Unit #1 Flashcards
(111 cards)
1
Q
Bering Land Bridge c. 35,000 years ago
A
A land bridge connecting Asia and North America that crossed the Bering Sea. A theory states that early people crossed this land bridge to populate the Americas before sea levels rose and closed it off.
2
Q
Indigenous Societies of South America
A
Incas: Peru, with elaborate network of roads and bridges linking their empire.
Mayas: Yucatan Peninsula, with their step pyramids.
3
Q
Indigenous Societies of North America
A
Aztecs: Mexico, with step pyramids and huge sacrifices of conquered peoples.
Pueblo Indians: First American corn growers with elaborate irrigation systems.
Mound Builders: East St. Louis, made ceremonial burial mounds.
Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw & Iroquois: Eastern America, drew the 3 sisters and had a diverse diet.
4
Q
Iroquois Confederation
A
Hiawatha was the leader.
A group of 5 tribes in New York state.
They were matrilineal as authority and possessions passed down through the female line.
Each tribe kept their independence, but met occasionally to discuss matters of common interest
Usually, Indians were scattered and separated (and thus weak).
5
Q
Effects of Crusades on Exploration
A
The Christian Crusaders of Middle Ages fought in Palestine to regain the Holy Land from Muslims. This mixing of East and West created a sweet-tooth where Europeans wanted the spices of the exotic East.
6
Q
Europeans in Africa
A
The first slave trade began across the Sahara Desert. As Portugal tried to get to the Spice Islands, so they sailed around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.
7
Q
Christofer Columbus
A
Got Isabelle and Ferdinand to finance a trip to to the East Indies by going west. After he landed in America he spawned the following system:
- Europe would provide the market, capital, technology.
- Africa would provide the labor.
- The New World would provide the raw materials..
8
Q
Columbian Exchange
A
From the New World (America) to the Old:
corn, potatoes, tobacco, etc. also, syphilis
From the Old World to the New: cows,horses, wheat, etc. devastating diseases (smallpox, yellow fever, malaria)
9
Q
Treaty of Tordesillas/Line of Demarcation (1498)
A
Portugal and Spain feuded over who got what land. The Pope drew this line (north to south) as he was respected by both.
Portugal got everything east of the line.
Spain got everything west of the line.
10
Q
Conquistadors
A
Vasco Balboa, Ferdinand Magellan, Ponce de Leon, Hernando de Soto, Francisco Pizzaro (Incan Empire) , and Francisco Coronado.
11
Q
Aztec Conquering
A
Montezuma thought Hernando Cortez (from Cuba) might be a god. The Aztec King welcomed Cortez into Tenochtitlan.
The Spanish lust for gold led Montezuma to attack on the noche triste. Cortez and men fought their way out, but it was smallpox that eventually beat the Indians.
The Spanish then destroyed Tenochtitlan, and built the Spanish capital (Mexico City) exactly on top of the Aztec city.
12
Q
Black Legend
A
The Black Legend was the notion that Spaniards only brought bad things (murder, disease, slavery); though true, they also brought good things such as law systems, architecture, Christianity, language, civilization, so that the Black Legend is partly, but not entirely, accurate.
13
Q
French Colonization Patterns
A
Founded Quebec in North America.
14
Q
Spanish Colonization Patterns
A
Much control in Central and South America, only Santa Fe set up in North America.
15
Q
Sea Dogs
A
Under Sir Francis Drake they were sent to steal treasure and plunder from Spanish settlements and ships in new colonizations.
16
Q
Sir Walter Raleigh
A
Set up the Roanoke Colony or “The Lost Colony” in the New World that failed.
17
Q
Defeat of the Spanish Armada
A
Seeking revenge for England’s sea dogs the Spanish attacked Britain and lost in 1588.
18
Q
Joint-Stock Company
A
In the 1600s investors put money into the company with hopes for a good return (a forerunner of today’s corporations).
19
Q
Factors Pushing English Colonization
A
New policy of enclosure (fencing in land) for farming. This meant there was less or no land for the poor.
The woolen districts fell upon hard times economically.
Tradition of primogeniture (1st born son inherits ALL father’s land). Therefore, younger sons of rich folk tried their luck with fortunes elsewhere.
The Joint-Stock Company was also perfected.
20
Q
The Virginia Company
A
In 1606 it received a charter from King James I to make a settlement in the New World.
21
Q
Colonial Charters
A
Guaranteed settlers the same rights as Englishmen in Britain
22
Q
Jamestown
A
Settled by the Virginia Company in 1607. The site was a swampy and warm so malaria spread. The men spent their time looking for gold instead of trying to survive.
23
Q
John Smith
A
In 1608, he took over control of Jamestown and whipped the colonists into shape. Had a “no work, no food” policy.
24
Q
Chief Powhatan
A
Had peaceful relations with the Jamestown settlement and set out a “mock execution” to show it.
25
Baron de la War
Lead a relief party for to try and alleviate Jamestown suffering.
26
"The Starving Time"
A forced starvation initiated by the Powhatan Confederacy to remove the English from Virginia.
27
John Rolfe
Rolfe nurtured the tobacco into a usable form and married Pocahontas to end the First Anglo-Powhatan War.
28
Indentured Servitude
When the tobacco industry began to rise poor people had period of labor for a fixed time in exchange for a benefit (shelter, transportation etc. )
29
Headright System
A grant of land to settlers in the colony by the Virginia Company and Plymouth Company and these were given to anyone would pay the costs of an indentured servant to come to the New World. Encouraged the growth of the Chesapeake.
30
Anglo-Powhatan Wars
At first, Powhatan possibly considered the new colonists potential allies and tried to be friendly with them, but as time passed and colonists raided Indian food supplies, relations deteriorated and eventually, war occurred.
The first war (1614) ended with Rolfe and Pocahontas marrying.
The second war (1644) effectively banished Chesapeake Indians from the land because colonists could grow their own land now.
31
House of Burgesses
Representative self-government was born in Virginia, in 1619 , a committee to work out local issues.
32
Lord Baltimore
In 1634, Maryland was the second plantation colony and the fourth overall colony to be formed.
It was founded to be a place for persecuted Catholics to find refuge, a safe haven.
Lord Baltimore gave huge estates to his Catholic relatives, but the poorer people who settled there where mostly Protestant, creating friction.
33
Act of Toleration
A Maryland statue that guaranteed religious toleration to all Christians, but decreed the death penalty to Jews and atheists and others who didn’t believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ.
34
West Indies
By mid-1600s, England had secured claim to several West Indies islands.
They grew lots of sugar on brutal plantations there.
Thousands of African slaves were needed to operate sugar plantations at first Native Americans were taken but 90% died of disease.
35
African Diaspora
This is used to describe the mass dispersion of peoples from Africa during the Transatlantic Slave Trades, from the 1500s to the 1800s.
36
Barbados Slave Codes
Made in Jamaica to control so many slaves, “codes” were set up that defined the legal status of slaves and the rights of the masters. They were typically strict and exacted severe punishments for offenders
37
Restoration Colonies
After Charles I was beheaded, Oliver Cromwell rules for 10 years then Charles II took over. Carolina was created with close economic ties to the West Indies as a result of Charleston port. Settlers brought in the slave codes.
38
Fundamental Constitution of Carolina
A intricate/romanticized feudal scheme which contained grandiose titles for the nobility. This would put strain on the Carolinas and the Carolinas would split officially in 1729.
39
North Carolina
North Carolinians developed a strong resistance to authority, due to geographic isolation from neighbors.
Two “flavors” of Carolinians developed: (a) aristocratic and wealthier down south around Charleston and rice & indigo plantations, and (b) strong-willed and independent-minded up north on small tobacco farms. In 1712 the Carolina split.
40
Georgia/Oglethorpe
Founded by James Oglethorpe, Georgia was intended to be a buffer between the British colonies and the hostile Spanish settlements in Florida (Spanish, Indians, runaway slaves) and the enemy French in Louisiana.
41
Plantation Colonies
Slavery was found in all the plantation colonies.
The growth of cities was often stunted by forests.
The establishment of schools and churches was difficult due to people being spread out.
In the South, the crops were tobacco and rice, and some indigo.
Some religious toleration.
Confrontations with Native Americans were often.
42
Calvinism/Puritans
Calvinism stresses “predestination” (those going to Heaven or hell has already been determined by God).
Puritans were influenced to totally reform (“purify”) the Church of England.
43
Separatists/Non-Sparatists
Non-separatists are Puritans. Separatists vowed to break away from the Church of England. These folks became the Pilgrims.
King James I, father of the beheaded Charles I, harassed the Separatists out of England because he thought that if people could defy him as their spiritual leader, they might defy him as their political ruler.
44
Mayflower Compact
On the coast of New England, the Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact, a set of rules by which to obey.
Though it wasn’t a constitution, it did set the standard for later constitutions. It also set the first step toward self-rule in the Northern colonies.
45
Plymouth Colony
The Pilgrims settled in New England. In 1691, Plymouth finally merged with the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
46
William Bradford
Chosen governor of Plymouth 30 times in the annual elections, was a great leader, and helped Plymouth to survive and trade fur, fish, and lumber.
47
Massachusetts Bay Colony
In 1629, some non-Separatist Puritans got a royal charter from England to settle in the New World. Secretly, they took the charter with them and later used it as a type of constitution.
48
John Winthrop
He was elected governor or deputy governor for 19 years, helping Massachusetts prosper in fur trading, fishing, and shipbuilding. He hated democracy and allowed franchise to go to 2/3 of the white male population.
49
"Great Migration"
Continuing bad times and the persecution of Puritans at home led to the Great Migration of the 1630s; farmers, artisans, and around 150 university trained (nearly all studied divinity) colonists came – first ministers; outbreak of Eng. Civil War put end to Great Migration in early 1640s; no prominent Eng. Merchants joined the G. Migration.
50
Freeman/Congregationalists
Soon after the establishment of the colony, the right to vote was extended to all “freemen,” adult males who belonged to the Puritan congregations (later called the Congregational Church), making people who could enjoy the franchise about two fifths of the male population.
Un-churched men and women weren’t allowed into matters of government.
51
Massachusetts General Court
An elected legislature established by the colonists; right to vote and hold office was limited to church members, but government was not run by clergymen (they weren’t allowed to hold public office) – they just had lots of influence.
52
Anne Hutchinson
A very intelligent, strong-willed, talkative woman who claimed that a holy life was no sure sign of salvation and that the truly saved need not bother to obey the law of either God or man. A notion known as “antinomianism”. She was banished from the colony and eventually made her way to Rhode Island.
53
Roger Williams
He was a radical idealist hounded his fellow clergymen to make a clean and complete break with the Church of England.
He went on to deny that civil government could and should govern religious behavior. He was banished in 1635, and led the way for the Rhode Island colony.
54
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
In 1635, Hartford, Connecticut was founded and Reverend Thomas Hooker led an energetic group of Puritans west into Connecticut.
In 1639, settlers of the new Connecticut River colony drafted in open meeting a trailblazing document like a modern constitution.
55
Pequot War
In 1637, though, after mounting tensions exploded, English Puritans and the powerful Pequot tribe fought in the Pequot War, in which the English set fire to a Pequot village on Connecticut’s Mystic River, annihilating the Indians and bringing about forty years of tentative peace.
In an attempt to save face, the Puritans did try to convert some of the Indians, though with less zeal than that of the Spanish and French.
56
"Praying Towns"
Term for New England settlements where Indians from various tribes were gathered to be Christianized.
57
King Philip's War
In 1675, Metacom (called King Philip by the English) united neighboring Indians in a last-ditched attack after the Pequot War that failed.
The War slowed the colonial western march, but Metacom was beheaded and quartered and his head was stuck on a sharp pike for all to see, his wife and son sold to slavery.
58
New England Confederation
In 1643, four colonies banded together to form the New England Confederation.
It was almost all Puritan.
It was weak, but still a notable milestone toward American unity.
The colonies were basically allowed to be semiautonomous commonwealths.
After Charles II found out about this he revoked Massachusetts's charter.
59
Dominion of New England
In 1686, this was created to bolster the colonial defense against Indians and tying the colonies closer to Britain by enforcing the hated Navigation Acts.
60
Navigation Acts
The acts forbade American trade with countries other than Britain. As a result, smuggling became common.
61
Sir Edmund Andros
The leader of the Dominion of New England. Establishing headquarters in Boston, he openly showed his association with the locally hated Church of England.
His soldiers were vile-mouthed and despised by Americans.
62
Mercantilism
Economic philosophy or practice in which England established the colonies to provide raw materials to the Mother Country; the colonies received manufactured goods in return.
63
Glorious Revolution
the people of England staged the Glorious Revolution, instating William and Mary to the crown. Resultant, the Dominion of New England collapsed.
Massachusetts got a new charter in 1691, but this charter allowed all landowners to vote, as opposed to the previous law of voting belonging only to the church members.
64
Royal Colonies
Type of colony that was under the jurisdiction of the crown of a royal country. Each of these types of colonies was ruled by a royal governor who carried out the instructions of the crown, which were more like strong suggestions. Massachusetss, New York, New Jersey, North and South Carolina, and Georgia were all converted under William and Mary.
65
Salutary Neglect
Throughout the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, the English government did not enforce those trade laws that most harmed the colonial economy. The purpose of salutary neglect was to ensure the loyalty of the colonists in the face of the French territorial and commercial threat in North America. The English ceased practicing salutary neglect following British victory in the French and Indian War.
66
Patroon System
The Dutch gave patroonships (large areas of land) to promoters who agreed to settle at least 50 people on them in New Amsterdam.
67
New Netherlands
In the 17th Century, the Netherlands revolted against Spain, and with the help of Britain, gained their independence.
In 1609, Henry Hudson ventured into Delaware and New York Bay and claimed the area for the Netherlands.
68
New Sweden
The Swedes trespassed Dutch reserves from 1638 to 1655 by planting the anemic colony of New Sweden on the Delaware River.
69
Duke of York
In 1664, Charles II granted the area of modern-day New York to his brother, the Duke of York, and that year, British troops landed and defeated the Dutch, kicking them out, without much violence.
70
William Penn
A well-born Englishman, embraced the Quaker faith.
In 1681, he managed to secure an immense grant of fertile land from the king.
It was called Pennsylvania, in honor of Penn.
It was the best advertised of all the colonies.
71
Bacon's Rebellion
By the late 1600s, there were lots of free, poor, landless, single men frustrated by the lack of money, land, work, and women.
In 1676, Nathaniel Bacon led a few thousand of these men in a rebellion against the hostile conditions.
These people wanted land and were resentful of Virginia governor William Berkeley’s friendly policies toward the Indians.
Bacon’s men murderously attacked Indian settlements after Berkeley refused to retaliate for a series of savage Indian attacks on the frontier.
72
Triangular Trade
A three way system of trade during 1600-1800s Africa sent slaves to America, America sent Raw Materials to Europe, and Europe sent Guns and Rum to Africa.
73
Middle Passage
Part of the Triangle Trade
| Africans were transported to the Americas, where they were traded for sugar and tobacco.
74
"The Terrible Transformation"
Slavery went through terrible transformation, from becoming class based, to race based.
75
Slave Codes
To clear up issues on slave ownership, the slave codes made it so that slaves and their children would remain slaves to their masters for life, unless they were voluntarily freed.
Some laws made teaching slaves to read a crime, and not even conversion to Christianity might qualify a slave for freedom.
76
Slave Life and Culture
Slave life in the Deep South was very tough, as rice growing was much harder than tobacco growing.
Many blacks in America evolved their own languages, blending their native tongues with English.
Blacks also contributed to music with instruments like the banjo and bongo drum.
77
Slave Revolts
- In 1712, a slave revolt in New York City cost the lives of a dozen whites and 21 Blacks were executed.
- In 1739, South Carolina blacks along the Stono River revolted and tried to march to Spanish Florida, but failed.
78
Southern Social Structure
A social gap appeared and began to widen.
| The largest social group was the farmers.
79
"First Families"
In Virginia, a clutch of extended clans owned tracts and tracts of real estate and just about dominated the House of Burgesses.
80
New England/Chesapeake Comparison
The Chesapeake colonists came to gain profits and staple crops flourished. In New England, most colonists wanted religious freedom and relied on artisan industries. New Englanders were less susceptible to disease with a long lifespan because there was clean water and cool temperatures.
81
Women's Roles
In the south, women usually had more rights because men died young and women could inherit money. In New England laws were severe and strict (adulterous women wore an A on their clothing).
82
The New England Way
Puritan dominance. New Englanders were traders and the climate didn't allow for agriculture or slavery to become prominent. They chastised Native Americans for not using all their land.
83
Town Meetings
Life in New England was organized.
New towns were legally chartered by colonial authorities.
A town usually had a meetinghouse surrounded by houses and a village green.
Towns of more than 50 families had to provide primary education.
Towns of more than 100 had to provide secondary education.
84
Half-Way Covenant
As Puritans began to worry about their children and whether or not they would be as loyal and faithful. In the Half-Way Covenant, all people could come and participate in the church, even if they fell short of the “visible-saint” status and were somehow only half converted (with the exception of a few extremely hated groups).
85
Salem Witch Trials
In the early 1690s, a group of Salem girls claimed to have been bewitched by certain older women.
What followed was a hysterical witch-hunt that led to the executions of 20 people (19 of which were hanged, 1 pressed to death) and two dogs.
86
Leisler's Rebellion
1689 - When King James II was dethroned and replaced by King William of the Netherlands, the colonists of New York rebelled and made Jacob Leisler, a militia officer, governor of New York. Leisler was hanged for treason when royal authority was reinstated in 1691, but the representative assembly which he founded remained part of the government of New York.
87
Colonial Demographics
A population of 2.5 million people with an average age of 16. 32 colonies were growing and 90% of people lived in rural areas. Most of the population was by the Alleghenies.
88
Paxton Boys
In 1764, the Scots-Irish led led a march on Philadelphia to protest the Quaker’ peaceful treatment of the Indians. They later started the North Carolina Regulator Movement.
89
The Regulator Movement
In the hills and mountains of the colony, aimed against domination by eastern powers in the colony; spearheaded by the Scots-Irish.
90
Social Structure of Colonial Society
A rags to riches society but class differences emerged as aristocrats had a lot of power. A social pyramid emerged in the south with blacks at the bottom and rich plantation workers at the top.
91
Colonial Economy
Agriculture was the leading industry with staple crops such as tobacco. Fishing was rewarding and "triangular trade" was common. Small enterprises were created such as lumbering. Skilled artisans were highly prized.
92
Religion in the Colonies
Two “established churches” (tax-supported) by 1775 were the Anglican and the Congregational.
93
Church of England
The Church of England (the Anglican Church) was official in Georgia, both Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, and a part of New York.
Anglican sermons were shorter, its descriptions of hell were less frightening, and amusements were less scorned.
Not having a resident bishop proved to be a problem for unordained young ministers.
94
Congregationalists
The Congregational church had grown from the Puritan church, and it was established in all the New England colonies except for Rhode Island. In the late 1600s there was worry that people weren't devout enough.
95
The Great Awakening
Due to less religious fervor than before, and worry that so many people would not be saved, the stage was set for a revival, which occurred. It was the first religious experience shared by all Americans as a group.
96
Jonathan Edwards
He was a preacher with fiery preaching methods, emotionally moving many listeners to tears while talking of the eternal damnation that nonbelievers would face after death. "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"
97
George Whitefield
He was better than Jonathan Edwards. An orator of rare gifts, he even made Jonathan Edwards weep and persuaded always skeptical Ben Franklin to empty his pockets into the collection plate.
Imitators copied his emotional shaking sermons and his heaping of blame on sinners.
98
Old Lights and New Lights
These new preachers were met with skepticism by the “old lights,” or the orthodox clergymen.
However, the Great Awakening led to the founding of “new light” centers like Princeton, Brown, Rutgers, and Dartmouth.
99
Education in the Colonies
Education was most important in New England, where it was used to train young future clergymen.
In other parts of America, farm labor used up most of the time that would have been spent in school. Also, at least in New England, college education was regarded more important than the ABC’s.
Eventually, some change was made with emphasis of curriculum change from dead languages to live ones.
100
Colonial Culture
There was little time for recreation. Architecture was largely imported from the Old World and modified to meet American needs. Colonial literature was also generally undistinguished.
101
John Trumbull
Painters were frowned upon as pursuing a worthless pastime. He was discouraged as a youth by his father.
102
Phillis Wheatley
A slave girl who had never been formally educated. She went to Britain and published a book of verse and subsequently wrote other polished poems that revealed the influence of Alexander Pope.
103
Poor Richard's Almanac
Ben Franklin’s book was very influential, containing many common sayings and phrases, and was more widely read in America and Europe than anything but for the Bible.
104
J. Peter Zanger
A New York newspaper printer, was taken to court and charged with seditious libel (writing in a malicious manner against someone).
The judge urged the jury to consider that the mere fact of publishing was a crime, no matter whether the content was derogatory or not.
Zenger won after his lawyer, Andrew Hamilton, excellently defended his case.
105
Political Characteristics
8 of the colonies had royal governors appointed by the king and 3 had governors chosen by proprietors.
106
Colonial Legislatures
Practically every colony utilized a two-house legislative body.
The upper house was appointed by royal officials or proprietors.
The lower house was elected by the people.
107
Voter Rights
The right to vote was not available to just anyone, just white male landowners only.
However, the ease of acquiring land to hard workers made voting a privilege easily attainable to many people in this group.
108
Colonial Folkways
In the South, card playing, horse racing, cockfighting, and fox hunting were fun.
Stage plays were popular in the South, but not really in the North.
In the North, they partied.
109
The Enlightenment
An eighteenth-century movement in Western philosophy. It was an age of optimism, tempered by the realistic recognition of the sad state of the human condition and the need for major reforms.
110
Egalitarianism
The belief that everyone is created equal; this was the whole basis of the Jacksonian Democracy
111
Royal/Propriety/Self-Governing
Royal colonies were types of colony that were under the jurisdiction of the crown of a royal country.
Propriety colonies were types that were owned by an individual with direct responsibility to the king.
Self-Governing colonies were types that exercises political authority over itself.
