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American History to 1877 Flashcards

American History up to 1877. The roots of European exploration and settlement, the colonization and independence of America, the Revolution and its roots...

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87031366Western HemisphereThe part of the world consisting of North, Central, and South America.0
87031367MesoamericaThe region of Central America where the Maya, the Aztecs and other ancient cultures existed.1
87031368MayasAncient Mesoamerican civilization that thrived from about A. D. 300 to A. D. 900.2
87031369AztecsMesoamerican civilization that thrived in the 14th and 15th Centuries A. D.3
87031370Adena-Hopewell cultureNortheastern culture that thrived from 800 B.C.-A.D. 600 in the Ohio Valley and surrounding areas of the current United States.4
87031371Mississippian cultureMississippian culture of the central Mississippi River Valley of the current United States, which thrived from A. D. 600 to A. D. 1500.5
87031372Anasazi cultureSouthwestern culture that began in the 5th B.C., elements of which continue today in Arizona, New Mexico. Colorado and surrounding areas.6
87031373RenaissancePeriod in European history from 12th C AD through the 16th C AD distinguished by its spirit of inquiry and return to secular learning.7
87031374longitudeNavigational measurement dependant on accurate timepieces, and left to guesswork when sailing across the open sea prior to the 18th C. A. D.8
87031375Christopher ColumbusSelf-taught Italian mariner who in the late 15th C A.D. sailed west across the Atlantic Ocean in search of the Indies.9
87031376Treaty of TordesillasTreaty between Spain and Portugal defining the Spanish claim on exploration and settlement west of the Cape Verde Islands.10
87031377Amerigo VespucciItalian explorer who first suggested that South America was a new continent.11
87031378maizeAlso called 'Indian Corn', maize was one of the staples of the New World.12
87031379Ferdinand MagellanPortuguese seaman, who in the employ of Spain set out to find passage through or around South America, and consequently led the first voyage around the globe.13
87031380Hernando CortesRuthless leader of the conquistadores, Spanish soldiers who invaded and eventually destroyed the Aztec culture.14
87031381encomiendaSystem used by the conquistadores, whereby favored officers became privileged landowners who controlled Indian villages or groups of villages.15
87031382Bartolomeo de Las CasasCatholic missionary and Bishop in Mexico who wrote A Brief Relation of the Destruction of the Indies (1552),16
87031383haciendaA great farm or ranch.17
87031384Spanish borderlandsArea of the southern United States formerly claimed by Spain.18
87031385Juan Ponce de LeonGovernor of Puerto Rico, and first known explorer of Florida.19
87031386St. AugustineA Spanish outpost in Florida, it became the first European town in the present-day United States.20
87031387presidioA fort where soldiers who were sent to protect Spanish missions were housed.21
87031388Juan de OnateFounder of the first Spanish settlement in New Mexico.22
87031389mestizoSons of Spanish Fathers and native mothers.23
87031390Pope (Indian leader)Pueblo leader who organized a rebellion, which resulted in driving the Spaniards out of New Mexico.24
87031391ReformationEuropean religious movement that challenged the Catholic Church and resulted in the beginnings of Protestant Christianity.25
87031392Martin LutherGerman monk who protested abuses in the Catholic church by posing his 'Ninety-five Theses.' Founder of the Lutheran church.26
87031393Ninety-five ThesesMartin Luther's criticisms of the Catholic church arguing against indulgences and for a direct relationship to God.27
87031394CalvinismReligious movement founded by John Calvin, based on the doctrine of predestination.28
87031395Defender of the FaithTitle given by the pope to England's Henry VIII prior to England's break from the Catholic church.29
87031396Church of EnglandThe Anglican church, which unites church and state under the monarchy.30
87031397Francis DrakeEnglish privateer who led British fleet against the Spanish Armada.31
87031398galleonHeavy ship used by the Spanish Armada.32
87031399Sir Walter RaleighSponsor of an ill-fated expedition of colonists, who in 1587 settled Roanoke Island on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, also known as the 'Lost Colony.'33
87036261Great BritainSet off from continental Europe by the English Channel, in the seventeenth century it included the distinct kingdoms of England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland.34
87036262common lawDeveloped beginning in the twelfth century, English common law was established to check the arbitrary power of local nobles.35
87036263law of primogenitureCommon law that established the birthright of the oldest son to inherit the family estate.36
87036264joint stock companiesAncestors of the modern corporation, in which stockholders shared the risks and profits for single ventures or on a permanent basis. Some of the larger companies managed to get royal charters that entitled them to monopolies in certain areas and even governmental powers in their outposts.37
87036265enclosure movementPolicy of landlords to "enclose" farmland, evicting human tenants in favor of sheep, and thus displacing the peasant population.38
87036266divine rightTheory promoted by James I of England, by which monarchs answered only to God for their actions.39
87036267Oliver CromwellCommander of the army and Lord Protector of Great Britain from 1649 - 1658.40
87036268The RestorationIn 1660 the British monarchy was restored under Charles II.41
87036269Glorious RevolutionIn reaction to James II's attempts to Catholicize Great Britain, Parliament invited James II's daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange to assume the throne jointly and established its freedom from royal control.42
87036270Toleration Act of 1689The Toleration Act of 1689 extended a degree of freedom of worship to all Christians except Catholics and Unitarians, although dissenters from the established church still had few political rights.43
87036271JamestownIntended as the first permanent British colony, settled in 1606 on the banks of the James River in Virginia.44
87036272PowhatanWahunsonacock, called this by the English after the name of his tribe, was the powerful, charismatic chief of numerous Algonquian-speaking towns in eastern Virginia representing over 10,000 Indians.45
87036273John SmithA swashbuckling soldier of fortune with rare powers of leadership and self-promotion, he was appointed to the resident council to manage the Jamestown colony.46
87036274headright policyInaugurated by Sir Edwin Sandys, head of the Virginia Company, the 'headright' policy gave anyone who bought a share in the company and could get to Virginia fifty acres, and fifty more for any additional servants.47
87036275Sir William BerkeleyElitist Governor of Virginia, appointed by Charles I.48
87036276Bacon's RebellionRevolt of common laborers and small farmers against Virginia's wealthiest planters and political leaders.49
87036277proprietary colonyColony owned by an individual, rather than a joint-stock company.50
87036278separatistsAlso known as Pilgrims, these rigorously devout Puritans had severed all ties with the Church of England.51
87036279Mayflower CompactFormal agreement made by 41 Pilgrim leaders prior to landing at Plymouth to abide by laws of their own devising.52
87036280covenantAn agreement, such as that made by the Pilgrims in devising the Mayflower Compact.53
87036281William BradfordLeader of the Mayflower Pilgrims and Governor of the Plymouth colony.54
87036282PuritansLike the Pilgrims, the Puritans who colonized Massachusetts Bay were primarily Congregationalists who sought to form self-governing churches with membership limited to "visible saints"-those who could demonstrate receipt of the gift of God's grace.55
87036283John WinthropPuritan leader and Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.56
87036284Roger WilliamsPuritan who established Providence, the first permanent settlement in Rhode Island. Espoused the idea of the separation of church and state.57
87036285Anne HutchinsonThe articulate, strong-willed, and intelligent wife of a prominent Boston merchant, who espoused her belief in direct divine revelation. She was hauled before the General Court and banished from the colony.58
87036286slash and burnTechnique used by New England Indians to transform densely wooded forests into fields or park-like hunting preserves.59
87036287Pequot WarIn a successful bid to dislodge the Pequot Indians from their lands, this war resulted in the slaughter of Pequot men, women, and children and the dissolution of the Pequot nation.60
87036288RestorationThe Restoration of Charles II to the English throne in 1660.61
87036289Maryland Toleration ActEndorsed by Lord Baltimore, and passed by the Maryland assembly in 1649, this act assured that Puritans would not be molested in their religion.62
87036290matrilineal descentSystem found in Southeastern Indian nations, in which authority and property descended through the maternal line.63
87036291New NetherlandDutch colony conquered by the English to become four new colonies New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.64
87036292indentured servantSystem for providing cheap labor in the colonies, indentured servants worked from five to seven years without wages in exchange for passage to the American colonies.65
87036293indentured servantSystem for providing cheap labor in the colonies, indentured servants worked from five to seven years without wages in exchange for passage to the American colonies66
87036294melting potIdea that the early American Frontier stripped away native identities and melded them into homogeneous Americans.67
87036295sex ratioRatio of women to men in the early American colonies, typically 2 or 3 men for every woman.68
87036296naval storesResin from Pine trees, which can be boiled to become tar.69
87036297"invisible" chargesExpenses related to trade between the southern colonies and England, including freight payments to shippers, commissions, storage charges, and interest payments to English merchants, insurance premiums, inspection and customs duties, and outlays to purchase indentured servants and slaves.70
87036298headright systemSystem by which investors could acquire 50 acres of land per new settler.http://quizlet.com/2852222/edit/71
87036299natural increaseAn increase in population due to more births and less mortality.72
87036300staple cropA crop which is well suited for an an area. ex. Virgina's was Tobacco73
87036301balance of tradeA balance of imports versus exports.74
87036302triangular tradeMeans by which exports to one country or colony provided the means for imports from another country or colony.75
87036303promissory notePromissory notes of individuals or colonial treasurers often passed as a crude sort of paper money.76
87036304townshipA town.77
87036305covenant theoryA voluntary union for the common worship of God and for the purposes of government.78
87036306Half-Way CovenantAllowed baptized children of church members to be admitted to a "halfway" membership in the church and secure baptism for their own children in turn, but allowed them neither a vote in the church, nor communion.79
87036307John Peter ZengerPublisher of the New York Weekly Journal. Zenger was imprisoned for ten months and brought to trial in 1735 for publishing criticisms of New York's governor in his newspaper.80
87036308the EnlightenmentRevolution in thought begun in the seventeenth century that emphasized reason and science over the authority of traditional religion.81
87036309heliocentric universeA sun-centered universe postulated by Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.82
87036310Isaac NewtonAuthor of Principia (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, 1687), which set forth his theory of gravitation.83
87036311John LockeEnglish philosopher who argued in his Essay on Human Understanding (1690), that humanity is largely the product of the environment, the mind being a blank tablet on which experience is written.84
87036312DeistFollowers of Sir Isaac Newton's idea of natural law, reducing God to the position of a remote Creator.85
87036313Benjamin FranklinBoston-born American who epitomized the Enlightenment. A printer by trade, he went on to become a publisher, inventor, and statesman.86
87036314Great AwakeningFervent religious revival movement in the 1720s through the 40s that was spread throughout the colonies by ministers like New England Congregationalist Jonathan Edwards and English revivalist George Whitefield.87
87036315Jonathan EdwardsNew England Congregationalist minister, who began a religious revival in his Northampton church.88
87036316George WhitefieldSpellbinding English evangelist who toured the American Colonies in 1739 preaching the notion of "new birth" - a sudden, emotional moment of conversion and salvation.89
87036317Privy CouncilA body of some thirty to forty advisers appointed by and responsible solely to the king. The Privy Council became the first agency of colonial supervision.90
87036318mercantilismLimitation and exploitation of colonial trade by an imperial power.91
87036319enumerated goodsCertain specified goods from the Colonies, including tobacco, cotton, sugar, and furs, which were to be shipped only to England or other English colonies.92
87036320Dominion of New EnglandConsolidation into a single colony of the New England colonies-and later New York and New Jersey-by royal governor Edmund Andros in 1686; dominion reverted to individual colonial governments three years later.93
87036321Sir Edmund AndrosRoyal governor of the Dominion of New England.94
87036322Jacob LeislerGerman immigrant who became governor of New York from 1688 to 1691 before being hanged for treason. He was later exonerated of all charges.95
87036323contract theory of governmentIdea that people were endowed with certain natural rights to life, liberty, and property, set forth by John Locke in his Second Treatise.96
87036324writs of assistanceOne of the colonies' main complaints against Britain, the writs allowed unlimited search warrants without cause to look for evidence of smuggling.97
87036325admiralty courtsCourts wherein the cases were decided by judges appointed by the governors, rather than by a colonial jury.98
87036326Board of TradeBritish overseer of all matters pertaining to colonial trade and laws.99
87036327salutary neglectSo-called system by which the Board of Trade became chiefly an agency of political patronage, and lax in its enforcement of trade relations.100
87036328prorogueTo adjourn or recess.101
87036329mestizoPeople of mixed Indian and European ancestry.102
87036330Samuel de ChamplainFrench explorer and governor of New France until his death in 1635.103
87036331AcadiansFrench settlers of the easternmost areas of Canada.104
87036332King William's WarFirst (1689-97) of four colonial wars between England and France.105
87036333asientoContract for supplying Spanish America with 4,800 slaves granted to the British by Spain.106
87036334Albany CongressGathering in Albany, New York of colonial representatives who met from June 19 to July 10, 1754 to develop a treaty with Native Americans and plan the defense of the colonies against France.107
87036335French and Indian WarKnown in Europe as the Seven Years' War, the last (1755-63) of four colonial wars fought between England and France for control of North America east of the Mississippi River.108
87036336annus mirabilisThe miraculous year 1759, during which Great Britain secured an empire "on which the sun never set."109
87036337writs of assistanceOne of the colonies' main complaints against Britain, the writs allowed unlimited search warrants without cause to look for evidence of smuggling.110
87036338James OtisLawyer and political leader who fought the writs of assistance and later became a member of the Massachusetts assembly and founding member of the Sons of Liberty.111
87036339Proclamation of 1763Royal directive issued after the French and Indian War prohibiting settlement, surveys, and land grants west of the Appalachian Mountains; although it was soon overridden by treaties, colonists continued to harbor resentment.112
87036340Sugar Act(Revenue Act of 1764) Parliament's tax on refined sugar and many other colonial products; the first tax designed solely to raise revenue for Britain.113
87036341Stamp Act(1765) Parliament required that revenue stamps be affixed to all colonial printed matter, documents, dice, and playing cards; the Stamp Act Congress met to formulate a response, and the act was repealed the following year.114
87036342Quartering Act(1765) Parliamentary act requiring colonies to house and provision British troops.115
87036343virtual representationDubious opinion espoused by Treasury minister George Grenville, that each member of the British Parliament represented not only the district that elected him, but also the interests of the entire country and empire, including the American colonies.116
87036344nonimportation agreementColonial boycott of the importation of British products.117
87036345external and internal taxesImpression encouraged by the Lord of the Treasury, the Marquis of Rockingham, that a distinction was being made between "external" taxes on trade as opposed to "internal" taxes within the colonies.118
87036346Townshend Acts(1767) Parliamentary measures (named for the Chancellor of the Exchequer) that punished the New York Assembly for failing to house British soldiers, taxed tea and other commodities, and established a Board of Customs Commissioners and colonial vice admiralty courts.119
87036347John DickinsonPhiladelphia lawyer who protested the Townshend Acts in his twelve Letters of a Pennsylvania Farmer, arguing that Parliament might regulate commerce and collect duties incidental to that purpose, but it had no right to levy taxes for revenue, whether they were internal or external.120
87036348Samuel AdamsMassachusetts assembly member, founding organizer of the Sons of Liberty, and distant cousin of John Adams.121
87036349Sons of LibertySecret organizations formed by Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and other radicals in response to the Stamp Act; they impeded British officials and planned such harassments as the Boston Tea Party.122
87036350Boston MassacreClash between British soldiers and a Boston mob, March 5, 1770, in which five colonists were killed.123
87036351Crispus AttucksOne of five colonists killed in the Boston Massacre, Attucks was a runaway slave who its is said led the protest against the Townshend Acts that resulted in the bloody conflict with British soldiers.124
87036352Green Mountain BoysGroup led by Ethan Allen, who fought for the land that became Vermont.125
87036353Paxton BoysVengeful Pennsylvania frontiersmen who in protest of a perceived lack of frontier protection massacred local Indian tribes.126
87036354RegulatorsGroups of backcountry Carolina settlers who protested colonial policies; North Carolina royal governor William Tryon retaliated at the Battle of Alamance on May 17, 1771.127
87036355GaspeeBritish schooner that accidentally ran aground near Providence, Rhode Island. A crowd from the town boarded the ship, removed the crew and burned the vessel. This led to the creation of the (answer) commission which bypassed the courts of Rhode Island.128
87036356Committees of CorrespondenceIn response to the Gaspee commission, committees sprung up around Massachusetts and eventually other colonies as well, mobilizing public opinion and keeping colonial resentments at a simmer.129
87036357Boston Tea PartyOn December 16, 1773, the Sons of Liberty, dressed as Indians, dumped hundreds of chests of tea into Boston harbor to protest the Tea Act of 1773, under which the British exported to the colonies millions of pounds of cheap-but still taxed-tea, thereby undercutting the price of smuggled tea and forcing payment of the tea duty.130
87036358George Robert Twelves HewesOne of the last survivors of the American Revolution. Was the subject of two biographies and much public commemoration.131
87036359Coercive ActsIntolerable Acts (1774) Four parliamentary measures in reaction to the Boston Tea Party that forced payment for the tea, disallowed colonial trials of British soldiers, forced their quartering in private homes, and set up a military government.132
87036360Continental CongressRepresentatives of a loose confederation of colonies met first in Philadelphia in 1774 to formulate actions against British policies; the Second Continental Congress (1775-89) conducted the war and adopted the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation.133
87036361Lexington and Concord, Battle ofThe first shots fired in the Revolutionary War, on April 19, 1775, near Boston; approximately 100 minutemen and 250 British soldiers were killed.134
87036362Bunker Hill, Battle ofFirst major battle of the Revolutionary War; it actually took place at nearby Breed's Hill, Massachusetts, on June 17, 1775.135
87036363Olive Branch PetitionWritten by John Dickinson, this petition professed continued loyalty to King George III and begged him to restrain further hostilities pending a reconciliation.136
87036364Thomas PaineAuthor of Common Sense (1776). Paine argued for independence, directly attacking allegiance to the monarchy, refocusing the hostility previously vented on Parliament.137
87036365Thomas JeffersonThird President of the United States and drafter of the Declaration of Independence.138
87036366Declaration of IndependenceDocument adopted on July 4, 1776, that made the official break with Britain; drafted by a committee of the Second Continental Congress including principal writer Thomas Jefferson.139
87036367General William HoweCommander-in-Chief of the British army in America at the beginning of the Revolutionary War.140
87036368George WashingtonCommander-in-Chief of the Continental army. First President of the United States.141
87036369The American CrisisPamphlet penned by Common Sense author Thomas Paine, containing the famous line "These are the times that try men's souls."142
87036370HessiansGerman soldiers, most from Hesse-cassel principality (hence the name), paid to fight for the British in the Revolutionary War.143
87036371WhigsAnother name for revolutionary Patriots.144
87036372ToriesTerm used by Patriots to refer to Loyalists, or colonists who supported the Crown after the Declaration of Independence.145
87036373redcoatsNickname for British soldiers, after their red uniform jackets.146
87036374militiaAdult males between the ages of fifteen and sixty were enrolled in their local militia units. They constituted a home guard, defending their own communities, and they also helped augment the Continental army.147
87036375Continental armyArmy authorized by the Continental Congress, 1775-84, to fight the British; commanded by General George Washington.148
87036376Battle of SaratogaMajor defeat of British general John Burgoyne and more than 5,000 British troops in northern New York, on October 17, 1777.149
87036377Henry ClintonCommander-in-Chief of the British army in American replacing General Howe after the Battle of Saratoga.150
87036378Baron von SteubenFrederick William Augustus Henry Ferdinand, a Prussian soldier of fortune who trained and inspired Washington's troops at Valley Forge.151
87036379George Rogers ClarkYoung American General who is credited with having won the West for the new nation.152
87036380Horatio GatesAmerican General whose troops defeated the British forces at Saratoga.153
87036381Lord CornwallisBritish General who surrendered his troops at Yorktown.154
87036382Benedict ArnoldAmerican General who was labeled a traitor when he assisted the British in a failed attempt to take the American fort at West Point.155
87036383John Paul JonesAmerican privateer who helped to disable the British fleet. Credited with the famous words, "I have not yet begun to fight."156
87036384Battle of YorktownLast battle of the Revolutionary War; General Lord Charles Cornwallis along with over 7,000 British troops surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia, on October 17, 1781.157
87036385Peace of ParisSigned on September 3, 1783, the treaty ending the Revolutionary War and recognizing American independence from Britain also established the border between Canada and the United States, fixed the western border at the Mississippi River, and ceded Florida to Spain.158
87036386John TrumbullAmerican artist and painter who painted four panels in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington: The Declaration of Independence, The Surrender of General Burgoyne, Surrender of Lord Cornwallis, and The Resignation of General Washington.159

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