The Americans - Chapter 1

nomadic

wandering, moving about from place to place in search of food and water.

Aztec

native american people that settled in the Valley of Mexico in the 1200s a.d. and later developed a sophisticated civilization.

Anasazi

Native American culture which thrived in the Southwest from 200 to 1200 C.E.;known for cliff dwellings and maize growing.

Pueblo

descendants of the Anasazi and Hohokam, this tribe lived in multistory stone and adobe houses and grew maize, beans, squash, and melons.

Iroquois

a group of native american peoples inhabiting the woodlands of the northeast; they hunted fish and game

Benin

an African tribe in the southern forest region of the Niger Delta; rulers called oba ("descents of Ife"), known as a major trade center

Kongo

African kingdom, based on agriculture, formed on lower Congo River by late 15th century; ruled by a hereditary monarchy (called the manikongo).

Islam

the monotheistic religion of Muslims founded in Arabia in the 7th century and based on the teachings of Muhammad as laid down in the Koran

Christianity

a monotheistic system of beliefs and practices based on the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus; the leader of the chirch, the pope, and his bishops held political and spiritual authority

Reformation

a religious movement of the 16th century that began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the creation of Protestant churches

Renaissance

The great period of rebirth in art, literature, and learning in the 14th-16th centuries, which marked the transition into the modern periods of European history

Christopher Columbus

Italian navigator who discovered the New World in the service of Spain while looking for a route to Asia (1451-1506)

Taino

a Native American people of the Caribbean islands - the first group encountered by Columbus and his men when they reached the Americas

Treaty of Tordesillas

a 1494 agreement between Portugal and Spain, declaring that newly discovered lands to the west of an imaginary line in the Atlantic Ocean would belong to Spain and newly discovered lands to the east of the line would belong to Portugal.

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Americas and the rest of the world following Columbus's voyages.

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.

Hernando Cortez

Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztecs and conquered Mexico (1485-1547)

mestizo

a person of mixed spanish and native american ancestry

encomieda

Land granted to Spanish settlers that included the right to demand labor or taxes from Native Americans

New Spain

After the defeat of the Aztecs, the land was a Spanish colony in North America including Mexico, Central America, the southwest United States, and many of the Carribean islands from the 1500s to the 1800s

Jamestown

first permanent English settlement in North America

John Smith

English explorer and adventurer who helped found the colony at Jamestown, Virginia

joint-stock companies

an economic arrangement by which a number of investors pool their capital for investment in a colony which they hoped would make a profit.

indentured servants

colonists who received free passage to North America in exchange for working without pay for a certain number of years

John Winthrop

As governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, Winthrop (1588-1649) was 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 wou

Puritans

Protestant sect in England hoping to "purify" the Anglican church of Roman Catholic traces in practice and organization.

William Penn

Penn, an English Quaker, founded Pennsylvania in 1682, after receiving a charter from King Charles II the year before. He launched the colony as a "holy experiment" based on religious tolerance.

Quakers

a Protestant sect that believes in equality, tolerance ,and cooperation. Holds religious services without a minister, live a simple lifestyle, and believe in treating all people equally. They refuse to defer to a person of rank, fight in wars, or serve in

mercantilism

An economic policy under which nations sought to increase their wealth and power by obtaining large amounts of gold and silver and by selling more goods than they bought

Navigation Acts

English-implemented laws stating that 1.Trade to and from the colonies could only be carried by English or colonial crews on English or colonial ships. 2.All goods imported into the colonies, except for some perishables, could pass only through ports in E

triangular trade

A three way system of trade during 1600-1800s Aferica sent slaves to America, America sent Raw Materials to Europe, and Europe sent Guns and Rum to Africa

middle passage

the journey of slaves, characterized by extreme cruelty, from Africa to the Americas, so called because it was the middle portion of the triangular trade route

Enlightenment

The intellectual revolution of the eighteenth century in which the philosophes stressed reason, natural law, and progress in their criticism of prevailing social injustices.

Benjamin Franklin

American writer, publisher, scientist, inventor, and diplomat known for embracing the idea that one could obtain truth through experimentation and reason

Great Awakening

Religious revival in the American colonies of the eighteenth century during which a number of new Protestant churches were established.

Jonathan Edwards

American theologian whose sermons and writings stimulated a period of renewed interest in religion in America (1703-1758)

French and Indian War

war fought between France and England in the 1750s over territorial claims in North America

William Pitt

British political organizer of the winning strategy against the French in the North America during the French and Indian War.

Pontiac

famous chief of the Ottawa who led an unsuccessful rebellion against the British at the end of the French and Indian War; Native tribes captured eight British forts, but the tribes contracted smallpox through "gifts" from British officers, weakened and su

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.