Early American Civilizations & European Exploration (Expanded)

Aztec Civilization

  • Located in central Mexico; capital city: Tenochtitlán (population ~200,000).
  • Built on a lake with causeways and canals; extremely advanced engineering.
  • Religion included a pantheon of gods; Huitzilopochtli (sun/war god) most important.
  • Practiced large-scale human sacrifice believed necessary to keep the sun rising.
  • Conquered other tribes, which created enemies that later helped Cortés.
  • Highly centralized empire ruled by an emperor.
  • Conquered by the Spanish (1521), largely due to disease, alliances, and technological advantages.

Inca Civilization

  • Located in the Andes Mountains (Peru, Ecuador, Chile).
  • Built terrace farming to grow crops on mountainsides.
  • No writing system; used quipu (knotted cords) for record keeping.
  • A road network over 14,000 miles long — helped govern a vast empire.
  • The Emperor was considered a living god (“Sapa Inca”).
  • Conquered by Pizarro (1532), aided by smallpox and internal conflict.

Vikings

  • Norse explorers from Scandinavia.
  • Expert sailors; created longships capable of open ocean travel.
  • Established L’Anse aux Meadows settlement in Newfoundland ~1000 CE.
  • Their arrival predates Columbus by nearly 500 years.
  • Their exploration had little long-term impact due to lack of support and conflict with Natives.

Spice Trade

  • Europe demanded spices (pepper, cinnamon, cloves) for preservation, medicine, and flavor.
  • Muslim and Italian merchants controlled trade, making spices extremely expensive.
  • Motivated European nations (Portugal, Spain) to search for a direct sea route to Asia.
  • Led to exploration of Africa’s coast and eventually the “discovery” of the Americas.

Spanish Colonization (Expanded)

Moctezuma II

  • Last Aztec emperor (1502–1520).
  • Initially welcomed Cortés, believing he might be the god Quetzalcoatl.
  • Taken hostage by the Spanish.
  • Died under mysterious circumstances during conflict between Aztecs and Spaniards.
  • His capture and death symbolized the fall of the Aztec political structure.

Hernán Cortés

  • Spanish conquistador seeking land, wealth, and glory.
  • Arrived in 1519 with around 600 soldiers.
  • Formed alliances with native groups who opposed the Aztecs.
  • Superior weaponry: steel swords, horses, guns, armor.
  • Smallpox outbreak devastated Aztecs and helped his conquest.
  • Established Spanish rule over Mexico, beginning New Spain.

New France

  • French colony covering parts of Canada, Great Lakes, Mississippi River.
  • Economy centered on fur trade, especially beaver pelts.
  • Good relations with Native tribes (Huron, Algonquin) due to trade partnerships.
  • Missionaries (Jesuits) attempted to convert Native peoples.
  • Population remained small due to harsh climate and lack of farmland.
  • Lost to Britain in the French and Indian War (1763).

Early English Colonies (Expanded)

Virginia Company

  • Joint-stock company; investors funded colonization for profit.
  • Charter granted by King James I.
  • Primary goal: find gold and return wealth to investors.
  • Struggled early because colonists weren’t prepared for hard labor.
  • Later profited from tobacco, which saved the colony financially.

Roanoke

  • First English attempt at a colony (1585, 1587).
  • Supply ships delayed due to war with Spain.
  • Colony mysteriously abandoned; “CROATOAN” carved on a tree.
  • Considered an early failure of English colonization efforts.

Jamestown (1607)

  • First permanent British colony in North America.
  • Located in swampy area with mosquitoes → malaria and disease.
  • The “Starving Time” (1609–1610) nearly wiped out the colony.
  • Tobacco, introduced by John Rolfe, became the cash crop.
  • Eventually expanded into the wealthy, plantation-based Virginia colony.

Captain John Smith

  • Took leadership in early Jamestown.
  • Forced colonists to work (“He who does not work shall not eat”).
  • Established trade with Powhatans for food.
  • Helped the colony survive before the tobacco boom.

Powhatan

  • Powerful confederacy of tribes in Virginia.
  • Provided early aid (corn) to struggling colonists.
  • Relationship worsened due to English expansion and land demands.
  • Powhatan Wars (1610–1646) led to English dominance in the region.

Columbian Exchange

  • Transfer of plants, animals, people, and diseases between Europe and the Americas.
  • To Americas: horses, cattle, pigs, wheat, sugar, smallpox.
  • To Europe: potatoes, corn, tomatoes, tobacco, chocolate.
  • Smallpox caused up to 90% Native population decline.
  • Revolutionized diet and economies globally.

Indentured Servitude

  • Laborers worked 4–7 years for passage to colonies.
  • Prominent in Virginia and Maryland before slavery expanded.
  • Many died before they could receive freedom dues.
  • Often poor young men from England.
  • Major labor force until Bacon’s Rebellion made landowners prefer African slavery.

Bacon’s Rebellion (1676)

  • Frontier farmers (mostly indentured servants) rebelled against elite rule.
  • Angered by Governor Berkeley refusing protection from Native attacks.
  • Burned Jamestown.
  • Rebellion failed but frightened elites.
  • Encouraged transition from indentured servitude to African slavery.

Transatlantic Slave Trade

  • Part of Triangular Trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
  • Europeans traded manufactured goods for enslaved Africans.
  • Millions forcibly taken; families separated.
  • Fueled plantation economies in the Americas.

Middle Passage

  • Second leg of the Triangular Trade.
  • Enslaved Africans packed tightly in ship holds.
  • Spread of disease (dysentery, smallpox) common.
  • Mortality rates 15–20%.
  • Survivors sold at auction.

Slave Codes

  • Laws regulating enslaved people’s behaviors and rights.
  • Made slavery racial and hereditary.
  • Prevented education, assembly, and movement.
  • Legalized physical punishment.
  • Protected slave owners from prosecution.

Lord Baltimore (Cecil Calvert)

  • Proprietor who founded Maryland.
  • Wanted a safe haven for English Catholics.
  • Passed Act of Toleration (1649) — protected Christian religious freedom.

James Oglethorpe

  • Founded Georgia (1733).
  • Intended colony for debtors and the poor.
  • Banned slavery and alcohol initially.
  • Eventually became similar to other southern slave colonies.

Southern Social Caste System

  • Strict social hierarchy:
    • Planter elite: dominated economy and politics.
    • Small farmers: majority of free whites.
    • Poor whites: landless laborers.
    • Enslaved Africans: bottom; no legal rights.
  • Race used to justify social divisions.
  • Wealth based on land and slave ownership.

Quakers

  • Religious Society of Friends; promoted equality and pacifism.
  • Opposed war, slavery, and violence.
  • Believed in Inner Light — a direct connection to God.

William Penn

  • Quaker who founded Pennsylvania.
  • Promised religious freedom and fair treatment of Natives.
  • Planned orderly, grid-like cities (Philadelphia).
  • Pennsylvania became prosperous and diverse.

New Netherland

  • Dutch colony (present-day NY).
  • Based on trade, especially furs.
  • Very diverse: Dutch, Germans, Africans, Jews.
  • Taken by the English in 1664 → renamed New York.

Separatists

  • Also called Pilgrims.
  • Wanted total separation from the Church of England.
  • Escaped religious persecution.
  • Believed the Church of England was too corrupt to fix.

Pilgrims

  • Separatists who settled Plymouth in 1620.
  • Signed the Mayflower Compact:
    • First self-government agreement in American history.
    • Set precedent for democracy.
  • Survived with help from the Squanto and Wampanoag tribe.

Puritans

  • Wanted to “purify” the Church of England from Catholic influence.
  • Settled Massachusetts Bay (1630).
  • Founded a strict religious society.
  • Education emphasized → Harvard founded to train ministers.
  • Believed in predestination and moral discipline.

John Winthrop

  • Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony.
  • Said colony would be a “City upon a Hill” — a model Christian community.
  • Believed in unity and moral order.
  • Influenced American exceptionalism ideology.

Antinomianism

  • Belief that faith alone (not moral behavior) was necessary for salvation.
  • Challenged Puritan ministers who emphasized strict moral codes.
  • Considered dangerous and heretical by Puritan authorities.

Anne Hutchinson

  • Puritan woman who preached antinomianism in her home.
  • Argued that ministers were teaching a “covenant of works.”
  • Challenged male authority → seen as a threat.
  • Brought to trial and banished to Rhode Island.
  • Early figure in religious freedom and women’s religious leadership.

Roger Williams

  • Minister who criticized Puritans for:
    • Not separating church and state.
    • Taking Native land unfairly.
  • Banished; founded Rhode Island, which guaranteed religious freedom.
  • One of the earliest advocates for separation of church and state.

Salem Witch Trials (1692)

  • Mass hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts.
  • Over 200 accused; 20 executed.
  • Causes:
    • Religious extremism.
    • Fear of outsiders.
    • Economic tensions.
    • Teenage accusations.
  • Showed dangers of theocratic rule and mob panic.

King Philip’s War (1675)

  • Native leader Metacom (“King Philip”) united tribes against English colonists.
  • One of the bloodiest conflicts per capita in American history.
  • Destroyed many towns but ended Native resistance in New England.
  • Aftermath:
    • Metacom killed.
    • Thousands of Natives sold into slavery.
    • English took more land.

Pueblo Revolt (1680)

  • Led by Native leader Popé in New Mexico.
  • Only successful large-scale Native uprising against colonizers.
  • Drove Spanish out for 12 years.
  • Spanish later returned but were more tolerant toward Pueblo religion.

Stono Rebellion (1739)

  • Largest slave rebellion in colonial America.
  • Took place in South Carolina.
  • Slaves tried to march to Spanish Florida where freedom was promised.
  • Rebellion crushed by militia.
  • Led to much stricter slave codes.

First Great Awakening (1730s–1740s)

  • Religious revival movement throughout colonies.
  • Preached emotional connection to God, not strict rituals.
  • Key preachers:
    • Jonathan Edwards (“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”).
    • George Whitefield (traveling evangelist).
  • Effects:
    • Challenged church authority.
    • Encouraged individualism → influenced Revolutionary thinking.
    • New colleges founded (Princeton, Dartmouth).
    • United colonies through shared experience.

Mercantilism

  • Economic theory: colonies exist to benefit the mother country.
  • England wanted:
    • Raw materials from colonies.
    • Colonies to buy only British goods.
  • Colonists disliked restrictions and being used for profit.
  • Built long-term resentment toward England.
  • Required colonial trade to:
    • Use English ships.
    • Pass through English ports.
    • Trade certain goods (tobacco, sugar) only with England.
  • Encouraged smuggling and colonial frustration.
  • Early evidence of growing conflict between colonies and England.

French and Indian War (1754–1763)

  • War between Britain & the colonies vs. France & Native allies.
  • Britain won, gaining huge amounts of North American territory.
  • Left Britain with massive war debt, leading them to tax the colonies.
  • Marked the beginning of tension between Britain and the colonists.

William Pitt

  • British minister who funded and directed the war effort.
  • Spent large amounts of money on troops and supplies → helped Britain win.
  • His spending contributed to the debt that Parliament later tried to recover from colonists.

Battle of Québec (1759)

  • Major British victory in the French and Indian War.
  • Capturing Québec crippled French control in Canada.
  • Turning point that led to Britain winning the entire war.

Proclamation Act of 1763

  • Forbade colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains.
  • Britain wanted to prevent Native conflicts and control expansion.
  • Angered colonists who wanted to use the land they fought for.

Stamp Act (1765)

  • First direct tax on colonists (required stamps on paper goods).
  • Sparked “No taxation without representation” protests.
  • Led to boycotts and the Sons of Liberty.
  • Repealed in 1766.

Declaratory Act (1766)

  • Passed the same day the Stamp Act was repealed.
  • Stated that Parliament had full authority over the colonies.
  • Colonists feared this meant more taxes would follow.

Townshend Duties (1767)

  • Taxes on imported goods like glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea.
  • Britain claimed the money would pay colonial governors.
  • Colonists boycotted British goods in protest.
  • Most taxes were eventually repealed, except the tax on tea.

Boston Massacre (1770)

  • Conflict between British soldiers and colonists in Boston.
  • Tensions rose because soldiers were enforcing unpopular taxes.
  • Colonists threw snowballs and insults; soldiers fired into the crowd.
  • Five colonists were killed, including Crispus Attucks.
  • Used by Patriots as propaganda to fuel anti-British anger.

John Adams

  • Massachusetts lawyer and future 2nd U.S. President.
  • Believed in rule of law and fair trials.
  • Defended the British soldiers after the Boston Massacre to show that justice matters.
  • Early leader in the independence movement; helped draft the Declaration of Independence.
  • Key figure in convincing Congress to push for independence.

Boston Tea Party (1773)

  • Protest by the Sons of Liberty against the British Tea Act.
  • Colonists disguised as Mohawk Indians dumped 342 chests of British tea into Boston Harbor.
  • Reaction to Britain granting the East India Company a monopoly on tea sales.
  • Symbolic act of defiance against taxation without representation.
  • Led directly to the Coercive (Intolerable) Acts.

Coercive (Intolerable) Acts (1774)

  • British punishment for the Boston Tea Party.
  • Boston Port Act: closed Boston Harbor until tea was paid for.
  • Massachusetts Government Act: reduced colonial self-government.
  • Quartering Act: allowed soldiers to be housed in private homes.
  • Administration of Justice Act: British officials tried in Britain, not colonies.
  • Unified colonies against Britain because the laws were extremely harsh.

First Continental Congress (1774)

  • Delegates from 12 colonies (not Georgia) met in Philadelphia.
  • Discussed how to respond to the Intolerable Acts.
  • Agreed to a boycott of British goods.
  • Formed the Continental Association to enforce boycotts.
  • Sent a petition to King George asking for rights.
  • First major coordinated colonial response to Britain.

Battles of Lexington and Concord (1775)

  • First battles of the American Revolutionary War.
  • British attempted to seize colonial weapons in Concord.
  • “Shot heard ’round the world” — first gunfire of the Revolution.
  • Minutemen forced British troops back to Boston.
  • Marked the official outbreak of armed conflict.

Second Continental Congress (1775)

  • Met after Lexington and Concord.
  • Appointed George Washington commander of the Continental Army.
  • Managed war effort.
  • Created the Olive Branch Petition (last attempt at peace).
  • Eventually approved the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

Thomas Paine

  • Wrote Common Sense, pushing colonists to support independence.
  • Attacked monarchy and argued for republican government.
  • Influenced public opinion toward revolution.
  • Also wrote American Crisis to inspire soldiers.

Battle of Saratoga (1777)

  • Turning point of the war.
  • American victory convinced France to become an ally.
  • Boosted morale and credibility of the Continental Army.

Valley Forge (1777–1778)

  • Winter encampment of Washington’s army.
  • Soldiers suffered from cold, hunger, and disease.
  • Baron von Steuben trained troops and created discipline.
  • Army emerged stronger and more organized.

Molly Pitcher

  • Nickname for women who helped soldiers on the battlefield.
  • Most famous: Mary Ludwig Hays.
  • Carried water to cool cannons and helped fire a cannon when her husband fell.
  • Symbol of women’s contributions to the Revolution.

Republican Motherhood

  • Belief that women should educate children to be good citizens.
  • Increased respect for women’s roles in the new nation.
  • Led to expanded female education.
  • Still kept women out of formal politics.

Lord Dunmore

  • Royal governor of Virginia.
  • Offered freedom to enslaved people who joined the British army.
  • Encouraged thousands of enslaved people to escape.
  • Angered southern colonists and pushed them toward revolution.

Francis Marion (“Swamp Fox”)

  • Patriot guerrilla fighter from South Carolina.
  • Used hit-and-run tactics in swamps.
  • Harassed British troops and disrupted supply lines.
  • Became a folk hero of the Revolution.

Battle of Yorktown (1781)

  • Last major battle of the Revolutionary War.
  • American and French forces trapped Cornwallis.
  • British surrendered.
  • Led to the Treaty of Paris (1783).

Articles of Confederation (1781–1789)

  • First U.S. constitution.
  • Weak central government: no power to tax or regulate trade.
  • Could not enforce laws or raise a strong army.
  • Strength: organized western lands (Northwest Ordinance).
  • Weaknesses led to the Constitutional Convention.

Shays’s Rebellion (1786–1787)

  • Rebellion by Massachusetts farmers angry over taxes and debt.
  • Led by Daniel Shays.
  • Exposed weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
  • Motivated leaders to revise the government → Constitutional Convention.

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

  • Created a system for adding new states.
  • Guaranteed civil liberties in new territories.
  • Banned slavery in the Northwest Territory.
  • Established public schools.
  • Best achievement of the Articles of Confederation.

Eli Whitney

  • Invented the cotton gin → massive expansion of slavery.
  • Created interchangeable parts → early industrialization.

Constitutional Convention of 1787

  • Delegates met in Philadelphia to revise Articles, but wrote a new Constitution.
  • Created a stronger federal government.
  • Established three branches: Legislative, Executive, Judicial.
  • Debated representation, slavery, presidency.
  • Resulted in compromises like the Great Compromise.

Great (Connecticut) Compromise

  • Solved dispute between large & small states.
  • Created a bicameral legislature:
    • House of Representatives → population.
    • Senate → 2 senators per state.
  • Balanced interests of big and small states.

Three-Fifths Compromise

  • Determined how enslaved people counted for representation.
  • Each enslaved person counted as 3/5 of a person.
  • Increased southern political power.
  • Major debate over slavery during Constitution writing.

James Madison

  • “Father of the Constitution.”
  • Took notes, proposed structure, led debates.
  • Wrote many Federalist Papers.
  • Later became the 4th President.
  • Introduced the Bill of Rights.

The Federalist Papers

  • Essays written by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay.
  • Argued in favor of ratifying the Constitution.
  • Explained how the new government would work.
  • Tried to convince Anti-Federalists the federal government would not be too powerful.

Bill of Rights (1791)

  • First ten amendments to the Constitution.
  • Protect individual rights and limit government power.
  • Includes freedoms of speech, religion, press, trial rights, and state powers.
  • Added to gain support from Anti-Federalists.