Study book Society and Culture Flashcards
Squanto
helped settlers survive winter by teaching them how to plant corn, squash
Pocahontas
famous as liaison between John Smith’s Plymouth colony in 1607
Sacagawea
a Shoshone, guide to Lewis and Clark expedition west in 1805
Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull
led Sioux and Cheyenne troops in Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876 and defeated Colonel Custer
Chief Joseph
leader of Nez Perce who supported peaceful interaction with whites and tried to move his tribe to Canada rather than on a reservation
Algonquians
eastern part of the US and lived in wigwams. These Northern tribes subsisted on hunting and gathering while those who were father south grew crops
Iroquois
also an east coast tribe that lived in large rectangular longhouses
The Plains tribes (Sioux, Cheyenne, Comanche, Blackfoot)
between Rocky Mountains and Mississippi river; they were nomadic and lived in teepees and followed the buffalo herds for food
Pueblo tribes (Zuni, Hope, and Acoma)
lived in Southwestern deserts in homes made of stone or adobe. They domesticated animals and grew corn and beans
Pacific coast tribes (Tlingit, Chinook, and Salish)
lived on fish as well as deer, native berries and roots; large rectangular houses as well as spiritual totem poles
Inuit and Aleuts
lived very far north in skin tents or igloos; were talented fishermen and built kayaks and umiaks; hunter caribou, seals, whales and walrus
Age of Exploration
early 15th century-17th century when technological advances in navigation, map-making, and shipbuilding. Navigators from Portugal, France, Spain, and England seeking new routes to asia
advances in navigation
magnetic compass from China, and astrolabe came from Arab navigators and traders
Who developed the caravel ship?
Portuguese in the 1400s; could make long sea journeys and achieved a major goal of the age by discovering a sea route from europe to asia in 1498
Christopher Columbus
Genoan who was funded by Spain (King Ferdinand and Isabella) to find a new trade route with the East Indies but actually landed in the West Indies and is credited with discovery of the Americas
French goals of colonization in America
expanding fur trade which led to growth of plantations and slaves in Louisiana.
Spanish goals of colonization in America
look for wealth and convert natives to christianity; for some, the desire for gold led to mining in the new world, while others est. ranches
Dutch goals of colonization
also involved in fur trade and slaves
British goals of colonization in America
Some were looking for additional income, while others were feeling Britain to escape religious persecution
New England colonies
New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island. Largely founded by English and Scottish who were trying to escape religious prosecution (Puritans, who had large influence on the development of these colonies). This area of the NE featured many harbors and dense forest, no good for planting crops b/c the soil was rocky. Economy centered around fishing and shipbuilding. Merchants largely controlled the trade economy
Middle Atlantic colonies
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware. Mostly compromised of immigrants from the Netherlands, Holland, and Sweden. Had more fertile soil so they grew crops such as rye, potatoes, barley. The wealthy owned large farms or businesses. Tenant farmers also rented land from large farms
Southern colonies
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia. VA was the first permanent English colony and GA was the last. Warm climate and fertile soil meant lots of agriculture; economy based largely on labor-intensive (slaves) plantations which included tobacco, indigo, rice which are all cash crops. Slaves first came in 1619.
Navigation Acts
1651, British tried to dominate international trading (specifically the Dutch) by banning foreign ships from transporting goods to the English colonies. This helped some colonists who were English by bringing in lots of revenue for them, but really upset others
French and Indian Wars (1756-1763)
French and British were fighting along with various Native American allies over colonial domination; Brits won but left them in massive debt which ultimately led to the tensions leading to the American Revolution
Reasons Britain heavily taxed American colonies
pay off all the debt of the French and Indian War which included, war debt, need for funds to defend the expanding empire, need for funds to govern Britain’s 33 distant colonies. Brits felt this was fair because of all the money they spent defending the American colonies
Triangular Trade
rum from America went to Africa for gold or slaves which then went to West Indies for molasses or sugar and then back to America to make more rum, as well as stores of silver and gold. While this violated the Molasses Act that British had on Americans, the British gov’t adopted a policy of salutary neglect (not enforcing the laws) in order to help them flourish.
Factors that led to increasing discontent of American colonies
decreasing sense of kinship to Britain since more and more were being born in America; their new environment led to new ideas of gov’t and view of themselves as a separate entity from Britain; they had a large sense of independence because they had to deal with their own domestic issues and had their own local governments; threats during the French and Indian War made them feel for a need of unification to protect themselves
Differences between colonial gov’t and British gov’t
Colonists practiced representative government; their legislative bodies consisted of elected reps that were chosen by male property owners in the respective districts. Therefore there were many different people representing their various parts of the Americas
British had the Parliament which, by contrast, represented the entire country and was not elected to represent individual districts, but different classes. This is what led the British to not understand the American sentiment that they had no representation in their government, which leads to their logic that the British has no right to tax or rule them.
Acts of British gov’t after the French & Indian War
Quartering Act 1765: provide room and supplies to British troops and could not move beyond the Appalachians w/o permission
Sugar Act 1764: taxes collected on all molasses brought into the country and gave British officials power to search home of anyone suspected of violation
Stamp Act 1765: taxed printed materials such as newspapers and legal documents which led to its repeal in 1766, but then led to Declaratory Act which stated that Parliament had the right to govern the colonies.
Townshend Acts 1767: taxed paper, paint, lead, and tea that came into the colonies which led to boycotts where leaders from Massachusetts such as Samuel and John Adams organized resistance against the Brits
Boston Massacre
a lot of tension was developing among the colonists because of the Stamp Act and Townshend Act so British sent troops to NYC and Boston to control the unrest. Buttt, on March 5, 1770, American protesters began to taunt the troops and they fired back at them, killing 5 men and injuring 8 and thus dubbed the Boston Massacre. Shortly after, Britain repealed the majority of the Townshend Acts
Tea Act and how it led to the Boston Tea Party (Dec 1773)
though most of the taxes of the Townshend Act were repealed, the British kept the tax on tea. 1773, the Tea Act was passed which enabled the East India Company (British) sell tea to Americans for much cheaper. This made American tea distributors very mad and saw it as a direct assault on their business so in revolt, 150 merchants boarded ships in the Boston Harbor and dumped 342 chests of tea into the sea
Coercive Acts 1774
made to punish Massachusetts for defying their authority in the Boston Tea Party. It shut down ports in Boston until value of lost tea was paid back, required local gov’t officials to be picked by the governor rather than elected by the people, allowed British soldiers there to have their trials in Britain rather than in Massachusetts, and made locals provide lodging for British soldiers anytime there was a disturbance.
First Continental Congress in 1774
reps from 12 colonies met seeking compromise with England over their harsh efforts to control them. They agreed that they were loyal to Britain and the power of Parliament to dictate foreign affairs in the colonies but they demanded that the Intolerable Acts (Coercive Acts) be repealed and instituted a trade embargo until this happened. Britain said hell no and the colonies formed militias and then on April 19, 1775 when British soldiers went to disperse a meeting of the Massachusetts Assembly, a battle ensued–BATTLE OF LEXINGTON and CONCORD aka the shot heard round the world, and the first battle of the American Revolution.
Second Continental Congress 1775
A month after the Battle of Lexington, the delegates met again (may 10, 1775) to discuss how they defend themselves and conduct local gov’t. This is the meeting where many of them agreed that they should declare independence from Britain. They est. an army and named George Washington the commander in chief
Declaration of Independence
drafted on July 4, 1776 (penned by Thomas Jefferson) by the members of the Continental Congress. Many of Jefferson’s ideas of natural rights and property rights came from John Locke and both felt that the purpose of gov’t was to protect individuals’ rights
5 Battles of the Revolutionary War
- Battle of Lexington and Concord (april 1775)
- Battle of Bunker Hill (june 1775), though one of the bloodiest, americans proved they could stand against british soldiers; Britain declared America in a state of rebellion
- First colonial victory in Trenton, New Jersey, when Washington crossed the Delaware River on Christmas Day 1776 and surprise attacked the British and Hessian troops
- Battle of Saratoga, turning point in the war when British general Burgoyne surrendered and France joined as allies to the Americans as a result. This battle also ended a plan to separate the New England colonies from their Southern counterparts
- On October 19, 1781, General Cornwallis surrendered after a defeat in the Battle of Yorktown, VA, ending the Revolutionary War
Treaty of Paris
Signed on Sept 3, 1783, it brought an official end to the Rev. War. Britain recognized America as independent nation and est. the Mississippi river as the Western border and gave Florida back to Spain, while France reclaimed African and Caribbean colonies seized by Britain in 1763.
Articles of Confederation
Passed in 1777 and in full effect in 1781 after ratification, it is precursor to the Constitution. It prevented a central gov’t from becoming too powerful and gave power to a Congressional body made up of delegates, with states having final authority. Was ineffective because without a strong central executive, they were ineffective in settling disputes or enforcing laws.
Virginia Plan
Edmond Randolph felt that representation in Congress should be based on state population
New Jersey Plan
William Paterson felt that representation should be equal.
Connecticut Plan (Great Compromise)
Roger Sherman stated that states have equal rep in the Senate and population based reps in the House
Bicameral Congress
The 2 houses of Congress, both may draft bills but financial matters must originate in the HoR
