Pangea
single supercontinent that contained all of the world's dry land; broke off into present day continents
Great Ice Age
period 2 million years ago when giant ice sheets covered much of Europe, Asia, Americas; shaped the landscape
Land Bridge Theory
theory that a land bridge once existed in the present-day Bering Strait, explaining that people first came to Americas crossing over from eurasia
Maize
corn, the staple crop of early Central/South American civilizations, settled nomadic groups into civilizations
four corners
place where four states, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado come together; was the home of the Anasazi people
adobe houses
dwellings of central/south/southwest Native Americans made out of dried clay
Pueblos
Native American tribe in the Rio Grande area, sophisicated, had complex irrigation systems and storied, terraced buildings (village in Spanish)
Mound Builders
Ohio River valley tribe that build large mounds to bury their dead in (like Egyptian pyramids)
Cahokia
Mississippian culture near present day East St. Louis, home to 25k people
three sister farming
Native American farming technique where beans grow on the trellis of the cornstalks and squash covers the planting mounts to retain moisture in the soil
Iroquois Confederation
group of Native Americans that originally consisted of five nations: the Mohawk, the Oneida, the Onondaga, the Cayuga, and the Seneca; developed political and organizational skills to sustain a robust military alliance
Hiawatha
legendary founder of the powerful Iroquois Confederacy
Norsemen/Vikings
Scandinavian seafarers who chanced upon the northeastern shoulder of North America about 1000 AD
Marco Polo
Italian explorer; spent many years in China or near it; his return to Europe in 1295 sparked a European interest in finding a quicker route to Asia.
Prince Henry the Navigator
(1394-1460) Prince of Portugal who established an observatory and school of navigation at Sagres and directed voyages that spurred the growth of Portugal's colonial empire
caravel
A small, highly maneuverable three-masted ship used by the Portuguese and Spanish in the exploration of the Atlantic
compass
instrument used for navigational purposes, which includes a magnetized piece of metal that points to the north
astrolabe
an instrument used by sailors to determine their location by observing the position of the stars and planets
early slave trade
system adapted by the Portugese from the Arabic and African slave traders to provide labor for the developing sugar plantations on the African coastal islands
Christopher Columbus
Italian navigator who discovered the New World in the service of Spain while looking for a route to China
Columbian Exchange
The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Americas and the rest of the world following Columbus's voyages
Treaty of Tordesillas
Signed in 1494 between Castile and Portugal; clarified spheres of influence and rights of possession in New World; reserved Brazil and all newly discovered lands east of Brazil to Portugal; granted all lands west of Brazil to Spain
Conquistadors
The Spanish soldiers, explorers, and fortune hunters who took part in the conquest of the Americas in the 16th century
Vasco Balboa
Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador, is best known for having crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean in 1513, becoming the first European to lead an expedition to have seen or reached the Pacific from the New World
Ponce de Leon
Discovered and claimed Florida (Land of the Flowers) for Spain while looking for the Fountain of Youth
Ferdinand Magellan
Portuguese-born navigator hired by Spain to sail to the Indies in 1519, Magellan was killed in the Philippines (1521). One of his ships returned to Spain (1522), thereby completing the first circumnavigation of the globe
Hernando Cortes
Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztecs and conquered Mexico
Tenochtitlan
Capital of the Aztec Empire, located on an island in Lake Texcoco. Its population was about 150,000 on the eve of Spanish conquest. Mexico City was constructed on its ruins
Montezuma
Aztec chieftan; encountered Cortes and the Spanish and saw that they rode horses; Montezuma assumed that the Spanish were gods. He welcomed them hospitably, but the explorers soon turned on the natives and ruled them for three centuries.
mestizos
A person of mixed Native American and European ancestory
Francisco Pizarro
Spanish explorer who conquered the Incas in what is now Peru and founded the city of Lima
Hernando de Soto
A Spanish conquistador who traveled through what is now Georgia looking for gold and riches. he was the first European to reach the Mississippi River in 1540
Francisco Coronado
Spanish soldier and commander who, in 1540, led an expedition north from Mexico into what is today Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. Seeking the legendary seven cities of gold, he was dissapointed to find only adobe pueblos
Bartolomeo de las Casas
Spanish priest who persuaded Charles V to limit making New World natives into slaves and use Africans instead
Encomienda
a grant of land made by Spain to a settler in the Americas, including the right to use Native Americans as laborers on it.
Haciendas
Rural estates in Spanish colonies in New World; produced agricultural products for consumers in America; basis of wealth and power for local aristocracy.
John Cabot
Italian explorer who led the English expedition in 1497 that discovered the mainland of North America and explored the coast from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland
Pope's Rebellion
An Indian uprising in 1680 where pueblo rebels in an attempt to resist Catholicism and Europeans destroyed every Catholic church in the province and killed scores of priests and hundreds of spanish settlers
Robert de LaSalle
First European to sail down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. Claimed areas such as the Mississippi, St. Lawrence, and Ohio Rivers. Also explored the Great Lakes.
Black Legend
Concept that Spanish conquerors merely tortured and murdered Indians, stole gold and infected them with smallpox, leaving nothing of benefit
nation-state
political society that combines centralized government with a high degree of ethnic and cultural unity
middlemen
dealers who operate between the original buyers and retail merchants who sell to consumers
capitalism
economic system characterized by private property, generally free trade, and open and accessible markets
King Henry VIII
Founder of the church in England and ruled England from 1509-1547
English Protestant Reformation
Protestants battling Catholics for decades until 1588, when Protestantism became dominant in England due to Queen Elizabeth
Elizabeth I
Queen of England from 1558 to 1603
Walter Raleigh
English courtier (a favorite of Elizabeth I) who tried to colonize Virginia
Roanoke
Established in 1587. Called the Lost Colony. It was financed by Sir Walter Raleigh, and its leader in the New World was John White. All the settlers disappeared, and historians still don't know what became of them
Lost Colony
Roanoke Island
defeat of the Spanish Armada
The Spanish Armada was a fleet assembled and dispatched by King Phillip II of Spain in attempt to invade England in 1588. His attempt was unsuccessful, Queen Elizabeth I of England held the defeat of the armada as one of her greatest achievements, assisting the decline of the Spanish Empire.
enclosure movement
The process of consolidating small landholdings into a smaller number of larger farms in England during the eighteenth century
primogeniture
A system of inheritance in which the eldest son in a family received all of his father's land. The nobility remained powerful and owned land, while the 2nd and 3rd sons were forced to seek fortune elsewhere. Many of them turned to the New World for their financial purposes and individual wealth.
joint stock company
A company made up of a group of shareholders. Each shareholder contributes some money to the company and receives some share of the company's profits and debts
Virginia Company
A joint-stock company: based in Virginia in 1607: founded to find gold and a water way to the
Jamestown
The first successful settlement in the Virginia colony founded in May, 1607. Harsh conditions nearly destroyed the colony.Jamestown grew to be a prosperous shipping port when John Rolfe introduced tobacco as a major export and cash crop.
Powhatan
Chief of the Powhatan Confederacy and father to Pocahontas. At the time of the English settlement of Jamestown in 1607, he was a friend to John Smith and John Rolfe. When Smith was captured by Indians, Powhatan left Smith's fate in the hands of his warriors. His daughter saved John Smith, and the Jamestown colony. Pocahontas and John Rolfe were wed, and there was a time of peace between the Indians and English until Powhatan's death.
Pocahontas
a Powhatan woman (the daughter of Powhatan) who befriended the English at Jamestown and is said to have saved Captain John Smith's life
starving time
The winter of 1609 to 1610 was known as the "starving time" to the colonists of Virginia. Only sixty members of the original four-hundred colonists survived. The rest died of starvation because they did not possess the skills that were necessary to obtain food in the new world.
Anglo-Powhatan Wars
Two wars in Virginia in which the Powhatan tribe attacked the English invaders
John Rolfe
He was one of the English settlers at Jamestown (and he married Pocahontas). He discovered how to successfully grow tobacco in Virginia and cure it for export, which made Virginia an economically successful colony.
tobacco
Cash crop that made a profit and saved Jamestown
House of Burgesses
the first elected legislative assembly in the New World established in the Colony of Virginia in 1619, representative colony set up by England to make laws and levy taxes but England could veto its legistlative acts
Maryland
Colony founded as a haven for Roman Catholics who had been persecuted in England
Lord Baltimore
Founded the colony of Maryland and offered religious freedom to all Christian colonists. He did so because he knew that members of his own religion (Catholicism) would be a minority in the colony.
Maryland Act of Toleration
Ordered by Lord Baltimore after a Protestant was made governor of Maryland at the demand of the colony's large Protestant population. The act guaranteed religious freedom to all Christians.
Barbados slave codes
The Barbados slave code of 1661 denied even the most fundamental rights to slaves and gave masters virtually complete control over their laborers.
rice
grains used as food either unpolished or more often polished
squatters
Poor farmers in North Carolina and elsewhere who occupied land and raised crops without gaining legal title to the soil
James Oglethorpe
founder of Georgia in 1733; soldier, statesman , philanthropist. Started Georgia as a haven for people in debt because of his interest in prison reform.
charter
legal document granted by a government to a group to implement a stated purpose, and spelling out the attending rights and obligations
buffer
small territory or state between two larger, antagonistic powers and intended to minimize the possibility of conflict (Georgia)
Martin Luther
German theologian and leader of the Reformation. His opposition to the wealth and corruption of the papacy and his belief that salvation would be granted on the basis of faith alone rather than by works caused his excommunication from the Catholic Church (1521)
John Calvin
Swiss theologian (born in France) whose tenets (predestination and the irresistibility of grace and justification by faith) defined Presbyterianism (1509-1564)
predestination
being determined in advance especially the doctrine (usually associated with Calvin) that God has foreordained every event throughout eternity (including the final salvation of mankind)
Protestant work ethic
Sociological term used to define the Calvinist belief in hard work to illustrate selection in elite group
Puritans
A religious group who wanted to purify the Church of England. They came to America for religious freedom and settled Massachusetts Bay
visible saints
in Calvinism, those who publicly proclaimed their experience of conversion and were expected to lead godly lives; according to Puritans, only these individuals should be admitted to church membership
Separatists
sub-group of the Puritans who vowed to break completely with the Church of England
Church of England
Church created in England as a result of a political dispute between Henry VIII and the Pope
Anglican Church
the national church of England (and all other churches in other countries that share its beliefs)
Pilgrims
English Puritans who founded Plymouth colony in 1620
Mayflower
the ship in which the Pilgrim Fathers sailed from England to Massachusetts in 1620
Plymouth Colony
colony formed by the Pilgrims when they arrived at Plymouth Rock in 1620; it was absorbed into the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691
Myles Standish
Captain of the Mayflower; English colonist in America, leader of the Pilgrims in the early days of the Plymouth colony
Mayflower Compact
This document was drafted by the Pilgrims at Plymouth Bay in Massachusetts; the 41 males who signed it agreed to accept majority rule and participate in a government in the best interest of all members of the colony. This agreement set the precedent for later documents outlining commonwealth rule.
William Bradford
A Pilgrim, the second governor of the Plymouth colony, Between 1621-1657, he developed private land ownership and helped colonists get out of debt. He helped the colony survive droughts, crop failures, and Indian attacks.
Massachusetts Bay Colony
One of the first settlements in New England; established in 1630 and became a major Puritan colony. Became the state of Massachusetts, originally where Boston is located. It was a major trading center, and absorbed the Plymouth community
John Winthrop
As governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, instrumental in forming the colony's government and shaping its legislative policy. He envisioned the colony, centered in present-day Boston, as a "city upon a hill" from which Puritans would spread religious righteousness throughout the world.
franchise
a statutory right or privilege granted to a person or group by a government (especially the rights of citizenship and the right to vote)
Anne Hutchinson
American colonist (born in England) who was banished from Boston for religious views; preached antinomianism
antinomianism
the theological doctrine that by faith and God's grace a Christian is freed from all laws (including the moral standards of the culture)
Roger Williams
English clergyman and colonist who was expelled from Massachusetts for criticizing Puritanism; he founded Providence in 1636 and obtained a royal charter for Rhode Island in 1663 (1603-1683)
Rhode Island
founded by Roger Williams (banned from Mass. Bay) with religious freedom
Thomas Hooker
Clergyman, one of the founders of Hartford. Called "the father of American democracy" because he said that people have a right to choose their magistrates.
Fundamental Orders
document which established a regime democratically controlled by the substantial citizens of Hartford, Connecticut
Squanto
Native American who helped the English colonists in Massachusetts develop agricultural techniques and served as an interpreter between the colonists and the Wampanoag
Wampanoags
Group of Native Americans who helped the Pilgrims
Pequot War
The Bay colonists wanted to claim Connecticut for themselves but it belonged to the Pequot. The colonists burned down their village and 400 were killed.
Metacom (King Philip)
Chief of the Wampanoag Indians who led an attack on villages throughout New England
King Philip's War
a conflict between New England conlonists and Native American Groups allied under leadership of Wampanoag chief Metacom
New England Confederation
New England colonists formed this in 1643 as a defense against local Native American tribes and encroaching Dutch
Dominion of New England
1686 -The British government combined the colonies of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Connecticut into a single province headed by a royal governor (Andros). Ended in 1692, when the colonists revolted and drove out Governor Andros
Edmund Andros
Most unpopular Governer in United States history, served in NY and of the Dominion of New England
Glorious Revolution
the revolution against James II; there was little armed resistance to William and Mary in England although battles were fought in Scotland and Ireland
Henry Hudson
English navigator who discovered the Hudson River; attempted to winter in Hudson Bay but his crew mutinied and set him adrift to die
New Sweden
Swedish fur-trading community established with the assistance of the Dutch on the Delaware River in 1638 and absorbed by New Netherland in 1655
Peter Stuyvesant
the last Dutch colonial administrator of New Netherland; 1664 he was forced to surrender the colony to England
Duke of York
Charles II gave the colony to his brother (this name) who renamed it New York instead of New Netherland/New Amsterdam
New Netherland
a Dutch colony in North America along the Hudson and lower Delaware rivers although the colony centered in New Amsterdam; annexed by the English in 1664
New Amsterdam
a settlement established by the Dutch near the mouth of Hudson River and the southern end of Manhattan Island; annexed by the English in 1664 and renamed New York
New York
settled 1624- originally Dutch colony "New Amsterdam", led by Peter Stuyvesant; 1664- Duke of York ordered to take it over, no force was used, name changed to New York
Quakers
English dissenters who broke from Church of England, preache a doctrine of pacificism, inner divinity, and social equity, under William Penn they founded Pennsylvania
William Penn
Englishman and Quaker who founded the colony of Pennsylvania (1644-1718)
Middle Colonies
New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; had fertile soil moderate winters warm summers and a good growing season and economy
elect
those who have been chosen by God for salvation
seditious
concerning resistance to or rebellion against the government
autocratic
absolute or dictatorial rule
commonwealth
organized civil government or social order united for a shared purpose
passive resistance
nonviolentaction or opposition to authority (Quakers)
proprietary
concerning exclusive legal ownership, as of colonies granted to individuals by the monarch
blue laws
laws designed to restrict personal behavior in accord with a strict code of morality
Chesapeake colonies
mid-Atlantic colonies that grew slowly due to disease (malaria) and shortage of labor until the 1660's
headright system
system set up by the London Company that gave 50 acres of land to colonists who paid their own way to Virginia
indentured servants
colonists who received free passage to North America in exchange for working without pay for a certain number of years
Bacon's Rebellion
uprising of frontier settlers angered when the governor of Virginia refused to take action in clashes with Native Americans
Nathaniel Bacon
Planter who led a rebellion in 1676 against the governor of the Virginia Colony
William Berkeley
a Governor of Virginia, appointed by King Charles I, of whom he was a favorite. He was governor from 1641-1652 and 1660-1677. Berkeley enacted friendly policies towards the Indians that led to Bacon's Rebellion in 1676.
colonial slavery
large plantations were growing increasingly fearful of the multitudes of potentially mutinous former servants in their midst; black slaves outnumbered white servants among the plantation colonies' new arrivals for the first time by the mid 1680s; the Royal African Company lost its crown-granted monopoly on carrying slaves to the colonies
chattel slavery
ownership of human beings; a system of bondage in which a slave has the legal status of property and so can be bought as sold like property.
Stono Rebellion
The most serious slave rebellion in the the colonial period which occurred in 1739 in South Carolina. 100 African Americans rose up, got weapons and killed several whites then tried to escape to S. Florida. The uprising was crushed and the participants executed.
FFV
First Families of Virginia
jeremiad
sermon or prophecy recounting wrongdoing, warning of doom, and calling for repentance
Half-Way Covenant
A Puritan church document; In 1662, the Halfway Covenant allowed partial membership rights to persons not yet converted into the Puritan church; It lessened the difference between the "elect" members of the church from the regular members
Salem Witch Hunt
period of hysteria in 1692, when a group of teenaged girls accused neighbors of bewitching them; in ten months, nineteen people were executed and hundreds imprisoned. The hysteria subsided when the girls accused the more prominent individuals in the colony, including the governor's wife
tidewater
territory adjoiningwater affected by tides (near the seacoast
militia
armed force of citizens called out in emergencies
corporation
a group or institution granted legal rights to carry on specified activities
lynching
illegal execution of an accused person by mob action
hinterland
inland region set back from a port, river, or coast
social structure
basic pattern of the distribution of status and wealth in society
blue blood
of noble descent