Exam 1 Prep: Vocabulary Flashcards (Chapters 2–4)

Exam Scope and Materials

• Exam one covers chapters 2, 3, and 4. Chapter 1 is not on the first exam. A prior extra-credit quiz on chapters 1–2 was meant to familiarize you with Chapter 2 concepts.

• The provided lecture notes cover chapters 3 and 4 and are intended to prepare you for the first exam. Focus on the themes, events, and interpretations summarized below.

• The review includes both South and North American colonization experiences, with emphasis on political structures, labor systems, Native American agency, religious influence, and Atlantic World connections.

Colonization & Conflict in the South (1600–1750)

• Spain’s North American Colonies

  • Expansion into what is now Florida and the American Southwest: establishment of military posts and cattle ranches.

  • Missions & Conversion: Franciscan priests ran missions to convert Native peoples to Catholicism and integrate them as farmers and artisans.

  • Resistance & Revolt: Native groups resisted colonial encroachment; Pueblo Revolt of $1680$ in New Mexico was the most successful uprising, temporarily forcing Spanish retreat.

• English Chesapeake Colonies

  • Powhatan Confederacy: A powerful alliance that initially welcomed English newcomers, trading weapons and goods to strengthen its position.

  • Early Struggles: English settlers faced disease, famine, and leadership conflicts; Powhatan could have destroyed them but restrained themselves.

  • Tobacco Boom: After Powhatan’s death, tobacco farming spurred economic growth but increased land pressures and Native conflicts.

  • 1622 Uprising: A heavy-loss English–Indian war that contributed to the Virginia Company’s collapse; Virginia subsequently became a royal colony.

• Maryland’s Founding

  • A proprietary colony under the Calverts, competing with Virginia’s tobacco economy and contributing to regional tension.

• Crisis and Rebellion

  • Navigation Acts (the $1660s$): Tightened English control of colonial trade, deepening local economic rivalries.

  • Social Tensions: Freed servants and small planters faced fewer opportunities; religious disputes and renewed Indian conflicts fueled unrest.

  • Rebellions:

  • Bacon’s Rebellion (Virginia, $1676$): Landless men and frontier settlers rose against colonial elites and Indian policy.

  • Coode’s Rebellion (Maryland): Political and religious struggle against proprietary rule.

• Shift to African Slavery

  • Labor Transition: Falling numbers of indentured servants and the profitability of slavery led to a transition from servitude to African slavery as the dominant labor system.

  • Impact: White society unified across class and religion in defense of racial hierarchy, forming a “gentry” elite and a deferential small planter class.

• Caribbean & the Carolinas

  • West Indies Model: Barbados developed a booming sugar economy with harsh slave laws; it became Britain’s most valuable American colony.

  • Carolina Settlement: Many settlers came from Barbados, bringing the plantation model.

  • South Carolina’s Rice Economy: Wealthy, but with a Black majority and chronic political disputes.

  • Yamasee War ($1715$): A powerful Indian alliance nearly destroyed the colony; victory came with Cherokee allies.

  • Georgia’s Founding: Created as a buffer against Spanish Florida; developed a rice-based, slave-based economy similar to other southern colonies.

• Key Interpretive Themes

  • Plantation economies tied southern colonies closely to England but generated persistent white inequality.

  • The spread of racial slavery helped ease class tensions among whites while deepening African oppression.

  • Native Americans were active agents, forming alliances and strategies rather than passive victims.

Colonization & Conflict in the North (1600–1700)

• French & Dutch in North America

  • French Presence: Samuel de Champlain built alliances with the Hurons, Montagnais, and Algonquins; beaver trade drove French settlement.

  • Jesuit Missions: Catholic missions sought conversions; this religious push contributed to internal Huron divisions.

  • Dutch Settlements: Founded New Amsterdam (Manhattan); allied with the Iroquois, supplying weapons and helping dominate regional trade.

  • Beaver Wars: Iroquois expansion and warfare disrupted French trading networks and weakened Huron power.

  • Result: New France remained a relatively small, Catholic colony, but established a lasting Catholic presence in North America.

• Puritan New England

  • Pilgrims (Separatists): Fled England for the Netherlands, then founded Plymouth in $1620$ for religious freedom.

  • Massachusetts Bay ($1630$): Led by John Winthrop, wealthier Puritans sought to reform the Church of England and create a “city upon a hill.”

  • Society & Order: Rapid population growth, large patriarchal families, subsistence farming, and relatively equal land distribution promoted stability and self-government at town and colony levels.

• Conflicts & Dissent

  • Religious Debates: Fierce doctrinal disputes led to exile of dissenters like Anne Hutchinson and Roger Williams.

  • Indian Wars: Pequot War ($1637$) and Metacom’s War (King Philip’s War) ($1675–76$) highlighted violent clashes over land and settlement.

• The Middle Colonies

  • Ethnic & Religious Diversity: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware featured Dutch, English, Huguenots, Jews, Lutherans, and others.

  • Pennsylvania’s Quakers: Practiced religious tolerance and maintained peaceful relations with the Lenni Lenape (Delawares) for decades.

  • Politics: Proprietary governments produced factional conflicts but also encouraged pluralism and representative ideas.

• English Imperial Control

  • Centralization Attempts: Charles II and James II attempted to tighten imperial control (e.g., Dominion of New England).

  • Glorious Revolution ($1688$): James II overthrown; William and Mary came to power. Dominion collapsed and England backed away from strict centralized administration for decades.

• Analytical Themes

  • Religion’s Role: Puritanism shaped early New England society and politics, influencing later movements like the Great Awakenings.

  • Demographic Contrast: Northern colonies grew through family migration and had healthier climates, producing stability unlike the volatile South.

  • Middle Colonies as a Prototype: Their ethnic pluralism, commercial agriculture, and political competition foreshadowed the diverse society of the later United States.

Key Themes for Analysis (Across Regions)

• Religion’s influence: Puritan ideals in the North versus Catholic missions in the South and French Catholic influence in New France.

• Demography and climate: Healthier northern climates supported stable family-based growth; southern climates and economies fostered volatility and slave-based labor.

• Native Agency: Powhatan diplomacy, Iroquois strategy, and Pueblo resistance show Native peoples actively shaped events.

• Atlantic World connections: Sugar and tobacco linked colonies to European markets and global trade networks.

• Labor systems: Indentured servitude transitions to African slavery, shaping social and political hierarchies.

• Middle Colonies as a microcosm: Ethnic and religious diversity, religious tolerance, and proto-democratic tendencies foreshadow later American pluralism.

Teaching & Discussion Pointers

• Compare southern and northern colonies: Why did the South become a slave-based plantation society while the North developed small farms and religious towns?

• Explore Native American agency: Powhatan diplomacy, Iroquois strategies, and Indian alliances shaped regional power dynamics.

• Highlight the Atlantic World context: How sugar, tobacco, and European markets connected colonies to global trade.

• Discuss religious influence: Puritan ideals in New England versus Catholic missions in New France and Spanish territories.

Lecture Notes Recap (Review Emphasis)

• Old Worlds, New Worlds (1400–1600): European nation-states expand; mercantilist aims rise; Protestant Reformation reshapes settlement motives.

• Colonization & Conflict in the South (1600–1750): Spanish, English, and French rivalries, mission systems, slave labor, and colonial rebellions shape early America.

• Colonization & Conflict in the North (1600–1700): Beavers, beaver wars, Puritan governance, religious dissent, and the growth of pluralism and early forms of colonial self-government.

• Analytical Takeaways: Religion, demographics, Native agency, labor systems, and regional comparisons underpin later American developments.

Practice Quiz (Chapters 3–4) – Not graded; use to prepare for the exam

• 1. After the Glorious Revolution, English efforts to exercise closer control over the North American colonies a. extended merely to putting teeth into commercial regulations to maximize profits from colonial trade. b. continued to increase throughout the 1700s, eliciting growing American resistance. c. ended, as the new monarchy sought to consolidate its power at home. d. grew substantially but subtly, so that British rule was real, though not apparent.

• 2. Which of the following was responsible for the drastic decrease in the Pueblo population between 1620 and 1680? a. epidemics b. locust infestations c. severe drought d. All of these answers are correct.

• 3. In an effort to ensure that his American colonies contributed to England's prosperity, King Charles II initiated a series of regulations known as the a. mercantile regulations. b. Navigation Acts. c. tariff and tax laws. d. Neutrality Acts.

• 4. The principal institution used by the Spanish to incorporate Native Americans into colonial society was the a. presidio. b. hacienda. c. vaquero. d. mission.

• 5. British authorities based their colonial trade policies, as embodied in the Navigation Acts, on the theory of a. mercantilism: ensuring self-sufficiency by monopolizing trade. b. industrialism: promoting English industrial development. c. imperialism: keeping the American colonies weak and dependent. d. developmentalism: stimulating colonial economic diversification.

• 6. This chapter tells the story of the Powhatan confederacy to make the point that a. Native Americans initially tolerated the first English settlers as allies against rival nations, but the cultivation of tobacco led to white land hunger that would destroy Native American power. b. the initial English settlements at Virginia survived only because of generous assistance from local Native American nations. c. Powhatan had no strategy to deal with the white settlers, so he tried in vain to organize an alliance to resist the English. d. since the English colony was so self-sufficient, they felt no need to cultivate friendly relations with the few scattered groups in the Chesapeake region.

• 7. What created the conditions of unrest that led to local rebellions in the Chesapeake? a. religious persecution b. a sharp rise in the death rate c. political oppression d. diminishing economic opportunity

• 8. Which of the following accurately describes New France in 1700? a. Most new immigrants to New France were Protestant. b. The colonial population of New France was the largest in the New World. c. The colonial population of New France had a hostile relationship with the native population. d. Most immigrants to New France eventually returned to Europe.

• 9. Which of the following statements is NOT true of the French colonizing efforts in North America? a. They were aggressive early adventurers in the North. b. They targeted the St. Lawrence River valley for their first settlements. c. They were hampered because of relatively hostile relations with indigenous peoples. d. The religious zeal of a renewed Catholicism spurred their colonizing efforts.

10. After 1714, which of the following constituted the majority of the population of North America? a. British b. French c. Spanish d. Native Americans

11. Of the following, which is the most likely reason that Maryland granted religious toleration? a. Its Catholic founders wished to provide a haven for Catholics. b. Its Puritan founders wished to break the power of the Anglican state church. c. Its merchant founders needed a gimmick to lure settlers away from Virginia. d. Its idealistic founders sought a virtuous and egalitarian utopia for the worthy poor of all faiths.

12. As compared to the English Puritans who settled New England, French settlers were a. not at all religious. b. also all Protestant. c. few in number. d. less likely to return to Europe.

13. The Puritan belief that God had ordained the outcome of history and the eternal fate of every human was known as a. divine sovereign grace. b. the Protestant Reformation. c. the calling to conversion. d. predestination.

14. Who called for the Pueblo Revolt, the most successful Pan-Native American uprising in North American history? a. Powhatan b. Popé c. Pamunkey d. Acoma

15. Which of the following best describes a "headright"? a. the right of a free settler or sponsor of immigrants to receive 50 acres per person or head b. the recognized right of the gentry class to rule c. the right to claim lands up to a river’s headwaters under European diplomacy d. the absolute property right of a head of household over his family and enslaved people

16. The first colonial endeavor of the Quaker sect focused on which colony that was temporarily split in two? a. Connecticut b. New Jersey c. Delaware d. Carolina

17. The series of conflicts in which Iroquois raiders sought new hunting grounds and captives were known as a. the Indian Slave Wars. b. the Beaver Wars. c. Metacom's War. d. the Pequot Wars.

18. The "Mayflower Compact" of the Separatists was a. a basis for government devised without a legal basis in English law. b. an agreement to organize a colony, as provided in their original charter. c. a small subgroup that determined on shipboard that pastors would hold ultimate authority in the colony. d. a small, efficient floral garden intended to show that God's creation in Eden was a model for society.

19. The English Civil War of the mid-1600s resulted in the execution of a. Charles I; Charles II. b. Charles I; Oliver Cromwell. c. Parliament; Oliver Cromwell. d. Parliament; Charles II.

20. At one time or another all of the following were objectives of the French effort in North America, EXCEPT a. establishing a permanent settlement. b. the quest for profits through the fur trade. c. finding a place to resettle dissident French Protestants. d. converting the Native Americans to Catholicism.

• ## Quick References & Key Terms (glossary-style recap)

• Mercantilism: Britain used colonies to enrich the mother country through controlled trade.

• Religion: Catholic missions, Jesuit efforts, Puritan reforms, and Quaker tolerance shaped motives and politics.

• Native Agency: Powhatan diplomacy, Iroquois Beaver Wars, Pueblo Revolt, and Popé’s leadership show Native peoples actively shaping events.

• Labor Systems: Transition from indentured servitude to African slavery, especially in the South and Caribbean.

• Population note (1714): Native Americans still constituted a majority in North America at that time.

• Puritan city upon a hill; Rosy communal ideals in New England contrasted with plantation economies in the South.

• Headright: $50 ext{ acres per person}$ awarded to settlers or sponsors.

• Dominion of New England and Glorious Revolution: The drive toward centralized control was reversed after $1688$ for several decades.

• Plymouth & Massachusetts Bay: Plymouth ($1620$) founded by Separatists; Massachusetts Bay ($1630$) built around Puritan reform and self-government.

• Beaver Wars: Iroquois expansion disrupted French trade and reshaped regional power.

• Yamasee War: A major conflict in the Carolina region ($1715$) influenced southern colonial development.

• Mayflower Compact: An early, non-legal framework for self-government in the Plymouth colony.

If you’d like, I can tailor these notes into a shorter crib-sheet or pull out a crammed flashcard-style version focused on key dates, people, and terms.