colonizing the Western World
Christopher Columbus: Italian explorer, sailed under the Spanish flag, credited with discovering America
Amerigo Vespucci: Italian explorer, sailed under the Portuguese flag
Juan Ponce de Leon: Spanish explorer looking for the Fountain of Youth explores Florida
Columbian Exchange: trading of goods between the old and new world; disease slaves, crops, . . .
Middle Passage: refers to the time slaves spent on the ship in the Atlantic during the slave trade
Slavery in the colonies: slavery rose as tobacco became more and more demanded and resulted in the breakup of many families
Roanoke Colony: referred to as the lost colony
Jamestown: first permanent English settlement in new world
Plymouth: first European settlement in New England
Pilgrims: Puritans that sailed to Plymouth to escape Religious persecution in England
Mayflower: the ship the Pilgrims came on
Pocahontas: daughter of Powhatan chief, tries to make peace between the two sides, marries John Rolfe
Bacon’s Rebellion: rebellion led by Nathaniel Bacon against Virginia Governor William Berkly for how he ran the colony
Roger Williams: left Massachusetts colony and founded Rhode Island
Virginia House of Burgesses: government style of Virginia, models Congress
Mayflower Compact: document that set up government in Massachusetts
New Netherlands: colonies of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Delaware that were all owned by the Dutch
The 13 Colonies: ruled by the British - New England, Middle, Southern
Massachusetts (Founding, Purpose): 1620, Puritans/Pilgrims, religious tolerance
Pennsylvania (Founding, Purpose): 1682, William Penn, religious freedom for Quakers, Latin for woodlands
Delaware (Founding, Purpose): originally Swedish then Dutch and finally British in 1664
Maryland (Founding, Purpose): 1633, Lord Baltimore, religious freedom for Catholics, named after Queen Henrietta Maria
Virginia (Founding, Purpose): 1607, John Smith and John Rolfe, founded at Jamestown, powhatans Wars, named for Elizabeth I (Virgin Queen)
Georgia (Founding, Purpose): 1732, James Oglethorpe, haven for debtors, buffer colony to protect from Spanish Florida
John Winthrop: first governor of Massachusetts
John Smith: founder/settler of Jamestown
John Rolfe: married Pocahontas
tobacco: cash crop of the colonies
Indentured Servitude: pay off debts by working for a master (sort of like slavery); after a certain amount of time, they gain their freedom
III. The French and Indian War
fought between Britain, France, and the Natives
fought over the Ohio River Valley
British won, expelling France from the New World
Proclamation of 1763: forbade any settlement by colonists west of the Appalachian Mountains; went against the bRitish policy of Salutary Neglect
what the countries gained after French and Indian War - Britain gained control of Canada and most of the United States
new territory gained as a result of the French and Indian War - British control of the Ohio River Valley
IV. The American Revolution
1775-1781 fighting, 1783 treaty
fought over taxes and the tyrannical rise of the British Government
US gained their independence
King George III: King of England that raises the taxes on the colonists
Colonial Protests: boycotting, Boston Tea Party
British advantages -
superior army
weaponry
money
manpower
“No taxation without representation”: rallying cry of the colonist against Britain
Sons of Liberty: group that planned and carried out the Boston Tea Party
Boston Massacre: a street brawl between the American colonists and the British soldiers
Boston Tea Party: American colonists frustrated at BRitain for imposing taxation without representation; dumped 342 chests of tea imported by the British East India COmpany into Boston harbor
Quartering Act: all colonists must quarter (house) British soldiers
Stamp Act: a tax on newspaper and legal and commercial documents
Declaratory Act: Parliament has the power to pass laws on the colonies in all cases whatsoever
Townshend Act: tax on British goods including - paint, paper, lead, glass, and tea
Tea Act: created a monopoly in the American colonies for tea; it allowed the British East INdia Company to sell its tea at a lower price charged by colonial competitors
Intolerable Acts: 4 laws passed on Boston after the Boston Tea Party -
closed the port/harbor of Boston to all trade
ordered a full regiment of British troops to be garrisoned (stationed) within Boston
ordered that any British soldier charged with a crime would be returned to England for trial
forbade public assemblies of colonists
John Dickinson: dominated talks at the First Continental Congress
Shot heard round the World: first shot of the revolution at Lexington
Lexington and Concord: the first battles of the revolution, Lexington was a win for the British, Concord was a win for the colonists; the British were on their way to seize guns and ammunition from Concord
Green Mountain Boys: Vermont militia that aided in the taking of Fort Ticonderoga
Siege of Boston: the entrapment of British forces in Boston
George Washington: Commander of the Continental Army
Battle of Bunker Hill: a win for the British at Breed’s Hill but showed the colonists could fight; “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes.”
Olive Branch Petition: final attempt by colonists to avoid going to war with Britain; colonists pledged their loyalty to the crown
Thomas Paine: author of Common Sense and the Crisis
Common Sense: was written by Thomas Paine; it proclaimed that the time had come to declare independence from England
Declaration of Independence: July 4, 1776; declares independence from Britain; act of treason; all men are created equal; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, inspired by John Locke and Thomas Paine
Ben Franklin: one of the members of the Declaration committee that was one of the biggest advocates for independence
Committee members: Adams, Franklin, Jefferson, Livingston, Sherman
Valley Forge: winter of 1777-1778; Washington’s militia becomes a professional army
Baron Von Steuben: Prussian commander that trained the American soldiers at Valley Forge
Washington Crosses the Delaware: on Christmas night 1776 on way to Trenton
Battle of Trenton: sunrise attack against the Hessians, win for the colonists, convince soldiers to reenlist
Hessians: German mercenaries
Battle of Monmouth: a stalemate or a tie, after the botched attack by Charles Lee
Battle of Saratoga: turning point of the war, France and Spain join the colonists in fight against British
Guerilla Warfare: hit and run tactics
Battle of Yorktown: the final battle of the war; the British were surrounded by French and Continental groups; Washington was helped by Lafayette and Rochambeau
Treaty of Paris: officially ends the war in 1783, two years after the battle of Yorktown, Article 1 grants freedom and independent America
V. Creating a New Nation
republic: a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch
Federalism: government style in which one area is governed by at least 2 sets of government (ie state and federal governments)
Articles of Confederation: first constitution of the US; STATES had more power
Shays’ Rebellion: armed uprising in Western Massachusetts in opposition to a debt crisis among the citizenry and the state government’s increased efforts to collect taxes both on individuals and their trades; showed the weakness of the Articles of Confederation
Constitutional Convention: was intended to revise the league of states and first system of government under the Articles of Confederation; resulted in a new Constitution
checks and balances: process of keeping one branch of government from becoming too powerful
Virginia Plan: proposed a very powerful bicameral (2 house) legislature; representation in both houses of the legislature would be determined proportionately (by population); big states benefited from this plan
New Jersey Plan: closer to the initial call for the Convention - drafting amendments to the Articles of Confederation to fix the problems in it; under the New Jersey, the existing continental congress would remain, but it would be granted new powers, such as the power to levy taxes and force their collection; benefited smaller states
ratify: sign or give formal consent to (a treaty, contract, or agreement), making it officially valid
compromise: an agreement or a settlement of a dispute that is reached by each side making concessions
The Great Compromise: created by Roger Sherman; bicameral legislature; upper house equal representation, lower house representation based on population
Three-Fifths Compromise: question on whether slaves should count towards population; the compromise solution was to count three out of every five slaves as people for this purpose
Federalists: believed in the Constitution and a strong central government (ie John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay)
Anti-Federalists: opposed ratification of constitution (ie Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee)
Federalist Paper: written by Hamilton, Madison, an Jay to advocate for the ratification of the Constitution
James Madison: father of the Constitution, as he wrote the Bill of Rights to appease Anti-Federalists
Bill of Rights: first ten amendments; basic rights of the people
The First Amendment: freedom of speech, religion, press, petition, and assembly
The Second Amendment: right to bear arms
The Fourth Amendment: unreasonable searches and seizures without probable cause or warrant
The Eighth Amendment: no cruel or unusual punishment
The Thirteenth Amendment: abolishes slavery
The Nineteenth Amendment: gave women the right to vote
Article I: set up Legislative branch (Congress)
House of Representatives: based on population; led by the Speaker of the House (Mike Johnson)
Senate: equal representation; led by the President pro tempore if the VP is not available
how does a bill become a law - starts in either house -> goes through committee -> voted on floor (simple majority) -> goes to other house for simple majority vote -> president signs or vetoes bill
Article II: set up Executive branch
cabinet: Presidential advisors on different aspects
Positions in the Cabinet: Secretary of State, Defense, Treasure, Education, Interior, Attorney General
The Electoral College: the body that chooses the President and VP every 4 years
how many electoral votes are needed to win the election - 270
how is it determined how many electoral votes a state gets - number of members in the House + number of senator (= to that state’s members of Congress)
Article III: set up Judicial branch, appointed by the President
Judicial Review: the ability of a court to examine and decide if a statute, treaty, or administrative regulation contradicts or violates the provisions of existing law, a State Constitution, or ultimately the United States Constitution; main power of the 9 justices of the Supreme Court
current Chief Justice - John Roberts
first state to ratify the Constitution? - Delaware
first President and VP? - George Washington and John Adams
VI. Geography
Great Lakes: HOMES - Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior
Key Rivers -
Rio Grande (separates the US from Mexico)
Mississippi (separates the West from the East)
Colorado (flows through the Grand Canyon)
Delaware (separates NJ from PA)
Atlantic and Pacific Ocean: Atlantic (east), Pacific (west)
Regions of the US -
New England
Mid-Atlantic
Southwest
Great Lakes
Midwest
Southwest
West
Appalachian and Rocky Mountains: Appalachian (east), Rocky (west)
location of states -
New Jersey - Mid-Atlantic
California - West
Texas - Southwest
Pennsylvania - Mid-Atlantic
Utah - West
Missouri - Midwest
Michigan - Great Lakes
Oklahoma - South West
Minnesota - Great Lakes
North Carolina - Southeast
Oregon - West
Louisiana - Southeast
Maine - New England
Florida - Southeast
Nebraska - Midwest
Nevada - West
Ohio - Great Lakes
History Midterm Study Guide
colonizing the Western World
Christopher Columbus: Italian explorer, sailed under the Spanish flag, credited with discovering America
Amerigo Vespucci: Italian explorer, sailed under the Portuguese flag
Juan Ponce de Leon: Spanish explorer looking for the Fountain of Youth explores Florida
Columbian Exchange: trading of goods between the old and new world; disease slaves, crops, . . .
Middle Passage: refers to the time slaves spent on the ship in the Atlantic during the slave trade
Slavery in the colonies: slavery rose as tobacco became more and more demanded and resulted in the breakup of many families
Roanoke Colony: referred to as the lost colony
Jamestown: first permanent English settlement in new world
Plymouth: first European settlement in New England
Pilgrims: Puritans that sailed to Plymouth to escape Religious persecution in England
Mayflower: the ship the Pilgrims came on
Pocahontas: daughter of Powhatan chief, tries to make peace between the two sides, marries John Rolfe
Bacon’s Rebellion: rebellion led by Nathaniel Bacon against Virginia Governor William Berkly for how he ran the colony
Roger Williams: left Massachusetts colony and founded Rhode Island
Virginia House of Burgesses: government style of Virginia, models Congress
Mayflower Compact: document that set up government in Massachusetts
New Netherlands: colonies of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Delaware that were all owned by the Dutch
The 13 Colonies: ruled by the British - New England, Middle, Southern
Massachusetts (Founding, Purpose): 1620, Puritans/Pilgrims, religious tolerance
Pennsylvania (Founding, Purpose): 1682, William Penn, religious freedom for Quakers, Latin for woodlands
Delaware (Founding, Purpose): originally Swedish then Dutch and finally British in 1664
Maryland (Founding, Purpose): 1633, Lord Baltimore, religious freedom for Catholics, named after Queen Henrietta Maria
Virginia (Founding, Purpose): 1607, John Smith and John Rolfe, founded at Jamestown, powhatans Wars, named for Elizabeth I (Virgin Queen)
Georgia (Founding, Purpose): 1732, James Oglethorpe, haven for debtors, buffer colony to protect from Spanish Florida
John Winthrop: first governor of Massachusetts
John Smith: founder/settler of Jamestown
John Rolfe: married Pocahontas
tobacco: cash crop of the colonies
Indentured Servitude: pay off debts by working for a master (sort of like slavery); after a certain amount of time, they gain their freedom
III. The French and Indian War
fought between Britain, France, and the Natives
fought over the Ohio River Valley
British won, expelling France from the New World
Proclamation of 1763: forbade any settlement by colonists west of the Appalachian Mountains; went against the bRitish policy of Salutary Neglect
what the countries gained after French and Indian War - Britain gained control of Canada and most of the United States
new territory gained as a result of the French and Indian War - British control of the Ohio River Valley
IV. The American Revolution
1775-1781 fighting, 1783 treaty
fought over taxes and the tyrannical rise of the British Government
US gained their independence
King George III: King of England that raises the taxes on the colonists
Colonial Protests: boycotting, Boston Tea Party
British advantages -
superior army
weaponry
money
manpower
“No taxation without representation”: rallying cry of the colonist against Britain
Sons of Liberty: group that planned and carried out the Boston Tea Party
Boston Massacre: a street brawl between the American colonists and the British soldiers
Boston Tea Party: American colonists frustrated at BRitain for imposing taxation without representation; dumped 342 chests of tea imported by the British East India COmpany into Boston harbor
Quartering Act: all colonists must quarter (house) British soldiers
Stamp Act: a tax on newspaper and legal and commercial documents
Declaratory Act: Parliament has the power to pass laws on the colonies in all cases whatsoever
Townshend Act: tax on British goods including - paint, paper, lead, glass, and tea
Tea Act: created a monopoly in the American colonies for tea; it allowed the British East INdia Company to sell its tea at a lower price charged by colonial competitors
Intolerable Acts: 4 laws passed on Boston after the Boston Tea Party -
closed the port/harbor of Boston to all trade
ordered a full regiment of British troops to be garrisoned (stationed) within Boston
ordered that any British soldier charged with a crime would be returned to England for trial
forbade public assemblies of colonists
John Dickinson: dominated talks at the First Continental Congress
Shot heard round the World: first shot of the revolution at Lexington
Lexington and Concord: the first battles of the revolution, Lexington was a win for the British, Concord was a win for the colonists; the British were on their way to seize guns and ammunition from Concord
Green Mountain Boys: Vermont militia that aided in the taking of Fort Ticonderoga
Siege of Boston: the entrapment of British forces in Boston
George Washington: Commander of the Continental Army
Battle of Bunker Hill: a win for the British at Breed’s Hill but showed the colonists could fight; “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes.”
Olive Branch Petition: final attempt by colonists to avoid going to war with Britain; colonists pledged their loyalty to the crown
Thomas Paine: author of Common Sense and the Crisis
Common Sense: was written by Thomas Paine; it proclaimed that the time had come to declare independence from England
Declaration of Independence: July 4, 1776; declares independence from Britain; act of treason; all men are created equal; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, inspired by John Locke and Thomas Paine
Ben Franklin: one of the members of the Declaration committee that was one of the biggest advocates for independence
Committee members: Adams, Franklin, Jefferson, Livingston, Sherman
Valley Forge: winter of 1777-1778; Washington’s militia becomes a professional army
Baron Von Steuben: Prussian commander that trained the American soldiers at Valley Forge
Washington Crosses the Delaware: on Christmas night 1776 on way to Trenton
Battle of Trenton: sunrise attack against the Hessians, win for the colonists, convince soldiers to reenlist
Hessians: German mercenaries
Battle of Monmouth: a stalemate or a tie, after the botched attack by Charles Lee
Battle of Saratoga: turning point of the war, France and Spain join the colonists in fight against British
Guerilla Warfare: hit and run tactics
Battle of Yorktown: the final battle of the war; the British were surrounded by French and Continental groups; Washington was helped by Lafayette and Rochambeau
Treaty of Paris: officially ends the war in 1783, two years after the battle of Yorktown, Article 1 grants freedom and independent America
V. Creating a New Nation
republic: a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch
Federalism: government style in which one area is governed by at least 2 sets of government (ie state and federal governments)
Articles of Confederation: first constitution of the US; STATES had more power
Shays’ Rebellion: armed uprising in Western Massachusetts in opposition to a debt crisis among the citizenry and the state government’s increased efforts to collect taxes both on individuals and their trades; showed the weakness of the Articles of Confederation
Constitutional Convention: was intended to revise the league of states and first system of government under the Articles of Confederation; resulted in a new Constitution
checks and balances: process of keeping one branch of government from becoming too powerful
Virginia Plan: proposed a very powerful bicameral (2 house) legislature; representation in both houses of the legislature would be determined proportionately (by population); big states benefited from this plan
New Jersey Plan: closer to the initial call for the Convention - drafting amendments to the Articles of Confederation to fix the problems in it; under the New Jersey, the existing continental congress would remain, but it would be granted new powers, such as the power to levy taxes and force their collection; benefited smaller states
ratify: sign or give formal consent to (a treaty, contract, or agreement), making it officially valid
compromise: an agreement or a settlement of a dispute that is reached by each side making concessions
The Great Compromise: created by Roger Sherman; bicameral legislature; upper house equal representation, lower house representation based on population
Three-Fifths Compromise: question on whether slaves should count towards population; the compromise solution was to count three out of every five slaves as people for this purpose
Federalists: believed in the Constitution and a strong central government (ie John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay)
Anti-Federalists: opposed ratification of constitution (ie Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee)
Federalist Paper: written by Hamilton, Madison, an Jay to advocate for the ratification of the Constitution
James Madison: father of the Constitution, as he wrote the Bill of Rights to appease Anti-Federalists
Bill of Rights: first ten amendments; basic rights of the people
The First Amendment: freedom of speech, religion, press, petition, and assembly
The Second Amendment: right to bear arms
The Fourth Amendment: unreasonable searches and seizures without probable cause or warrant
The Eighth Amendment: no cruel or unusual punishment
The Thirteenth Amendment: abolishes slavery
The Nineteenth Amendment: gave women the right to vote
Article I: set up Legislative branch (Congress)
House of Representatives: based on population; led by the Speaker of the House (Mike Johnson)
Senate: equal representation; led by the President pro tempore if the VP is not available
how does a bill become a law - starts in either house -> goes through committee -> voted on floor (simple majority) -> goes to other house for simple majority vote -> president signs or vetoes bill
Article II: set up Executive branch
cabinet: Presidential advisors on different aspects
Positions in the Cabinet: Secretary of State, Defense, Treasure, Education, Interior, Attorney General
The Electoral College: the body that chooses the President and VP every 4 years
how many electoral votes are needed to win the election - 270
how is it determined how many electoral votes a state gets - number of members in the House + number of senator (= to that state’s members of Congress)
Article III: set up Judicial branch, appointed by the President
Judicial Review: the ability of a court to examine and decide if a statute, treaty, or administrative regulation contradicts or violates the provisions of existing law, a State Constitution, or ultimately the United States Constitution; main power of the 9 justices of the Supreme Court
current Chief Justice - John Roberts
first state to ratify the Constitution? - Delaware
first President and VP? - George Washington and John Adams
VI. Geography
Great Lakes: HOMES - Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior
Key Rivers -
Rio Grande (separates the US from Mexico)
Mississippi (separates the West from the East)
Colorado (flows through the Grand Canyon)
Delaware (separates NJ from PA)
Atlantic and Pacific Ocean: Atlantic (east), Pacific (west)
Regions of the US -
New England
Mid-Atlantic
Southwest
Great Lakes
Midwest
Southwest
West
Appalachian and Rocky Mountains: Appalachian (east), Rocky (west)
location of states -
New Jersey - Mid-Atlantic
California - West
Texas - Southwest
Pennsylvania - Mid-Atlantic
Utah - West
Missouri - Midwest
Michigan - Great Lakes
Oklahoma - South West
Minnesota - Great Lakes
North Carolina - Southeast
Oregon - West
Louisiana - Southeast
Maine - New England
Florida - Southeast
Nebraska - Midwest
Nevada - West
Ohio - Great Lakes