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50 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Colombian Exchange
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Where: New World, Europe and Africa
What: Columbus’s discovery in 1492 began an explosion of trade among Europe, the New World and Africa. That trade is known as the “Columbian Exchange.” Slaves were brought to the new world from Africa; sugar, rice, horses, cows, pigs, and disease (smallpox) were brought to the New World from Europe; and gold, silver, corn, potatoes and disease (syphilis) were carried from the New World back to Europe. Sig: Disease (smallpox) decimated Indian groups. The horse revolutionized Plains Indian culture. This international commerce is the beginning of what we would now call “globalization.” Note the racial and ethnic diversity that is automatically included in the “exchange.” |
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Iroquois Confederation- Late 1500s
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Who: Five Native American Nations (Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, Seneca)
Where: In the Mohawk Valley which is now New York What: The Confederation was a powerful force to oppose European encroachment. Fierce tribes fought other Native Americans, and then began fighting the French, English and Dutch for control of the fur trade. They fought for survival. During the American Revolution, the Confederacy split up with most supporting the British. Sig: Provided the largest organized resistance to the incoming Europeans in the colonial period, yet was at its peak just before the Europeans arrived. |
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**Jamestown 1607
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Who: The Virginia Company, John Smith
Where: Jamestown, Virginia What: The Virginia Company sent young men, with no future in overpopulated England. They were lured by the Virginia Company with promises of land and wealth--much as people were lured to California during the Gold Rush. But there was no gold in Virginia, and these "prospectors" didn't know how to farm, didn't know how to hunt, and, possibly feeling betrayed by the Virginia Company's promises, and lacking any land of their own, were not known for their spirit of cooperation among themselves or with the local Indians of the Powhatan confederacy. They suffered greatly for several years until tobacco became available as a cash crop. While they did not discover gold, tobacco became an adequate substitute. Sig: Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in the new world. |
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French Colonization in Canada 1608
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Who: Samuel de Champlain (Father of New France)
Where: Quebec, Canada What: The French settled in Quebec the year after the founding of Jamestown. Sig: The French worked better with the Indians than the English or the Spanish, trading and intermarrying with the Indians. Quebec begins the French empire and the 150 years-long contest with the English for control of North America. |
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Spanish Settlement of Santa Fe 1609
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What: While St. Augustine, Florida was the first permanent settlement, note that the Spanish founded Santa Fe in about 1609.
Sig: The English, French, and Spanish all started important settlements about the same time (1607-09). Ultimately all three would fight for control of the North American continent. |
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Plymouth Settlement 1620
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Who: Separatist pilgrims fleeing from Holland
Where: Plymouth Bay What: The Separatists fled Europe for cultural and religious freedom in America. They agreed to the Mayflower Compact before landing, pledging to obey “all just and equal laws.” Sig: They weren't significant economically or numerically. However, they were very important morally and spiritually. The Mayflower Compact was crude but laid the foundations for democratic government. The Plymouth colony was merged with Massachusetts in 1691 when Massachusetts became a royal colony. |
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Puritans (1630) Separatists (1620)
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Who/where: Puritans-Boston; Separatists-Plymouth
What: Puritans wanted to reform the Church of England. Separatists (extreme Puritans) wanted to separate from the Church of England. Both were Calvinistic, strict, and religiously intolerant. Sig: Their religious devotion principally shaped the beginning of English settlements and religious influence in New England. |
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**Puritans early settlement and religious intolerance within the colony
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Who: Puritans (not Separatists but those who wanted to “purify” the Church of England)
Where: Massachusetts (Boston) When: 1630 What: They believed in the doctrine of a calling to do Gods work on earth. They had serious commitment to work yet they also enjoyed simple pleasures. They established a bible commonwealth with no tolerance for religious dissent (Williams, Hutchinson were banished for heresy). The colony was economically successful but religiously intolerant. Sig: Church members had rights (vote) as “freemen.” They were intolerant of others who did not share their beliefs. |
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Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)
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What: Bradstreet (1612-1672) is an important figure in the history of American literature. Bradstreet's work points to the struggles of a Puritan wife against the hardships of New England colonial life, and in some way is a testament to the plight of the women of the age.
Sig: She is considered by many to be the first American poet, and she is a woman. |
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Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam (New York) 1624
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Who: The Dutch West India Company
Where: New York (New Amsterdam) What: Company town: developed for economic benefits of fur trade. Later became aristocratic in its habits and attitudes, having no toleration for religious toleration, free speech, or democracy. Sig: Its bustling seaports brought many immigrants and great trade. |
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*William Penn’s Settlement of Pennsylvania 1681
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Who: William Penn
Where: Pennsylvania What: King Charles II awarded Penn a tract of land in 1681 to repay a debt owed to Penn’s father. Sig: Penn, representing persecuted Quakers, advertised Pennsylvania as a colony known for freedom and religious toleration. (Even though Penn was a Quaker, he enjoyed the King’s support.) |
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**Mercantilism—theory
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Where: British Empire (England to 1707: Britain thereafter)
What: Justified British control over the colonies. This theory proposed that wealth was power and that a country’s economic wealth could be measured by the amount of gold or silver in its treasury. A favorable balance of trade must be created by exporting more expensive goods to colonies and importing less expensive raw materials from colonies. The mother country produced finished goods; colonies supplied markets for finished goods and raw materials. Gold and silver would flow to the mother country as a result (finished goods are more valuable than raw materials.) Trade within the empire should not permit outsiders (Dutch, French, Spanish) to profit, lest gold and silver be shifted to them. Sig: Mercantilism was the foundation for the economic relationship between the colonies and England up to the Revolution. |
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**Mercantilism in practice
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What: Navigation and Trade Acts brought mercantilism to life. The Navigation Acts from 1650 to 1663 required that all goods flowing to and from the colonies could be transported only in British ships. The captain of the ship must be English, and the crew must be ¾ English. Certain commodities must be shipped to England first before going to Europe from the colonies or to the colonies from Europe. Various Trade Acts included the hat and iron acts, which prohibited final colonial manufacture of hats and iron goods. Tariffs were imposed to protect British sugar planters, such as the Molasses Act of 1733 which imposed a duty of 6 pence per gallon on imported foreign molasses (thus favoring British molasses). The 6 pence was not meant to be paid and was, therefore, not really a tax. (When the Act was amended in 1764 to lower the rate to 3 pence per gallon, which was meant to be paid, the issue of taxation without representation arose and led in time to the Revolution.)
Sig: The colonies did not object to Navigation and Trade Acts in part due to “salutary neglect” (weak enforcement of the acts), and the colonies smuggled around the acts anyway. |
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Salutary neglect
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What: Even though England believed in a system of Mercantilism, Sir Robert Walpole espoused a view of "salutary neglect.” This is a system whereby the actual enforcement of external trade relations was lax. He believed that this enhanced freedom for the colonists would stimulate commerce and be, in the end, beneficial to all.
Sig: The colonies were allowed to trade freely in spite of trade acts. When after 1763 the British began serious enforcement of the trade acts, thus abandoning salutary neglect, the colonists were resentful, believing that their freedom was being eroded. |
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The Half Way Covenant of 1662
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Who: Troubled ministers of the Puritan church.
Where: New England What: An agreement in response to the decline in “conversions.” Baptism in the church was extended to children of parents who were not able to experience the “evangelical experience” as did the first settlers from England did. Since full church membership was required for voting, this was an important issue. Sig: Ironically, it actually weakened the distinction between the elect and its members, therefore diluting the spiritual ‘purity’ of the first settlers. |
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Dominion of New England 1686-1689
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Who: Edmund Andros, Governor of the Dominion
Where: New England What: The Dominion of New England was a short-lived administrative union of English colonies that was decreed by King James II. The Dominion of New England was governed by Edmund Andros. The dominion was created in an attempt to bolster the colonial defense in the event of war with the Native American and the French. It was also designed to promote urgently needed efficiency in the administration of the Navigation Acts. Sig: The Dominion of New England was disliked by the colonists because the dominion was enforcing the Navigation Acts which prohibited the colonist from trading with whom they wanted and forced them to rely on England. This anger eventually leads to the overthrow of Edmond Andros and the end of the Dominion of New England (which was linked to the Glorious Revolution occurring in England—the King was being overthrown in both England and New England). |
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Indentured Servitude (including increase in slavery after 1675)
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When: 17th and 18th centuries
Who: Poor English Where: Colonies in America What: A majority of English migrants came to America as ‘Indentures’ and, in exchange for a paid passage, worked as servants for 4-7 years. Sig: Indentured servants were used as America’s main labor force before 1675. They were used to maintain the growing tobacco industry and to bring profit to their masters. The servants’ growing discontent and threatening behavior, a dramatic decrease in new indentures after prosperity to England returned in the 1670s, and the ever increasing wealth of masters led to a great increase in the African slave trade and the rise in the slave population from the 1680s on. |
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Agricultural developments in colonies 1612 on
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Where: Mainly Southern and Middle Colonies
What: Virginia and the south: tobacco, rice, indigo, sugar Middle colonies: rye, oats, barley, wheat, beef and pork Sig: The production of tobacco and food crops by hand methods created an insatiable demand for labor in the colonies forcing servants and slaves to be brought in, raising the population dramatically and making the economy flourish. |
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Northern Merchants and Southern Planters
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What: The Northern colonies excelled in trading with both fellow colonies and overseas countries. Their expertise in both sailing and trading contributed to their long lasting success. Using their advantage of fertile soil, Southern Colonies practiced a completely different economy. Producing crops in demand like tobacco and rice, these colonies were able to establish a profitable agricultural economy.
Sig: Both the Northern and Southern colonies established their economies early on, but with very different qualities, the North with merchant trade and South with plantation work. Because of these differences it was very easy for the two to rely on each other. However, eventually these differences would cause a rift between the two entities. |
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Virginia and Massachusetts as Royal Colonies
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What: Virginia and Massachusetts became royal colonies
Why: Virginia was poorly managed and the Indian war eroded the colony’s credibility in London. Massachusetts got swept up in the governmental reorganization related to the Glorious Revolution that brought William and Mary to the throne. When: 1624 (Virginia) & 1691 (Massachusetts) Sig: Demonstrates the power of the King over previously corporate colonies |
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Colonial society: role of cities
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What: Colonial cities functioned as the center for entertainment, education, religion, politics and courts, commerce (retail shops, blacksmiths), and farm support.
Sig: Colonial cities were the center of an essentially agrarian society. |
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Emergence of Slavery – 1660s on
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Who: Africans, Colonists
Where: Southern Colonies What: Slavery started for economic reasons. Rising wages in England (1670s) reduced the amount of people willing to become indentured servants to work in the new world. As cheap labor was needed for the tobacco and rice plantations, the need for slaves increased. Sig: Brought Africans to the colonies and sparked the Southern economy. |
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Colonial Society: Role of Women 1607-1692
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Who: Women in Colonial Era
Where: Colonial America What: Women were encouraged to marry early and have many children. Child rearing became their full time job. As married women, they were essential to the maintenance of the family unit, with the husband tending the fields and the wife performing all household tasks, including the manufacture of candles, soap, and clothing. Sig: Think of the married colonial women as fully one-half of an integrated economic unit. Thus her role was absolutely vital. |
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Married Women Property Rights in Colonial America
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Who: Married Women in Colonial America
What: Single women in the colonies did have property rights. Married women in the south often lost their husbands early and had the right to own property to support her family as a widow. Women in the north also had rights but most of them gave them up upon getting married out of the government’s fear that they would have conflicting interest with their husbands. Married women in particular were economically and legally subordinate to their husbands. Sig: Married women in particular suffered discrimination relating to property rights, even though laws were less restrictive in the south. |
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Resistance to Colonial Authority: Bacon’s Rebellion 1676
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Who: Nathaniel Bacon and single young freemen
Where: Chesapeake Region, Virginia What: One thousand young men were forced into the back country in search of land where they were attacked by Native Americans. Because the governor would not retaliate, Bacon’s rebels went on a rampage of plundering and pilfering. They destroyed Native American settlements and chased Governor William Berkeley out of Jamestown. The rebellion was crushed. Sig: Bacon had ignited the smoldering resentments of poor, former indentured servants. These tensions between them and the gentry caused the plantation owners to look elsewhere (African slave trade) for workers. |
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Resistance to Spanish Colonial Authority: The Pueblo Revolt of 1680
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Who: Pueblo people and Catholic Missionaries
Where: New Mexico: Santa Fe to Taos What: Roman Catholic missionaries’ efforts to convert the native Indians and suppress their religious customs provoked the uprising, also call Pope’s Rebellion. Sig: The Pueblo Indians cut off all ties to the Roman Catholic missionaries, thus pushing them further west. It took the Spanish nearly half a century to fully reclaim New Mexico from Pueblo control. |
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Resistance to Colonial Authority: The Stono Rebellion 1739
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Who: South Carolina slaves
What: The Stono Rebellion was the largest slave uprising in the colonial period. Fifty South Carolina slaves marched towards Spanish Florida hoping for freedom, but got stopped by the militia in the process. (Many whites and slaves were killed.) Sig: Because of the rebellion, a harsher slave code was put into action. They were no longer able to assemble in groups, earn their own money, and learn how to read. |
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Leisler’s Rebellion 1689-91
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Who: Sir Edmund Andros, Jacob Leisler, New England and Chesapeake colonists
Where: New York What: After the downfall of the highly unpopular King James II by the Glorious Revolution, Jacob Leisler led a rebellion and seized control of lower New York from Dominion of New England Governor Andros. His rebellion was smashed by the forces of the new King William. He was hanged. Sig: The rebellion represents the problem the English had in maintaining a far-flung empire. |
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Scots-Irish in the colonial backcountry-18th century
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Who: The Scot-Irish were hardy, independent, anti-authoritarian settlers in the colonial backcountry (western parts) of Pennsylvania, the Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia (along the Appalachians). They detested the Anglican Church and the King of England due to religious and economic persecution. While independent, they generally supported the patriot cause against the King.
Sig: They represented a significant part of the backcountry population in colonial America. |
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Triangular Trade in the colonial period 17th/18th c.
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What: On the initial passage, goods were carried from Europe or the American colonies to Africa: on the infamous “middle passage,” slaves were carried to the new world (Caribbean, for example): on the third passage, sugar and other plantation products were carried back to Europe or to the American colonies.
Sig: The triangular trade stimulated the global economy and greatly promoted slavery. (The international slave trade was abolished by U.S. law in 1808.) |
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Religious diversity in the colonies (by region: New England, Mid-Atlantic, and South)
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What: There was great religious diversity in the colonies: Puritans or Congregationalists dominated in New England; various denominations could be found in the Middle colonies (Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Quakers, Catholics); and Anglicans (Church of England) dominated in the South.
Sig: More so than other countries, the American colonies were a land of religious diversity and (excepting Jews) religious toleration. |
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**The Great Awakening of the 1730’s-1740’s
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Who: Jonathan Edwards (pastor & theologian) and other pastors, George Whitefield
Where: Started in Northampton, Massachusetts, spread to the rest of New England What: Unlike the preaching styles of older clergy, Edwards’s new unconventional preaching style emphasized a direct, emotive, spirituality that was seriously ignored by older clergy. Powerful evangelical preaching convicted sinners and brought them to conversion and a new understanding of faith. Sig: It was the first mass movement and religious upheaval within the colonies which reduced the influence of the established church and strengthened the power of ordinary people. |
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Deism
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What: Deism accepts the existence of a God on the evidence of reason and nature only, with rejection of supernatural revelation (distinguished from theism). God created the world but does not immediately intervene in the life of an individual. Jefferson was a Deist.
Sig: While some, including Jefferson, were not “Christian,” most people in colonial America generally accepted the existence of God. |
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John Peter Zenger (1734-1735)
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Who: John Peter Zenger
Where: New York Colony What: A legal case--a newspaper printer (Zenger) was charged with seditious libel when he criticized the corrupt government. Andrew Hamilton defended him and Zenger was found not guilty. Sig: Freedom of the press, helped establish the doctrine that true statements about public officials could not be prosecuted as seditious libel. |
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New York Conspiracy Trials (1741)
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What: Slaves and poor whites in New York City set several fires in protest to bad economic conditions. Over 150 were arrested; many were hanged or burned.
Sig: In view of recent slave rebellions in South Carolina and the Caribbean, whites feared a slave rebellion in New York. The conspiracy trials reflected that fear. |
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French and Indian War/Seven Years’ War (1754-1763)
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Who: Britain and France (in America), Britain, France, Spain, Prussia, Russia, and Austria (in Europe and other continents)
Where: Ohio Valley and Canada What: The French and British wanted the same piece of land—notably the Ohio River Valley. War with France was declared, not only in the America’s, but also on other continents. The British attacked France in the Quebec-Montreal region of Canada. The British took the city of Quebec. Then, in 1760, Montreal also fell to the British. Sig: With the fall of Quebec and Montreal came France’s permanent removal from the North American continent. The war cost the British too much money, and the British looked to the colonies to support the financial burdens of empire, which in turn led to the issue of “taxation without representation,” and ultimately, to the American Revolution. |
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Treaty of Paris 1763
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What: The Treaty of Paris of 1763 ended the French and Indian War and made Britain the dominant European power in eastern North America. France relinquished its claims to New France and all French territory east of the Mississippi River to Britain. Spain gave Florida to Britain, and as compensation, took over French Louisiana west of the Mississippi, thus solidifying its claim to all of western North America.
Sig: Britain had begun as a relatively insignificant country in 1600, but by 1763 it had become an influential European nation and a major colonial power. |
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Imperial Reorganization of 1763-64
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What: Britain tightened its control on the American colonies, mostly motivated by debt caused by the French and Indian War. Include here the authorization to send 10,000 troops to the colonies, the Proclamation of 1763 (closes trans-Appalachia to settlement), the Currency Act of 1764 (no more paper money), and the Sugar Act of 1764 (changes Molasses Act of ‘33 from trade act to revenue act).
Sig: Britain’s tightening control eventually leads to America’s fight for independence, motivated by the infringement of colonial rights. |
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**Proclamation Line of 1763
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Who: King George III
Where: Along the crest of the Appalachian Mountains What: The King prohibited settlement in the area beyond the Appalachians as a reaction to Pontiac’s Rebellion. The purpose was to work out the “Indian problem” fairly and prevent another bloody eruption such as Pontiac’s. Sig: Americans charged west despite the proclamation, as they saw the west as their birthright. This signified the American’s defiance, and the early beginnings of separation from Britain. |
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**Stamp Act (1765)
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What: The Seven Years’ War had left Britain with a large debt. In order to pay it off, Parliament passed the Stamp Act. Stamps were required on bills of sale for about fifty trade items as well as on certain types of commercial and legal documents, including playing cards, pamphlets, newspapers, diplomas, bills of lading (documents that list goods to be shipped), and marriage licenses. Colonists used 1) violence (Sons of Liberty) to prevent collection, 2) nonimportation agreement, 3) Stamp Act Congress, asserting no taxation without representation and that the colonies could not be represented in Parliament [note revolutionary consequence of Stamp Act Congress resolves].
Sig: The Stamp Act was a direct blow to the colonist’s rights, bringing cries of "no taxation without representation.” The Stamp Act Congress of 1765 was formed because of it. The colonists eventually forced a nullification of the tax. This was an early beginning of a separation from Britain. |
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Declaratory Act 1766
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What: Parliament repealed the Stamp Act but passed the Declaratory Act, stating that it had the right to bind the colonies “in all cases whatsoever” (that is, including taxation).
Sig: Between the Stamp Act resolves and the Declaratory Act, a showdown was bound to occur [remember that this is a question of sovereignty, i.e., who is in control of the land and the people]. |
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*Virtual Representation in 1760’s
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Who: Prime Minister George Grenville
Where: Britain What: This theory states that the members of Parliament represent all British people, even those living in America who do not vote for members of Parliament. Sig: Grenville claimed this theory in response to the colonists’ outrage at being taxed by the Stamp and Quartering Acts of 1765. The Americans said that Parliament should not be allowed to tax them because there were no American representatives. This eventually led to the Americans rejecting Parliament’s influence and power. |
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Townshend Acts 1767
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Who: Charles Townshend, Chancellor of the Exchequer
What: Imposed duties on glass, lead, paper, paints, and tea imported into the colonies. Townshend thought that an indirect tax (tariff) on the colonists would not cause problems. However, the colonies still fought back with no taxation in any form without representation (the colonists did not accept the distinction between direct (Stamp Act) and indirect (tariff) taxation. A tariff for protection, not meant to be paid, was not a tax in the colonial mind. A tariff for revenue, meant to be paid, was a tax. (Thus the Sugar Act of 1764, which lowered the prohibitive tariff of 1733 on foreign molasses from 6 pence per gallon to a revenue producing tariff of three pence per gallon on foreign molasses, signaled a shift in purpose on the part of Parliament and the beginning of the taxation dispute between the colonies and Parliament.) Sig: While the duties were repealed in 1770 (except on tea), the Townshend Acts stimulated the taxation discussion that in the end would result in the Boston Tea Party, the Coercive Acts, and Revolution. |
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Boston Tea Party 1773
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Who: Sons of Liberty
Where: Boston Harbor What: Angered by British taxation, most notably on East India Company tea, the Sons of Liberty decided to sneak aboard a British ship bearing tea and dump the cargo overboard. Sig: This action lead to the British Parliament closing the Harbor and passing the Intolerable Acts, one of the causes of the war. |
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Committees of Correspondence of 1772-74
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Who: Samuel Adams
What: Samuel Adams organized the first committee in Boston in 1772. Committees soon spread to other towns and then to all of the colonies. Sig: The Committees fueled opposition of British policy, kept up communications among the colonies, and evolved into the First Continental Congress (called to respond to the Intolerable Acts). |
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Quebec Act 1774
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What: Act by Parliament establishing governance of Quebec and extending the boundary of Quebec all the way down to the Ohio River. The act was aimed at insuring the loyalty of the Quebec colonists (respecting the Roman Catholic Church) and providing for the civil administration of Quebec.
Sig: The American colonists saw the Act as an attempt to stop their westward expansion because it incorporated large parts of the Ohio Country into Quebec. Many were alarmed by the spread of the Catholic faith. (Combine the Quebec Act and the Coercive Acts into the “Intolerable Acts.”) |
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Coercive Acts
1. Massachusetts Government Act 1774 |
Where: Massachusetts
What: The Act did away with elections for the Governor’s council (making council appointed by the King) and restricted any meeting of the leadership of the colony to requiring official sanction. Sig: This act worked to severely restrict the colonists’ governance of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and spread anger against the crown. |
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Coercive Acts
**2. Administration of Justice Act 1774 |
Where: Massachusetts
What: A British officer or official accused of a capital (someone is killed) crime can be tried in either a British court or a court in another colony. This angered the citizens of Massachusetts Bay because witnesses of the situations would not appear in trial, and thus the defendant would most likely be declared not guilty. This seemed to the colonists to be a denial of justice and the legalization of what could be called murder. |
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Coercive Acts
3. Boston Port Act 1774 |
What: A response to the Boston Tea Party, it outlawed the use of the Port of Boston until such time as payment was made to the King's treasury (for customs duty lost) and to the East India Company for damages suffered.
Sig: Closure of the port of Boston was an economic disaster for Massachusetts. |
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Coercive Acts
4. Quartering Act 1774 |
Where: 13 American Colonies
What: This act went further than previous acts by requiring the colonies to provide food and housing to British troops in occupied buildings, including private homes. (Previous quartering required that soldiers be housed in public inns, taverns, or unoccupied buildings.) Sig: The British government made yet another intrusion on American lives. Soldiers could now have a place to stay even where they weren’t invited, and the colonists had to pay for it. This angered the Americans further and was one of the reasons for the American Revolution. |
