History

Bering Land Bridge

A land bridge that was used to get from Asia to America

Why was corn (mesa) important to ancient American culture?

It was the first plant developed for human use

Where did the Hohokam settle?

In the valleys of the Salt and Gila rivers (modern day Arizona)

Where did the Anasazi settle?

In the mesa tops, cliff sides, and canyon bottoms of the Four Corners Region

Cahokia

The dominant center of an important Mississippi valley mound-building culture (modern day St. Louis)

Iroquois Tribe

Eastern woodlands tribe that blended agriculture and hunting living in common villages constructed from the trees and bark of the forests

Christopher Columbus

Italian navigator who mistakenly discovered the Americas in 1492 while searching for a faster route to India

Taino Tribe

The people Columbus mistook for Indians; a small fishing community; they were very welcoming to Columbus and company

What does San Salvador mean?

Holy Savior

Colonization

The establishment of distant settlements controlled by the parent country

Treaty of Tordesillas

An agreement between Portugal and Spain that divided the Western Hemisphere between them

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Americas and the rest of the world

Bartolome de Las Casas

Dominican priest who spoke out against mistreatment of Native Americans

Hernan Cortez

A Spanish Conquistador who defeated and conquered the Aztec Empire

Conquistadors

Spanish soldiers and explorers who led military expeditions in the Americas and captured land for Spain

Montezuma II

The last Aztec emperor who was captured and killed by Cortés in 1520

Inca (location)

South America

Aztec (location)

Central Mexico

Maya (location)

Yucatan Peninsula

Encomienda system

system that gave settlers the right to demand their labor in exchange for protecting them and teaching them skills

What replaced the Encomienda system?

African slavery

Juan Ponce de Leon

Spanish Explorer who discovered and named Florida while searching for the "Fountain of Youth"

Pope's Rebellion

An Indian uprising where pueblo rebels in an attempt to resist Catholicism and Europeans all together destroyed every catholic church in the province and killed scores of priests and hundreds of Spanish settlers

Jamestown

The first permanent English settlement in America

Indentured Servitude

A contractual system in which someone sells labor for a specified period of time

Chattel slavery

Absolute legal ownership of another person, including the right to buy or sell that person

Mayflower Compact

The first legal document of the Plymouth colony in which they agreed to have fair laws to protect the general good of the people

Middle Passage

A voyage that brought enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to North America and the West Indies

Triangular Trade

A three way system of trade; Africa sent slaves to America, America sent raw materials to Europe, and Europe sent manufactured goods to Africa

Benjamin Franklin

American enlightenment figure who was a scientist, printer, author, inventor, diplomat, statesman, and a Founding Father

Tobacco

A cash crop that made a profit and saved Jamestown's money crisis

Bacon's Rebellion

A rebellion lead by Nathaniel Bacon; farmers to attacked Native Americans in an attempt to gain more land

George Washington (in the French and Indian War)

A militia colonel who led the English expedition to evict the French from the Ohio River Valley

French and Indian War

War fought in the colonies between the English and the French for possession of the Ohio Valley area; both sides were aided by NA tribes; the English won

Albany Plan of Union

A plan proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1754 that aimed to unite the 13 colonies for trade, military, and other purposes; the plan was turned down by the colonies and the Crown

Treaty of Paris

Treaty that ended the French and Indian War

Mercantilism

An economic policy under which nations sought to increase their wealth and power by selling more goods than they bought

Favorable balance of trade

an economic situation in which a country sells more goods abroad than it buys from abroad

Navigational Acts

A series of laws passed by Parliament that restricted colonial trade

Headright system

Under this system, anyone who paid for their own or another's passage to Virginia received 50 acres of land

Pontiac

A cheif who led a rebellion in which they opposed British expansion into the western Ohio Valley and began destroying British forts in the area. The attacks ended when the chief was killed

Proclamation of 1763

A proclamation from the British government which forbade British colonists from settling west of the Appalacian Mountains, and which required any settlers already living west of the mountains to move back east

Sugar Act

law passed by the British Parliament setting taxes on molasses and sugar imported by the colonies

Roger Williams

He founded Rhode Island for separation of Church and State. He believed that the Puritans were too powerful and was ordered to leave the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his religious beliefs

Anne Hutchinson

A Puritan woman who's actions resulted in her banishment from the colony; she had different religious views and questioned authority

New ethnic groups in the American Colonies in 1755

Germans, Irish, Scots-Irish

Boston Massacre

The first bloodshed of the American Revolution; as British guards opened fire on a crowd killing five Americans

Paul Revere

American silversmith remembered for his midnight ride to warn the colonists in Lexington and Concord that British troops were coming

Thomas Paine

Author of Common Sense

Sons of Liberty

A group of colonists who formed a secret society to oppose British policies

Hessian Mercenaries

Professional German soldiers hired to fight for Britain in the American Revolution

Declaration of Independence

A document declaring the US free; drafted at the Second Continental Congress; 1776

Lexington and Concord

First battles of the Revolutionary War; "The shot heard around the world"

George Washington (in the Second Continental Congress)

A commanding general who helped draft the declaration of independence

Patriot Strengths

- Knew the territory
- fought a guerrilla war
- persistent, fierce fighters
- great leadership

British Strengths

-Lots of troops
-Well trained
-Well supplied

-Help from the Germans
-Good supply of money

Battle of Yorktown

Last major battle of the Revolution; American victory in Virginia that forced the British to surrender

John Hancock

President of the Continental Congress; first to sign the Declaration of Independence.

Intolerable Acts

series of laws passed to punish Boston for the Tea Party

Valley Forge

Place where Washington's army spent the winter of 1777-1778, a 4th of troops died here from disease and the winter weather

John Locke

Many of the phrases that Jefferson included in the Declaration of Independence came from the works of this British political philosopher

Revolutionary war

A war between the British and the colonists. The colonists wanted to be free of British rule; lasted 7 years

Articles of Confederation

A weak constitution that governed America during the Revolutionary War; no real power; it failed because people needed something permanent and centralized

Land Ordinance of 1785

A system for surveying and dividing western lands

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

a law that established a procedure for the admission of new states to the Union

Shay's Rebellion

A series of attacks on courthouses by a small band of farmers led by Daniel Shays to block foreclosure proceedings.

George Washington (in the Constitutional Convention)

President of the Constitutional Convention

New Jersey Plan

A constitutional proposal that would have given each state one vote in a new congress; proposed by William Paterson

Virginia Plan

Proposal to create a strong national government; created the 3 branches; proposed by James Madison

Great Compromise

An agreement made between large and small U.S. states that partly defined the representation each state would have in the legislature under the United States Constitution

3/5 Compromise

An agreement to count slaves as 3/5 of a person for the purpose of deciding the population and determining how many seats each state would have in Congress

Ferderalists

Supporters of the Constitution

Anti-Federalists

People who opposed the Constitution

James Madison

"Father of the Constitution"; Federalist leader; fourth President of the United States

Checks and Balances

A system used to distribute power equally across the branches

Republic

A form of government in which citizens choose their leaders by voting

Necessary and Proper Clause (Elastic Clause)

A clause that grants Congress the power to pass whatever laws are deemed necessary and proper to help Congress to carry out the enumerated powers

Where was the Constitutional Convention held?

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Electoral college

A group of people named by each state legislature to select the president and vice president

Federalism

A system in which power is divided between the national and state governments

Judiciary Act of 1789

A law passed by the first Congress to establish the federal court system.

Cabinet

A group of advisers to the president.

Whiskey Rebellion

Rebellion in which farmers in Pennsylvania rebelled against Hamilton's excise tax on whiskey

Western Boundary of the US in 1800

Mississippi River

Capitalism

an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.

Thomas Jefferson

Author of the Declaration of Independence

Louisiana Purchase

A purchase of the Louisiana territory from France made by Jefferson; this doubled the size of the US

Lewis and Clark

Sent on an expedition by Jefferson to gather information on the United States' new land and map a route to the Pacific. They kept very careful maps and records of this new land acquired from the Louisiana Purchase

Sacajawea

Native American woman who served as a guide an interpreter for the Lewis and Clark expedition

John Adams

America's first Vice-President and second President

Marbury vs. Madison

Case in which the supreme court first asserted the power of Judicial review in finding that the congressional statue expanding the Court's original jurisdiction was unconstitutional

Jay's Treaty

Treaty between the U.S. and Britain in which Britain sought to improve trade relations and agreed to withdraw from forts in the northwest territory

Pickney's Treaty

Treaty between the U.S. and Spain which gave the U.S. the right to transport goods on the Mississippi river and to store goods in the Spanish port of New Orleans

12th Amendment

States that each elector must pick a president AND a Vice President on his or her ballot; This ensures that the president will be paired with his running mate after the election.

War of 1812

Aconflict fought over the right of neutral countries to participate in foreign trade without the interference of other nations and the desire of many in the United States to end British occupation of Canada.

Andrew Jackson

A general in the War of 1812; defeated the British at New Orleans (1815). As president he opposed the Bank of America, objected to the right of individual states to nullify disagreeable federal laws, and increased the presidential powers.

Treaty of Ghent

Ended the War of 1812; declared an armistace

Armistace

Formal ending to fighting

Francis Scott Key

A Washington lawyer who watched the all-night battle at Fort McHenry and showed his pride by writing what became the National Anthem

Barbary Wars

Two wars between the United States of America and Barbary States in North Africa in the early 19th century; at issue was the pirates' demand of tribute from American merchant vessels in the Mediterranean Sea; American naval power attacked the pirate cities