Studied by 14 PeopleTags & Description
Pueblo
An indigenous American group originating in what is now the southwestern United States. They were a sedentary group with a highly organized society. They used complex irrigation systems and built their homes into cliffsides.
Columbian Exchange
The exchange of ideas, crops, diseases, food, and livestock from Afroeurasia to the Americas and vice versa, initiated by Christopher Columbus’ “discovery” of the Americas.
Encomienda
A grant by the Spanish monarchy to a Spanish colonist in America giving them the right to demand tribute from indigenous people and force them into labor.
Bartolome de las Casas
A Spanish clergyman who attempted to expose and abolish the use of slavery in the Americas. He was shut down by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain.
Mestizo
A person of mixed Spanish and indigenous descent.
Conquistadores
Spanish conquerors of Central and South America.
Popé’s Rebellion
An indigenous man led a revolt against Spanish settlers and their religious conversion in 1680, killing over 400 of them and driving 2,000 south.
Virginia Company
A joint-stock company that started new settlements in Virginia under the approval of King James I (the gay one).
John Smith
An English explorer and one of the founders of Jamestown. Said to have been saved by Pocahontas, the 10-year-old daughter of an indigenous chief.
Powhatan Wars
Three wars fought between the English settlers and Algonquin Native Americans, primarily caused by the colonists encroaching on Algonquin hunting grounds.
House of Burgesses
An assembly of elected representatives in Virginia. They helped to dictate colonial Virginian legislature.
Iroquois Confederacy
Alliance of five separate indigenous nations, The Mohawks (or Kanienkehaka), the Onondaga, the Cayuga (like the ship), the Oneida, and the Seneca.
Puritans
A group of English Protestants who wanted to simplify and regulate worship methods. Known for being highly discriminatory, they are most famous for their role in the Salem Witch Trials.
Mayflower Compact
A written agreement between the Pilgrims and other migrants on the Mayflower. The document dictated their fundamental rights as settlers, and detailed the government they had formed over the course of their journey.
John Winthrop
The first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, an English Puritan laywer, and a leading founder of New England.
Anne Hutchinson
A spiritual leader in the Massachusetts Bay Colony who challenged gender roles by preaching to gender diverse audiences and questioning Puritan beliefs about salvation. She was banished from the colony and later became one of the founders of Rhode Island.
Roger Williams
A political and religious leader best known for founding Rhode Island and advocating for the separation of church and state.
King Philip’s War
A final attempt by indigenous people to drive the colonists of New England out of indigenous land. This attempt failed, with the colonists winning the war.
Dominion of New England
An administrative union of all New England and Mid-Atlantic colonies (except Pennsylvania and Delaware). It was created by King James II as a way to gain more control over the colonies.
Navigation Laws
Acts passed by the British Parliament to crack down on salutary neglect and cement the mercantile nature of the English colonies. The laws restricted trade in the colonies to be to and from England only.
Salutary neglect
The unofficial British policy that allowed laws for the colonies to be very loosely enforced or even not at all.
Quakers
Members of the Religious Society of Friends, a Christian movement founded by George Fox in 1650. They have no set form of worship and are known for being extremely accepting.
Indentured servants
Poor young people agreed to work for a certain amount of time in exchange for passage to the colonies
Headright System
Land grant system that gave ownership of land and all natives on said land to colonial investors
Bacon’s Rebellion
The first colonial uprising in the American colonies. It was an unsuccessful attempt at overthrowing the governor of Jamestown.
Middle Passage
The name for the voyage that slaves were forced to make between the African coast and colonial America.
Chattel
A piece of property, often used to refer to slaves
Salem Witch Trials
A series of investigations and persecutions of people (mostly women) accused of witchcraft from 1692-1693.
Paxton Boys
Group of Scots-Irish men who marched on Philadelphia in 1764 to protest the leniency that the Quakers had on indigenous people
Regulator Movement
North Carolina colonists, opposing the taxation and fee system, led a movement that escalated to a battle between them and the colonial militia in 1771
Stono Rebellion
A slave revolt in 1739. The largest enslaved rebellion in the Southern colonies, with 25 colonists and 35-50 slaves killed.
Triangular trade
The exchange of goods, crops, livestock, diseases, and slaves between the Americas, Africa, and Europe.
Molasses Act
A law that restricted and taxed importation of sugar and molasses into the colonies
Great Awakening
Revival of religious fervor, started by religious leaders including George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards
John Peter Zenger
A journalist accused of seditious libel by the governor of New York. Though eventually acquitted, his trial laid the foundations for the right to free speech.
Albany Congress
Intercolonial congress summoned in 1754 to devise a plan to keep the Iroquois Confederacy on the American side of the Seven Years’ War and unite the colonies against France. Only 7 of the 13 delegates showed up, and the end result left colonists wanting more freedom and Parliament wanting less freedom.
Join or Die
Political cartoon created by Benjamin Franklin depicting the colonies as portions of a snake. It was used to call for the unification of the colonies.
Pontiac’s Uprising
An indigenous uprising in 1763 that led to the Proclamation Line being drawn
Proclamation Line of 1763
A boundary dictating that the colonists could not settle past the Appalachian mountains, drawn by the British government in the hopes of avoiding a repeat of the Seven Years’ War.
Sugar Act
Tax set by British that caused large amounts of molasses smuggling
Stamp Act
Tax set by British on all printed materials
Virtual Representation
The idea that the British Parliament members represented the colonists, even though they were never directly in the colonies.
Sons and Daughters of Liberty
Gendered groups of American colonists in support of the Revolution
Boston Massacre
Deadly altercation between colonists and British soldiers in Massachusetts during March of 1770
Boston Tea Party
Sons of Liberty dressed as indigenous people threw tons of tea into the harbor in response to the Boston Massacre
Intolerable Acts
A series of laws passed by the British in response to the Boston Tea Party. Meant to squash rebellion, but only stoked the flames higher
Lexington and Concord
Two battles that began the Revolutionary War
Common Sense
Pamphlet published by Thomas Paine that encouraged revolution based on Enlightenment ideals
Abigail Adams
Wife of John Adams who pushed (unsuccessfully) for women’s rights
Battle of Saratoga
Turning point of the war that lifted American morale and encouraged defeat of the British
Battle of Yorktown
Last major battle of the Revolutionary War. General Cornwallis surrendered soon after being defeated by the Americans
Republican Motherhood
Idea that it was women’s job to educate young people who would go on to become the future of America
Northwest Ordinance
Established a government for the Northwest territory, created the process of gaining statehood, and guaranteed that new states would be on the same power level as the original 13
Shays’ Rebellion
A rebellion by farmers in Massachusetts against Boston creditors. Led by a former captain in the Revolutionary War, farmers literally defended their land against foreclosure with pitchforks and other weaponry
Great Compromise
Each state would have two senators in the House of Representatives, no matter the population of the state
Three-Fifths Compromise
Counted each slave as 3/5 of a person for the purpose of taxes and representation
Federalist Papers
A series of 85 essays that promoted the ratification of the Constitution, John Jay got sick after writing 5, James Madison wrote 29, Hamilton wrote the other 51
Funding at Par
Proposal by Hamilton that the federal government would pay off its debts at face value plus interest
Assumption
The government pays the debts of the states itself
Bank of the United States
A central bank established in 1791 by Hamilton
Whiskey Rebellion
An uprising of farmers in western Pennsylvania in response to Hamilton’s excise tax on whiskey
Neutrality Proclamation
A formal statement declaring the US’ neutrality in the conflict between Britain and France
Treaty of Greenville
1795 treaty that gave America control over all of Ohio
Jay’s Treaty
Treaty that ended impressment (abduction of sailors by the British Navy and forcing them to be part of the navy)
Pinckney’s Treaty
Treaty between the US and Spain that gave the US the ability to trade on the Mississippi river
Alien Act
Made it more difficult for immigrants to become US citizens and vote, escalated waiting period from 5 years to 14 years
Sedition Act
Made it a crime to speak out against the government
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
Political statements by Virginia and Kentucky legislatures that declared the Alien and Sedition acts unconstitutional
Marbury v. Madison
Court case that established that courts could overturn laws and/or government actions that violated the Constitution
Impressment
British abducted American sailors and forced them to become part of the British Navy
Embargo Act of 1807
America couldn’t trade with Europe during the Napoleonic War
War Hawks
A group of young Democratic-Republicans, led by Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, who were from frontier states and pushed for war
Tecumseh
A Shawnee indigenous leader who fought against American expansion in the midwest
Battle of New Orleans
The final battle of the War of 1812
Hartford Convention
Meeting held in Connecticut by New England Federalists to address the damage done to their trade economy
American System
Federal economic policy meant to promote economic growth and development, including infrastructure improvement, national banking, and tariffs
Era of Good Feelings
Period that reflected a rise in American nationalism in the 1810s and 1820s
Missouri Compromise
Maine got its statehood as a non-slave state and Missouri got its statehood as a slave state so that the amount of free and slave states would be balanced
Daniel Webster
Secretary of State for 3 presidents, one of the Whig leaders with John C. Calhoun and Henry Clay
Adams-Onis Treaty
1819 treaty that bought eastern Florida in order to establish a boundary between Louisiana and Mexico
Monroe Doctrine
Policy set by James Monroe that basically stated that any more European colonization in the Western Hemisphere would be considered a hostile act
Corrupt Bargain
If Henry Clay helped John Quincy Adams win the election, Adams would make Clay his Secretary of State
Spoils System
political tactic of nepotism
John C. Calhoun
Andrew Jackson’s VP, part of Henry Clay’s group, Whig leader