American History MidTerm

Sugar Act

law passed by the British Parliament setting taxes on molasses and sugar imported by the colonies

Declaratory Act

Act passed in 1766 just after the repeal of the Stamp Act. Stated that Parliament could legislate for the colonies in all cases.

Stamp Act

1765; law that taxed printed goods, including: playing cards, documents, newspapers, etc.

Boston Massacre

The first bloodshed of the American Revolution (1770), as British guards at the Boston Customs House opened fire on a crowd killing five Americans

Crispus Attucks

The African-Native American man who was the first man to die in the Boston Massacre, also considered the first death in the Revolutionary War

Samuel Adams

American Revolutionary leader and patriot, Founder of the Sons of Liberty and one of the most vocal patriots for independence; signed the Declaration of Independence

Committees of Correspondence

Committees of Correspondence, organized by patriot leader Samuel Adams, was a system of communication between patriot leaders in New England and throughout the colonies. They provided the organization necessary to unite the colonies in opposition to Parli

Boycott

refuse to buy

Townshend Acts

A tax that the British Parliament placed on leads, glass, paint and tea

Tea Act

Law passed by parliament allowing the British East India Company to sell its low-cost tea directly to the colonies - undermining colonial tea merchants; led to the Boston Tea Party

Boston Tea Party

A 1773 protest against British taxes in which Boston colonists disguised as Indians dumped valuable tea into Boston Harbor.

Coercive Acts

1. port act closed the port of Boston until the tea was paid for. 2. MA Govt act reduced the power of the MA legislature while increasing the power of the royal governor. 3. Allowed royal officials accused of crimes to be tried in England instead of the c

Intolerable Acts

colonists name for Coercive Acts

John Adams

Lawyer who defended British soldiers in the Boston Massacre trial. He believed in "innocent until proven guilty." In spite of these actions, he supported colonial independence.

Sons of Liberty

A group of colonists who formed a secret society to oppose British policies at the time of the American Revolution

Daughters of Liberty

organization of colonial women formed to protest British policies

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town meetings

New England center of politics. used to discuss/decide local issues of local interest.

Assemblies

Organizations created in some colonies to pass laws

Pontiac's Rebellion

attempt by Native Indians to push white settlers out of the OH Valley

colonial courts

These were used in colonies to control local affairs and protect individual freedoms.

Middle Passage

A voyage that brought enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to North America and the West Indies

English Bill of Rights

document that gave England a government based on a system of laws and a freely elected parliament

Mercantilism

an economic system in which a nation becomes wealthy by selling more than in buys

Enlightenment

During this period thinkers used reason and logic to form ideas about how government should work

Great Awakening

religious movement that encouraged ideas of equality and the right to challenge authority

free enterprise

Economic system in which individuals and businesses are allowed to compete for profit with a minimum of government interference

King Phillip's War (1675-1676)

Series of assaults by Metacomet, King Philip, on English settlements in New England. The attacks slowed the westward migration of New England settlers for several decades.

French and Indian War

(1754-1763) War fought in the colonies between the English and the French for possession of the Ohio Valley area. Resulted in the English gaining Canada from the French

Treaty of Paris

ended the war and gave Canada and all French lands east of MS river to Britain with the exception of New Orleans and two small islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. From Spain, Britain received Florida

French

first Europeans to settle
along the St. Lawrence River
and trade furs with Native
Americans. Had a better trust relationship with the Native Indians

Chief Pontiac

Ottawa Indian who led a rebellion against the British occupying the western parts of the American colonies after the French & Indian War.

Proclamation of 1763

A proclamation from the British government which forbade British colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains, and which required any settlers already living west of the mountains to move back east.

John Locke

17th century English philosopher who opposed the Divine Right of Kings and who asserted that people have a natural right to life, liberty, and property.

Johnathan Edwards

Helped start great awakening

Navigation Acts

Laws passed by the British to control colonial trade

social impact of Great Awakening

unified various groups of Americans who shared same evangelical religious beliefs

New York

originally founded by the Dutch, but later taken by the English. New Netherland

Women's Contribution to economy

ran farms and businesses, practiced medicine, worked as nurses and midwives

William Penn

A Quaker that founded Pennsylvania to establish a place where his people and others could live in peace and be free from persecution.

Quakers

aka Society of Friends; a radical Protestant sect; believed in equality of men and women before God, religious tolerance, and nonviolence. Pennsylvania was a refuge for them.

representative democracy

government example in PA

Slave contribution to economy

worked in cities at skilled crafts such as blacksmithing and carpentry

wheat, oats, and barley

The staple crops that supported the middle colonies

Middles Colonies

New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware

Peter Stuyvesant

leader of the Dutch colony New Netherland

New Amsterdam

Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. This later became "New York City

Huegonots

French Protestants

New Jersey Population

diverse with Dutch, Swedes, Finns, and Scots

Philidelphia

city of brotherly love; capital of PA

Delaware

region sold to Penn; located south of PA

staple crops

crops that are always needed

Indentured Servants

filled most of the Middle Colonies labor needs

Mayflower Compact

A legal contract in which they agreed to have fair laws to protect the general good

Puritans

A religious group who wanted to purify the Church of England. They came to America for religious freedom and settled Massachusetts Bay.

Pilgrims

Group of English Protestant dissenters who established Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts in 1620 to seek religious freedom after having lived briefly in the Netherlands.

Anne Hutchinson

She preached the idea that God communicated directly to individuals instead of through the church elders. She was forced to leave Massachusetts.

New England Colonies Economy

Based on shipbuilding, fishing, lumbering, small-scale subsistence farming, and, eventually, manufacturing.

Pilgrims migrated to America because...

To practice religious freedom. Everyone in England had to belong to the Church of England and they wanted to get away from that. Pilgrims were separatists.

New England farming

Subsistence Farming. Small farms. Family Member run. Rocky soil and long winters made it harder to farm. Profit came from logging, shipbuilding, fishing.

New England Forests

allowed shipbuilders to construct vessels to meet the demands of various traders.

Samoset

Native American leader and friend of the early colonists. He was the first to sell land to the Pilgrims

Squanto

Native American who helped the English colonists in Massachusetts develop agricultural techniques and served as an interpreter between the colonists and the Wampanoag.

Massasoit

Wampanoag chieftain and helped them celebrate the first Thanksgiving.

Education in the New England Colonies

important because families wanted kids to be able to read the Bible; created first public education system; Harvard and William & Mary

Bacon's Rebellion

A rebellion lead by Nathaniel Bacon with back-country farmers to attack Native Americans in an attempt to gain more land

Toleration Act of 1649

A Maryland law that made restricting the religious rights of Christians a crime; the first law guaranteeing religious freedom to be passed in America. Proposed by Lord Baltimore.

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.

Olaudah Equiano

a former slave who wrote about his experiences in the southern colonies

slaves

They were in large demand in the South due to the need for a large, agricultural workforce.

Powhatan Confederacy

Wahunsonacock led this alliance of Algonquian Indians. Brought food and taught the colonists.

cash crop

Many farms and plantations in the southern colonies grew these.

Headright System

System granting parcels of land consisting of about 50 acres which were given to colonists who brought indentured servants into America. They were used by the London Influenced Company to attract more colonists.

James Oglethorpe

Founder and governor of the Georgia colony with hope of attracting small farmers to settle there.

Indentured Servants

People who could not afford passage to the colonies could become indentured servants. Another person would pay their passage, and in exchange, the indentured servant would serve that person for a set length of time (usually 4-7 years) and then would be fr

John Smith

Helped found and govern Jamestown. His leadership and strict discipline helped the Virginia colony get through the difficult first winter.

Influenced VA colonists to use slave labor

There were not enough indentured servants to meet the high demand .

Ended the Powhatan Confederacy

A VA colonist killed a Powhatan leader.

Crusades

A series of holy wars from 1096-1270 AD undertaken by European Christians to free the Holy Land from Muslim rule.

Crusades change Europe

leads to increase trade with Asia

Ghana's Source Of Wealth

Grew rich from taxing the goods that traders carried through their territory. Especially gold and salt was taxed.

Ladders in Anasazi cliff dwellings

offered protection from enemies

Bering Land Bridge

A land bridge between Siberia and Alaska that was exposed during the most recent Ice Age when the waters of the Bering Strait receded.

Inca Empire

built miles of roads to connect their large territory

Florence, Genoa, Milan, Venice

Four main trade cities of
Italy

Hopewell and Mississippian

Mound building tribes that were skilled farmers and traders

Olmec

Known for their use of stone in architecture and sculpture

Iroquois League

A political confederation of five northeastern Native American nations which strengthen the Iroquois people

Northwest Native American group

totem poles were central to their religion

Native Americans on North America

had little interest in forming large political units like the Inca and Aztec

Humanism

A Renaissance intellectual movement in which thinkers studied classical texts and focused on human potential and achievements

Plato

Socrates' most well known pupil. Founded an academy in Athens and wrote the Republic

The Republic

book written by Plato about an ideal government

Basis of feudalism in the Middles Ages

knights held land from a lord in exchange for military service

Mali

Like Ghana, was an important kingdom due to its geographical location

Mali's power

Mansa Musa, emphasis on location, expansion of trade

Printing Press

15th century invention which revolutionized the ability to print information which in turn affected the speed of the spread of information itself.

Direct Democracy

A form of government in which citizens rule directly and not through representatives

Ideas of Greece and Rome

biggest influence on Renaissance thinking

Fall of Ghana kingdom

the Almoravids cut off its trade routes

Ghana kingdom formed

the Soninke families banded together for protection

Italy

origin of the Renaissance

Most important reason for sea routes to Asia

to bypass merchants who controlled Asian products

American Indian agriculture affected by Columbian Exchange

began to farm barley

Hernan Cortes

conquistador that conquered the Aztec

Columbian Exchange

the transfer of plants, animals, and diseases between the Americas and Europe, Asia, and Africa

Malintzin

Indian woman who helped Cortes win allies against the Aztecs

smallpox

often fatal disease that eliminated much of the Native American population

European diseases

caused the greatest number of Native American deaths

Cause of the slave trade

Many Native Americans were killed by European diseases and a new labor force was needed

Results of the slave trade

African communities were broken up, warfare increased among African kingdoms, enslaved Africans suffered terrible living conditions in other countries

Columbus' main purpose for his Atlantic exploration

claim land and wealth for Spain

Martin Luther

German monk who started the Protestant Reformation

printing press

a machine that produces printed copies

Bartolome de Las Casas

a priest who encouraged better treatment of Native Americans but encourage the use of African slaves

astrolabe

a tool that helped sailors use the sun and stars to find their location

encomienda system

was a way to reward settlers for their service to the Crown

Vasco da Gama

Portuguese navigator; first to sail around Africa to Asia

Northwest Passage

a waterway in North America thought to connect the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean

NW Passage explorers

Henry Hudson, Jacques Cartier, John Cabot

Samuel de Champlain

French explorer who founded Quebec

Francisco Pizarro

Conquered the Incas

Stops in the journey of Christopher Columbus

Canary Islands, San Salvador, Hispaniola, Spain

charter

a document granting the recipient the right to settle a colony

Roanoke colony

The lost colony; English colony that mysteriously disappear

Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca

after his encounters with Native American groups, he later asked for better treatment of them.

Rene Robert de Las Salle

named the area around the Mississippi River Louisiana, in honor of the French King

Spanish Armada

a large fleet of Spanish ships that was defeated by England in 1588 even though Spain had 3 times the amount of ships

Purpose of the Spanish Armada

Spain wanted to invade England and overthrow Queen Elizabeth and the Anglican Church

Spain's religious allegiance

the pope and the Catholic Church

French treatment of Native Americans

better than other European settlers because they had a close trading relationship