Lecture Notes: Early American History - Key Concepts and Figures (Vocabulary)

A curated set of vocabulary flashcards covering major ideas, people, and events from the lecture notes.

Binaries

A dichotomy of two extremes—everything is either all good or all evil—used to justify acts and shape perception.

Evangelism

Spreading the Christian faith; in these notes, linked to European religion and colonial dynamics.

Land

Land as wealth, property, and power in American thought.

Individualism

Emphasis on personal autonomy and resistance to government control.

Exceptionalism

Belief that one’s group is inherently superior, reinforced by myths and propaganda.

Status quo

The existing social or political order.

Narrative control

Shaping and controlling the dominant story to influence how reality is perceived.

Perspective bias

A bias stemming from a particular viewpoint or cultural position.

Bad sources

Unreliable or misleading sources that distort historical understanding.

Difficulties in interpreting History

Challenges like bias, incomplete records, and victors’ viewpoints.

History written by victors

Histories shaped by those who win, often sidelining other perspectives.

Power in history

History as a tool and product of power relations.

Elitist bias

Favoring elite perspectives in historical writing.

Anti-elite

Resistance to elitist bias or elites in history.

No sources

Lack of documented sources for certain civilizations.

No recorded history

Absence of written records for some cultures.

Land Bridge

Ice-free land route connecting Alaska and Siberia used by early peoples.

Native People and Myths

Indigenous groups and their myths prior to written history.

Civilization

Complex societies with specialization, language, and culture.

Religion in the Old World

Intersections of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam (Abrahamic faiths).

Adam and Eve

Biblical story used to compare natives as civilized or uncivilized.

Civilize

To regard or make others as civilized; often used to justify conquest.

Western Civilization

Greece/Rome heritage and ideas shaping Western political culture.

Crusades

Religious wars to control the Holy Land.

Conquest

Subjugation and control of lands and peoples.

Black Death

The plague that devastated Europe, killing about one-third of its population.

Reconquista

Christian reconquest of Iberia from Muslim rule.

Silk Road

Ancient trade network between East and West; declined under Ottoman control.

Ottoman chokehold

Ottoman Empire’s dominance that disrupted long-distance trade.

Arithmetic of Death

Columbus’s policy of taxing natives with gold, contributing to slavery.

Bartolomé de Las Casas

16th-century missionary who condemned mistreatment of Indigenous peoples.

Book of Prophecies

Text spreading Christianity and hinting at the Garden of Eden; tied to crusading ideas.

Christopher Columbus

Spanish navigator who reached the Americas in 1492, seeking wealth and new routes; sponsored voyage with three ships.

Slavery under God

Religious rationale related to enslaving or not enslaving persons (e.g., claims about Christians or Christians being enslaved).

Portuguese slave trade

Start of African slave trade; Portugal’s ports along Africa and trade routes to India.

Treaty of Tordesillas

1494 agreement dividing newly discovered lands outside Europe between Portugal and Spain.

The New World

The Americas; lands newly encountered by Europeans.

Gold

European motive for exploration and colonization—wealth and precious metals.

Montezuma II

Last emperor of the Aztecs; captured and killed during Cortés’s conquest.

Tenochtitlan

Aztec capital built on a lake; major urban center.

Aztec World

Aztec civilization, including practices like human sacrifice.

Hernán Cortés

Conquistador who toppled the Aztec Empire; used interpreters to communicate with locals.

Gerónimo de Aguilar

Spanish interpreter who aided Cortés during the conquest.

La Malinche

Native interpreter and advisor to Cortés (often called Doña Marina).

Encomienda System

Spanish colonial labor system assigning Native labor to colonists under coercive conditions.

Virgin Soil Epidemic

Native populations’ catastrophic mortality from Old World diseases to which they had no immunity.

Rebecca Rolfe (Pocahontas)

Pocahontas’s English name; married John Rolfe and influenced English-Native relations.

Jamestown

First permanent English colony in North America, founded in 1607.

Pocahontas

Daughter of Powhatan; helped mediate between natives and settlers; married John Rolfe.

Tobacco

Cash crop that sustained Jamestown and expanded settlement.”

Mayflower Compact

Early self-government contract formed by Puritan settlers in Plymouth.

Anne Hutchinson

Puritan dissenter banished for challenging ecclesiastical authority; advocacy of religious freedom.

Mercantilism

Economic theory: colonies provide raw materials to mother country; manufactured goods flow back at inflated prices.

Joint-Stock Company

Capital-raising business model enabling colonization and risk-sharing.

London Company of Virginia

English colonial venture chartered to establish settlements in Virginia.

Henry Hudson

Explorer who sought the Northwest Passage and explored the Hudson River region.

New France

French colonial empire in North America established by Champlain.

Samuel de Champlain

French explorer who founded Quebec and expanded New France starting in 1608.

Plymouth

Settlement founded by Puritans in 1620; later connected to Mayflower Compact.

Puritans

Religious group seeking to purify the Church of England; played a central role in New England colonies.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

Puritan colony that dominated early New England governance and religion.

John Winthrop

Leader of Massachusetts Bay Colony; promoted “city upon a hill” rhetoric.

Bacon’s Rebellion

1676 Virginia uprising of colonists against colonial leadership and policies toward Native Americans.

Headright system

Grant of 50 acres of land to new settlers to attract colonists.

Treaty of Middle Plantation

1676 agreement ending conflict with Native tribes and defining land rights.

King Philip’s War

Deadly 1675-76 conflict between English colonists and Native peoples in New England.

Haudenosaunee

Iroquois Confederacy; notable for a longhouse-based, matrilineal society and federation.

Praying Indians

Native Americans converted to Puritan Christianity; allied with English colonial efforts.

Pequot War

1636-38 conflict between Puritans and Pequot; featured brutal tactics and narrows alliances.

Narragansett

Native group involved in 17th-century colonial conflicts and intertribal dynamics.

John Sassamon

Puritan-educated Native American who warned colonists of Native plans; murdered in 1676.

Salem Witch Trials

1692 witchcraft prosecutions in Massachusetts producing executions and fear.

Cotton Mather

Puritan minister who supported moral reform and church governance; prominent in trials.

Puritan Work Ethic

Cultural belief tying virtue to diligent labor and discipline; helped shape early America.

Colonial Population 1770

Population distribution across colonies; urban centers in the North and growth of literacy.

Literacy

Importance of reading (Bible and governance) in northern colonies.

Privateer

Privately owned ships licensed to attack enemy commerce during war.

Letter of Marque

Official license authorizing privateering against enemy ships.

Blackbeard

Infamous pirates of the Golden Age; symbol of maritime lawlessness and the era’s danger.

Tortuga

Pirate haven near the Caribbean; base for privateering and illicit trade.

Jean Le Vasseur

Notable pirate figure associated with Tortuga and Caribbean piracy.