US history studyguide

Beringia

Theory that explains how the world was populated.

Tenochtitlan

Ancient capital of the Aztec Empire.

Reconquista

Military conflict between Christians and Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula.

Treaty of Tordesillas

Papal decree that divided exploration and conquest between Spain and Portugal.

Spanish Armada

Its defeat marked the beginning of British dominance of the Atlantic.

Cahokia

Commercial and political hub of the Mississippian civilization of North America.

Encomienda

Land and labor grant given to Spanish conquistadors in the Americas.

Bartolomé de Las Casas

Spanish missionary who criticized Spanish treatment of Indigenous people in the Americas.

Black Legend

Propaganda campaign that sought to portray the Spanish as uniquely brutal colonizers.

Columbian Exchange

Uneven transfer of people, plants, animals, and diseases between the "Old" and "New" Worlds after 1492.

Seven Years' War

Conflict between Britain and France over the Middle Ground in North America.

Peace of Paris, 1763

Ended the Seven Years' War.

Pontiac's Rebellion

Post-Seven Years' War Native American attacks on the British and colonists that revealed pan-Indian unity.

Proclamation of 1763

British policy that prohibited white expansion west of the Appalachian Mountains.

Salutary Neglect

Period of relative independence enjoyed by British colonists in North America.

Stamp Act

British colonial policy that imposed a tax on all printed material.

Public Sphere

Space where political debate takes place outside of the government.

Common Sense

Pro-independence pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1776.

Treaty of Paris, 1783

Recognized U.S. independence.

Christian Republicanism

Deist set of moral standards promoting a republic over monarchy.

Republicanism

Alternative to monarchy that relies on citizens' participation in government.

Articles of Confederation

First national constitution of the U.S.

Shays’ Rebellion

Uprising of indebted farmers against economic policies.

Bill of Rights

First ten amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

Three-Fifths Clause

Stated that a slave counted as less than a person for representation purposes.

Slave Trade Clause

Compromise over slavery between North and South.

Coverture

Legal and economic dependence of women on their husbands.

Rhetoric vs. Reality

Contradiction between what is being said and what is being lived in society.

Haitian Revolution

Slave uprising in the Caribbean that turned into an independence movement.

Louisiana Purchase

U.S. acquisition of a large French territory in 1803.