hist

Aztec Empire – Powerful Mesoamerican empire in central Mexico; capital at Tenochtitlán; conquered by Hernán Cortés in 1521.
Inca Empire – Andean empire in Peru; advanced road and terrace farming systems; conquered by Francisco Pizarro.
Cahokia – Major Mississippian city near modern St. Louis; center of trade and mound-building culture (~1050–1350 CE).
Conquistadores – Spanish conquerors like Cortés and Pizarro who claimed lands through force and disease.
Columbian Exchange – Transfer of crops, animals, people, and disease between Old and New Worlds after 1492.
Agricultural (Green) Revolution – Early shift to maize-based farming in the Americas, fueling population growth.
Spanish Armada (1588) – Spanish naval fleet defeated by England; opened the way for English colonization.
Land bridge – Beringia; route used by first Americans migrating from Asia into the Americas.
Hunter-gatherers – Nomadic peoples who lived by hunting and foraging before agriculture.
Maize (corn) – Staple crop that allowed advanced civilizations in the Americas to flourish.
Mayas – Civilization in Mesoamerica; known for math, astronomy, and writing.
Tenochtitlán – Aztec capital city; one of the largest cities in the world at its height.
Pueblos cultures – Southwest Native peoples; built adobe dwellings and practiced irrigation farming.
Plains Indians – Nomadic tribes relying on bison hunting; later horse culture transformed mobility.
Mississippian culture – Mound-building societies; Cahokia was the largest center.
Eastern Woodlands culture – Native peoples living east of Mississippi River; practiced agriculture and hunting.
Christopher Columbus – Italian sailor for Spain; voyages (1492) opened the Americas to European colonization.
Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) – Agreement dividing New World between Spain and Portugal.
Protestant Reformation – 16th c. movement challenging Catholic authority; shaped European colonization.
Martin Luther – German monk; started Reformation (1517) with his 95 Theses.
John Calvin – Reformer emphasizing predestination and discipline; influenced Puritans.
Hernán Cortés – Conquistador who conquered Aztec Empire.
Montezuma II – Aztec emperor defeated by Cortés.
Francisco Pizarro – Conquistador who conquered Inca Empire.
Encomienda – Spanish system of forced Native labor for colonial lords.
Mission system – Catholic missions converting Natives to Christianity.
Presidios – Spanish military forts supporting missions.
Juan de Oñate – Spanish explorer in New Mexico; known for brutality.
Pueblo Revolt (1680) – Native uprising in New Mexico driving Spanish out for over a decade.
Jacques Cartier – French explorer; claimed St. Lawrence River Valley.
Sir Walter Raleigh – Sponsored Roanoke Colony; failed attempt.
Queen Elizabeth I – English queen who defeated Armada and encouraged colonization.
Roanoke Island – Failed “Lost Colony” of England (1580s).
Bartolomé de Las Casas – Spanish priest defending Native rights.
Joint-stock companies – Early corporations funding English colonies (e.g., Virginia Company).
Puritans – English Protestants seeking to purify Anglican Church; founded Massachusetts Bay.
John Smith – Jamestown leader; imposed discipline and secured food.
John Rolfe – Introduced tobacco to Virginia; married Pocahontas.
Headrights – Land grants to settlers to encourage migration.
Sir George Calvert (Lord Baltimore) – Founded Maryland as refuge for Catholics.
Mayflower Compact – Agreement for self-government signed by Pilgrims (1620).
Plymouth – Colony founded by Pilgrims; absorbed by Massachusetts Bay.
Massachusetts Bay Colony – Founded by Puritans; “City on a Hill.”
John Winthrop – Puritan governor; gave “City on a Hill” sermon.
Roger Williams – Advocated religious freedom; founded Rhode Island.
Anne Hutchinson – Banished Puritan dissenter; challenged church authority.
Thomas Hooker – Founded Connecticut; promoted broader voting rights.
Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) – Pacifist sect; emphasized equality; founded Pennsylvania.
William Penn – Quaker founder of Pennsylvania.
James Oglethorpe – Founded Georgia as debtor colony and buffer against Spain.
Powhatan Confederacy – Native group near Jamestown; initially traded, later fought settlers.
Nathaniel Bacon – Led Bacon’s Rebellion against Virginia elite.
Pequot War (1636–1638) – New England colonists annihilated Pequot tribe.
King Philip’s War (1675–76) – Devastating Native uprising led by Metacom (King Philip).
Iroquois League – Confederation of Native tribes in New York; powerful in diplomacy.
Algonquians – Native peoples of Eastern Woodlands; often conflicted with English.
Indentured servants – Migrants working for passage; eventually replaced by slavery.
Middle Passage – Transatlantic voyage bringing enslaved Africans.
“Triangular trade” – Exchange of rum, slaves, and sugar between New England, Africa, Caribbean.
Slave codes – Colonial laws restricting enslaved peoples’ rights.
Stono Rebellion (1739) – Largest slave revolt in colonial America (South Carolina).
Jonathan Edwards – Great Awakening preacher; “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”
George Whitefield – Evangelical preacher; spread Great Awakening across colonies.
Coureurs des bois – French fur traders living among Natives.
Mercantilism – Economic policy favoring exports, colonies exist for mother country.
Salutary neglect – Britain’s lax enforcement of colonial laws, allowing self-rule.
Navigation Acts – Laws regulating colonial trade to benefit England.
Glorious Revolution (1688) – Overthrow of James II; strengthened Parliament.
John Locke – Enlightenment thinker; natural rights and social contract.
Albany Plan of Union (1754) – Proposed colonial unity against French/Native threats; not adopted.
Treaty of Paris (1763) – Ended French and Indian War; Britain gained territory.
Pontiac’s Rebellion (1763) – Native uprising against British forts/settlers.
Royal Proclamation of 1763 – Banned settlement west of Appalachians.
George Grenville – British PM; introduced Sugar and Stamp Acts.
Sugar Act (1764) – Tax on sugar imports; indirect tax.
Currency Act (1764) – Restricted colonial paper money.
Quartering Act (1765) – Required colonists to house British soldiers.
Stamp Act (1765) – Direct tax on paper goods; sparked protests.
Virtual representation – British claim that Parliament represented all subjects, even without colonists voting.
Sons of Liberty – Radical group resisting taxes; organized boycotts and protests.
Daughters of Liberty – Women supporting boycotts and homemade goods.
Nonimportation agreements – Colonial boycotts of British goods.
Townshend Acts (1767) – Taxes on imports like glass, lead, paper, tea.
Loyalists – Colonists loyal to Britain.
Patriots – Colonists favoring independence.
Boston Massacre (1770) – British troops fired on crowd; propaganda victory for Patriots.
Samuel Adams – Patriot leader; organized resistance.
Committee of Correspondence – Colonial network for communication and resistance.
Boston Tea Party (1773) – Protest against Tea Act; colonists dumped tea.
Coercive Acts (1774) – British response to Tea Party; closed Boston Harbor, restricted self-rule.
First Continental Congress (1774) – Meeting of colonies to resist Coercive Acts.
Patrick Henry – “Give me liberty or give me death” speech; Patriot leader.
Lexington and Concord (1775) – First battles of Revolution.
Minutemen – Colonial militia ready on short notice.
Battle of Bunker Hill (1775) – Early battle showing colonial resolve.
Common Sense (1776) – Pamphlet by Thomas Paine urging independence.
Declaration of Independence (1776) – Document asserting colonial independence.
Continental Army – Army led by George Washington against Britain.
Battle of Saratoga (1777) – Turning point; led to French alliance.
Valley Forge (1777–78) – Harsh winter encampment; army emerged stronger.
Gen. Charles Cornwallis – British general defeated at Yorktown.
Battle of King’s Mountain (1780) – Patriot victory in South.
Battle of Cowpens (1781) – Key southern Patriot victory.
Battle of Yorktown (1781) – Final major battle; British surrendered.
Treaty of Paris (1783) – Ended Revolutionary War; recognized U.S. independence.
Republican ideology – Emphasized civic virtue, common good, liberty.
State constitutions – Written documents establishing republican governments in states.
Articles of Confederation (1781) – First U.S. government; weak central authority.
Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom (1786) – Jefferson’s law guaranteeing religious freedom.