences guided his explorations.

Columbus' View on Native Americans as Servants

Good Christians, good slaves

Winthrop Jordan's Work 'White Over Black'

Documents the historical evolution of slavery.

Legal Status of Slaves

Chattel

How Conquistadors Acquired Land and Riches

Violent means.

Major Spanish Strategic Settlement

St. Augustine, Florida

John Smith

Key figure in the establishment of Jamestown, Virginia, and played a significant role in its leadership.

Financial Structure of Jamestown's Settlement

Financed by joint stocks, which allowed for collective investment in the colony.

Primary Colonies in the Chesapeake Region

Virginia and Maryland.

Key Islands in the Anglo-West Indies

Barbados and Jamaica

Primary Labor System in the Anglo-West Indies

Driven by sugar production and slave labor.

Puritan Criticisms of the Anglican Church

Included objections to the Mass, church decorations, kneeling during service, and priestly vestments.

Mayflower Compact

An agreement made by the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower establishing a foundation for self-governance in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

John Winthrop

The leader of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and is known for his vision of a 'City upon a Hill' as a model Christian society.

Congregationalism

A system of church government in which each congregation governs itself independently, reflecting the governance structure of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

'The New England Way'

Refers to the distinctive social and religious practices developed in Puritan society, characterized by communal discipline and strict adherence to religious norms.

Spiritual Requirements in Massachusetts Bay Colony

The conversion relation, piety and plain style of worship, and strict rules regarding Saints and Sainthood.

Roger Williams

A dissident in the Massachusetts Bay Colony known for advocating religious freedom and the separation of church and state.

Anne Hutchinson

A key dissident in the Massachusetts Bay Colony who challenged the religious authorities and promoted their interpretation of the Bible.

Economic Transformation in New England Society

Involved a cultural shift from initial Social Reciprocity to competitive Marketplace Values, reflecting changes in social and economic relations.

Role of Pirates and Buccaneers in the Caribbean

Raiders, engaging in plundering and disrupting maritime trade routes in the Caribbean.

Significant Change in 1660s regarding Labor on Plantations

The Dutch introduced sugar cultivation and African slave labor, fundamentally changing the labor dynamics on plantations.

Legal Frameworks for Controlling Slavery in the Colonies

Barbados slave codes were codified to enforce slave control and regulate behavior among enslaved populations.

Major Settlement of the Colony of Virginia

Jamestown.

Primary Commodity Cultivated in Colony of Virginia

Tobacco cultivation.

Major Farmers Conflict in Colony of Virginia during Colonial Period

Bacon's Rebellion

Historical Significance of Jamestown

The major settlement of the Colony of Virginia, marking the first permanent English settlement in North America.

Religious Purpose of the Colony of Maryland

Haven for English Catholics.

Quaker Founder

George Fox

The Enlightenment Movement

Movement that Emphasized Reason and Individualism Leading to Deism

Navigations' Act of 1661

An imperial regulation aimed at controlling colonial trade by requiring that certain goods from the colonies be transported on English ships.

Labor System Prevalent in the Carolinas

Large-scale reliance on African slaves to support the rice economy.

Charles Towne (Charleston)

The major port established in the Carolinas, significant for trade and economic development.

Initial Economic Reliance in the Carolinas

Tobacco estates for their economy before facing a tobacco bust.

John Locke's Influence in the Carolinas

An intellectual figure whose ideas influenced the political foundations of the Carolinas, particularly regarding governance and individual rights.

What Happened to New Netherlands in 1664

Invaded by the English, leading to its control being granted to James II (Duke of York).

Black Death

two strains of the bubonic plague that simultaneously swept western Europe in the

fourteenth century, causing the death of nearly half the population

chasquis

Incan relay runners used to send messages over great distances

chinampas

floating Aztec gardens consisting of a large barge woven from reeds, filled with dirt and

floating on the water, allowing for irrigation

Crusades

a series of military expeditions made by Christian Europeans to recover the Holy Land from

the Muslims in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries

feudal society

a social arrangement in which serfs and knights provided labor and military service to

noble lords, receiving protection and land use in return

Inquisition

a campaign by the Catholic Church to root out heresy, especially among converted Jews and

Muslims

Koran

the sacred book of Islam, written by the prophet Muhammad in the seventh century

matriarchy

a society in which women have political power

mita

the Incan labor tax, with each family donating time and work to communal projects

polygyny

the practice of taking more than one wife

quipu

an ancient Incan device for recording information, consisting of variously colored threads knotted

in different ways

serf

a peasant tied to the land and its lord

Which culture developed a road system

rivaling that of the Romans?

Inca

Which of the following Indian peoples built

homes in cliff dwellings that still exist?

Anasazi

Which culture developed the only writing

system in the Western Hemisphere?

Maya

The series of attempts by Christian armies to

retake the Holy Lands from Muslims was known

as ________.

The Crusades

________ became wealthy trading with the

East.

Venice

In 1492, the Spanish forced these two religious

groups to either convert or leave.

Jews and Muslims

How did European feudal society operate?

How was this a mutually supportive system?

Society was divided into levels: kings gave land to nobles, nobles gave land to knights, and peasants worked the land. Each group provided something: kings gave land, knights provided protection, and peasants provided food and labor.

The city of ________ became a leading center

Timbuktu

Black Legend

Spain’s reputation as bloodthirsty conquistadors

Calvinism

a branch of Protestantism started by John Calvin, emphasizing human powerlessness before

an omniscient God and stressing the idea of predestination

Columbian Exchange

the movement of plants, animals, and diseases across the Atlantic due to

European exploration of the Americas

commodification

the transformation of something—for example, an item of ritual significance—into a

commodity with monetary value

encomienda

legal rights to native labor as granted by the Spanish crown

Hispaniola

the island in the Caribbean, present-day Haiti and Dominican Republic, where Columbus

first landed and established a Spanish colony

indulgences

documents for purchase that absolved sinners of their errant behavior

joint stock company

a business entity in which investors provide the capital and assume the risk in

order to reap significant returns

mercantilism

the protectionist economic principle that nations should control trade with their colonies to

ensure a favorable balance of trade

mourning wars

raids or wars that tribes waged in eastern North America in order to replace members

lost to smallpox and other diseases

Pilgrims

Separatists, led by William Bradford, who established the first English settlement in New

England

privateers

sea captains to whom the British government had given permission to raid Spanish ships at

will

probanza de mérito

proof of merit: a letter written by a Spanish explorer to the crown to gain royal

patronage

Protestant Reformation

the schism in Catholicism that began with Martin Luther and John Calvin in the

early sixteenth century

Puritans

a group of religious reformers in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries who wanted to

“purify” the Church of England by ridding it of practices associated with the Catholic Church and

advocating greater purity of doctrine and worship