Unit 3 key terms

Thematic History Key Term List Unit 3 - Promote the General Welfare: An Economic and Class History of the United States

3.2 First Frontier: The Formation of U.S. Society (1607-1754)

1. Enclosure Movement

   • English landholders enclosed their properties, displacing peasants to raise sheep for wool.

   • The wool was sold to manufacturers in growing cities.

2. Mercantilism

   • European leaders believed in a limited supply of valuable resources like gold and silver.

   • Wealth seen as a zero-sum game: one country's gain is another's loss.

   • Encouraged colonies to fuel mercantilism, pushing for maximum production to send goods back to England.

   • Aimed to export more than imports to increase gold and silver inflow.

3. Joint-stock Colony

   • A colony that needed to return profits to stockholders who funded its establishment.

   • The tobacco industry played a significant role in this model.

4. John Rolfe and Tobacco

   • Rolfe introduced tobacco to England after learning from the Powhatan Confederacy.

   • Tobacco became a valuable export that satisfied joint-stock economic interests.

5. Headright System

   • Granted 50 acres of land to anyone who traveled to Virginia or helped a laborer to do so.

6. Indentured Servants

   • Individuals contracted to work for sponsors for typically seven years.

   • Upon completion, they earned freedom but mostly only gained the opportunity for land ownership.

   • Indentured servants formed the majority of the colonial workforce in the 17th century.

7. Bacon’s Rebellion

   • Led by wealthy landowner Nathaniel Bacon against Virginia's colonial government.

   • Discontent was prevalent among indentured servants and poor farmers pushed for land access.

   • The rebellion ultimately exposed deep class tensions and a desire for a new labor source.

3.3 The Glorious Cause: The Revolutionary War Era and the Early Republic (1754-1800)

8. South Carolina’s Economy

   • Dependent on enslaved African labor:

     • The colony was wealthy with a focus on crops like rice and indigo.

     • North Carolina had poorer subsistence farms and fewer enslaved Africans.

     • Slave revolts were a constant fear, leading to stringent slave codes.

9. Georgia’s Founding

   • Established in 1733 by James Oglethorpe as a military buffer against Spanish Florida and a refuge for England’s poor.

10. Navigation Acts

• Laws to enforce mercantile policies in the colonies.

• Aimed to control resources, ensuring all trade benefitted England.

• Smuggling flourished due to lax enforcement before 1688 and increased colonial independence.

11. Dominion of New England

• 1686 effort to merge governing and enforce Navigation Acts.

• Sir Edmund Andros led the abolishment of colonial assemblies, causing massive resentment.

12. Leisler’s Rebellion

• Dutch militia captain Jacob Leisler took control in New York, rebelling against elite English dominance, seeking more democracy.

• His governance included reform efforts for non-English residents.

13. Benjamin Franklin

• Born into a working-class Boston family with limited education.

• Notable for work in journalism, invention, and diplomacy, promoting meritocracy through his publications.

14. Proclamation Line of 1763

• Aimed to halt westward colonial expansion post-war to avoid financial burdens.

• Resented by colonists seeking land for social mobility.

15. Paxton Boys

• Western Pennsylvanian group's response to native raids and lack of protection, culminating in violence against Native Americans.

• Their march to Philadelphia prompted governmental inaction on the Proclamation Line.

3.4 Empire of Liberty: A Conflict of Vision (1800-1848)

16. Salutary Neglect

• Period where Britain failed to enforce navigation laws, leading colonies to develop independent governance and economic practices.

17. Benefits and Drawbacks of Mercantilism

• Benefits: Protection from British military presence. Guaranteed market for goods, bolstering economies, especially in the South through tobacco trade.

• Drawbacks: Economic constraints due to Navigation Acts, particularly limiting New England's shipbuilding and fishing economies.

18. Regulator Movement

• A 1770 protest against political discrimination in North Carolina, leading to violent confrontations with authorities and eventual suppression.

19. Shays’ Rebellion

• Post-revolutionary uprising led by Daniel Shays in Massachusetts to protest economic injustices and foreclosures.

• Highlighted weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and prompted calls for a stronger federal government.

20. Hamilton’s Three-Part Economic Plan

• Controversial proposal leading to establishment of the first political parties due to differing views on federal financial policy.

• Key elements included settling war debts, protective tariffs, and creating a national bank.