Key terms for US History up to 1783
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| 363325027 | Andros, Edmund | Governor of the Dominion of New England. | |
| 363325028 | Anglican Church | Also known as the Church of England, founded by Henry VIII. Began to resemble the Catholic church which upset many. | |
| 363325029 | Antinomianism | Belief that faith alone is necessary to salvation in Christianity. A fundamental concept of Protestants (coined by Martin Luther). | |
| 363325030 | Bacon's Rebellion | A clash between East and West (unrest due to VA governor's friendly policies to Native Americans), this event in 1676 was seen as evidence against the dangers of the indentured-servant system. | |
| 363325031 | Battle of Saratoga | 1777 battle that concluded the American Revolution with the British losing. | |
| 363325032 | Boston Massacre | Incident in Boston where British Army soldiers killed five civilian men; among those who were harassing the soldiers in protest to British oppression. | |
| 363325033 | Boston Tea Party | Protest by the Sons of Liberty to the British control and taxes on tea. Dumped tea into the Boston Harbor. | |
| 363325034 | Circular letter | Written by Samuel Adams in response to the Townshend Acts, circulated among representative bodies in the colonies by Massachusetts and argued that the colonists did not have representation. | |
| 363325035 | Coercive Acts | The Acts passed in 1774, following the Boston Tea Party, that were considered unfair because they were designed to chastise Boston in particular, yet affected all the colonies by the Boston Port Act which closed Boston Harbor until damages were paid. | |
| 363325036 | Columbian Exchange | Cultural, biological, and social exchange between the New World and Europe; diseases, plants, and animals were exchanged during the 15th and 16th centuries. | |
| 363325037 | Continental Congresses | A convention and a consultative body that met for seven weeks, from September 5 to October 26, 1774, in Philadelphia; it was the American's response to the Intolerable Acts; considered ways of redressing colonial grievances; all colonies except Georgia sent 55 distinguished men in all; John Adams persuaded his colleagues toward revolution; they wrote a Declaration of Rights and appeals to British American colonies, the king, and British people. | |
| 363325038 | Cortes, Hernan | He was a Spanish explorer who conquered the Native American civilization of the Aztecs in 1519 in what is now Mexico. | |
| 363325039 | Dominion of New England | Attempt to consolidate colonial rule in New England under the control of one governor in 1688; it was dissolved after the Glorious Revolution in England when its sponsors were deposed. | |
| 363325040 | Edwards, Jonathan | Jonathan Edwards, an American theologian and Congregational clergyman, whose sermons stirred the religious revival, called the Great Awakening. He is known for his " Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God " sermon. | |
| 363325041 | First Great Awakening | The Great Awakening was a religious revival that occurred in the 1730's and 1740's. Priests held motivating sermons and the Old and New Lights resulted. | |
| 363325042 | Franklin, Ben | A wealthy printer and successful (and respected) intellectual as well as diplomat, he wrote the widely-circulated Poor Richard's Almanac and did pioneering scientific work (electricity). Also proposed Albany Plan. | |
| 363325043 | Great Migration (Puritan) | 1620-1640, the migration of primarily Puritans to Massachusetts and New England from England in search for freedom to practice Puritan religion. (Under King Charles I, James I) | |
| 363325044 | Halfway 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; Women soon made up a larger portion of Puritan congregations. | |
| 363325045 | Headright system | This became a means of attracting settlers to colonial America in which land was given to a family head (50 acres) and to anyone he sponsored coming tot he colony, including indentured servants. | |
| 363325046 | House of Burgesses | The House of Burgesses was the first representative assembly in the New World. The London Company authorized the settlers to summon an assembly, known as the House of Burgeses. A momentous precedent was thus feebly established, for this assemblage was the first of many miniature parliaments to sprout from the soil of America. | |
| 363325047 | Hutchinson, Anne | Woman who argued against the religious order of Massachusetts Bay (women's role; worship of clergy) and moved to Narrangansett Bay after banishment in 1638--caused settlers to move into other settlements from Massachusetts Bay. | |
| 363325048 | Indentured servants | People in the New World bound to labor for a number of years, often, to pay for their passage to America. Primarily worked in the Chesapeake region. | |
| 363325049 | Iroquois Confederacy | Confederation of five (later six) Indian tribes across upper New York state that during the 17th and 18th centuries played a strategic role in the struggle between the French and British for mastery of North America, | |
| 363325050 | Jamestown | First permanent English settlement in the New World, established in 1607. Barely survived with help from natives and cultivation of tobacco. | |
| 363325051 | Joint-stock company | Forerunner of the modern corporation; a venture in which stock was sold to high net-worth investors who provided capital and had limited risk. Many ventures involved in settling the New World. | |
| 363325052 | Letters from a PA Farmer | A series of essays written by lawyer John Dickinson in 1767-1768 under "A Farmer." United colonists against Townshend Acts because he argued that colonies were sovereign in their internal affairs. | |
| 363325053 | Locke, John | Highly influential Enlightenment thinkers of the 17th century. Stated that there was a "Natural Law" before any manmade ones and that all citizens have a right to life, liberty, and property. Influenced revolutionaries in the colonies. | |
| 363325054 | Loyalist | A colonist in the new world who remained loyal to the British during the American Revolution. | |
| 363325055 | Maryland Act of Toleration | 1649 law of the Maryland Colony that mandated religious tolerance; provided for freedom of worship for all trinitarian Christians. | |
| 363325056 | Mayflower Compact | Written agreement in 1620 to create a "civil body politick" among the male settlers in Plymouth; it was the forerunner to charters and constitutions that were eventually adopted in all the colonies. (Democracy) | |
| 363325057 | Mercantilism | Nationalist economic philosophy that promoted the development of colonies in order to increase a nation's treasury but which limited colonial economic development by restricting colonial manufacturing. Emphasized exports. | |
| 363325058 | Middle Passage | Middle segment of the forced journey that slaves made from Africa to America throughout the 1600's; it consisted of the dangerous trip across the Atlantic Ocean; many slaves perished on this segment of the journey. | |
| 363325059 | Navigation Acts | Acts that restricted trade in the colonies and emphasized mercantilism. In the 1660's England restricted the colonies; they couldn't trade with other countries. The colonies were only allowed to trade with England. | |
| 363325060 | Oglethorpe, James | Founder of Georgia in 1733; soldier, statesman , philanthropist. Started Georgia as a haven for people in debt because of his interest in prison reform. Almost single-handedly kept Georgia afloat. | |
| 363325061 | Paine, Thomas | Thomas Paine was a passionate and persuasive writer who published the bestseller, Common Sense in 1776. Paine had the radical idea that the colonies should set up America as an independent, democratic, republic away from England. Over 120,000 copies of his book were sold and this helped spark the colonists rebellion later that year. | |
| 363325062 | Penn, William | Wealthy aristocrat who converted to Quakerism in the late 1600s and took up evangelism, later creating a Quaker colony in America, named Pennsylvania. | |
| 363325063 | Pontiac's Rebellion | 1763 war launched by confederation of Native American tribes from the Great Lakes region, Illinois Country/Ohio country dissatisfied with British postwar policies in the Great Lakes region following the French and Indian War. | |
| 363325064 | Proprietary colony | A colony granted to an individual person or group by the British crown with full ownership rights. | |
| 363325065 | Pueblo Revolt | 1680 uprising of several pueblos of the Pueblo people against Spanish colonization of the Americas in the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico. | |
| 363325066 | Puritans | They were a group of religious reformists who wanted to "purify" the Anglican Church. Their ideas started with John Calvin in the 16th century and they first began to leave England in 1608. Later voyages came in 1620 with the Pilgrims and in 1629, which was the Massachusetts Bay Colony. | |
| 363325067 | Salutary neglect | British policy of avoiding strict enforcement of parliamentary laws in America that started in 1607 and ended in 1763. Allowed colonists to regulate their own trade and ignore Navigation Acts and govern themselves. | |
| 363325068 | Smith, John | Famous world traveler who took control of the bitterly divided Jamestown in 1608 and brought order by organizing raids on Indian villages. | |
| 363325069 | Sons of Liberty | Political group of American patriots that were intended to protect the rights of the colonists during the 18th century. Best known for undertaking the Boston Tea Party. | |
| 363325070 | St. Augustine | 1565, earliest/oldest settlement in the U.S. (Florida) and discovered by Juan Ponce de Leon of Spain. | |
| 363325071 | Stamp Act | Act passed by Parliament in 1765 that required colonists to pay for stamps going on many documents. Repealed in 1766 due to heated protests and boycotts. | |
| 363325072 | Stamp Act Congress | Met in 1765 with 27 delegates from the colonies as a result of the Stamp Act; helped unify colonies against Britain. | |
| 363325073 | Stono Rebellion | Slave rebellion in South Carolina in 1739; tried to escape to Florida, but the rebellion was crushed; Negro Act was established limiting the 'privileges' of slaves. | |
| 363325074 | Sugar Act | Passed in 1764, first to be passed by Parliament. Increased duties on foreign sugar as a way to raise revenue for the crown. | |
| 363325075 | Townshend Act | Placed a light import duty on glass, lead, paper, tea and was met with some protest from colonies. They evaded these through smuggling. Repealed in 1770 (except on tea). | |
| 363325076 | Treaty of Tordesillas | Divided the New World between Spain and Portugal--Spain receives west and Portugal receives east (Brazil) in 1494. | |
| 363325077 | Virtual representation | Theory that claimed that every member of Parliament represented all British subjects, even those Americans in Boston or Charleston who had never voted for a member of the London Parliament. | |
| 363325078 | Williams, Roger | This person was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635 because he said that the government had no authority over the personal opinions of individuals; he called for the separation of church and state, founded Rhode Island as a colony for religious freedom, and was known for dealing fairly with native peoples by paying for their land. | |
| 363325079 | Winthrop, John | Puritan leader and founder of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and wrote of his vision of a "city upon a hill" that would serve as an example to the rest of the world. |
