Unit One Key Terms

Front 1

PLYMOUTH COLONY

Back 1

Who: A group including separatists who later came to be known as the Pilgrims

What: English colonial venture in North America from 1620 – 1691.

Where: The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town of Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Historical Significance: The citizens of Plymouth were fleeing religious persecution and searching for a place to worship their God as they saw fit.

Front 2

MAYFLOWER COMPACT 1620

Back 2

Who: Written by the colonists, later together known to history as the Pilgrims, who crossed the Atlantic aboard the Mayflower.

What: The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony.

Where: Plymouth Colony.

Historical Significance: The Mayflower Compact was based simultaneously upon a majoritarian model and the settlers' allegiance to the king. It was in essence a social contract in which the settlers consented to follow the compact's rules and regulations for the sake of survival

Front 3

HEAD RIGHT SYSTEM

Back 3

Who: thirteen British colonies in North America and the Virginia Company of London

What: A headright is a legal grant of land to settlers. The headright system was used in Jamestown, Virginia, starting in 1618 as an attempt to solve labor shortages due to the advent of the tobacco economy, which required large plots of land with many workers.

Where: The headright system was used in Jamestown, Virginia

Historical Significance: Virginian colonists were each given two headrights of 50 acres immigrant colonists who paid for their passage were given one headright, and individuals would receive one headright each time they paid for the passage of another individual. This last mechanism increased the division between the wealthy landowners and the working poor.

Front 4

FUNDAMENTAL ORDERS OF CONNECTICUT 1639

Back 4

Who: The orders describe the government set up by the Connecticut River towns, setting its structure and powers.

What: It was a Constitution for the colonial government of Hartford and was similar to the government Massachusetts had set up.

Where: Springfield, Windsor, Wethersfield, and Hartford.

Historical Significance: It has the features of a written constitution, and is considered by some as the first written Constitution in the Western tradition

Front 5

MERCANTILISM

Back 5

Who: Giovanni Botero, Antonio Serra, Francisco de Vitoria, Domingo de Soto, Martin de Azpilcueta, and Luis de Molina.

What: Economic theory that holds that the prosperity of a nation is dependent upon its supply of capital, and that the global volume of international trade is "unchangeable."

Where: England, Italy, France, and Spain

Historical Significance: The first instances of significant government intervention and control over the economy, and it was during this period that much of the modern capitalist system was established.

Front 6

TRIANGULAR TRADE

Back 6

Who: American colonies

What: The Transatlantic Triangular Trade operated during the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries, carrying slaves, cash crops, and manufactured goods between West Africa, the Caribbean or American colonies and the European colonial powers, with the northern colonies of British North America, especially New England, sometimes taking over the role of Europe.

Where: West Africa, the Caribbean or American colonies and the European colonial powers, with the northern colonies of British North America, especially New England

Historical Significance: Triangular trade provided a mechanism for rectifying trade imbalances.

Front 7

THE GREAT AWAKENING

Back 7

Who: George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards

What: The Great Awakenings were several periods of rapid and dramatic religious revival in Anglo-American religious history, generally recognized as beginning in the 1730s.

Where: American colonies

Historical Significance: The Great Awakening was a major influence in guiding the U.S. through the Great Depression and World War II.

Front 8

IRON ACT 1750

Back 8

Who: British Parliament

What: The Iron Act was one of the legislative measures introduced by the British Parliament, seeking to restrict manufacturing activities in British colonies, particularly in north America, and encourage manufacture to take place in Great Britain.


Where: Great Britain

Historical Significance: The Iron Act, strictly Importation, etc. Act 1750 (Statute 23 Geo. II c. 29) was one of the legislative measures introduced by the British Parliament, seeking to restrict manufacturing activities in British colonies, particularly in north America, and encourage manufacture to take place in Great Britain.

Front 9

PROCLAMATION OF 1763

Back 9

Who: N/A

What: Written by King George III following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War

Where: Americas

Significance: to organize Great Britain's new North American empire and to stabilize relations with Native North Americans through regulation of trade, settlement, and land purchases on the western frontier.

Front 10

SALUTARY NEGLECT

Back 10

Who: N/A

What: British policy of avoiding strict enforcement of parliamentary laws, which were meant to keep the American colonies obedient to Great Britain.

Where: Early Americas

Significance: allowed the enforcement of trade relations laws to be lenient.

Front 11

INDENTURED SERVANTS

Back 11

Who: Were people who had debts with someone so took the form of a ‘slave’ until they could pay back the debts.
What: N/A
Where: American Colonies
Significance: They helped boost the cash crop tobacco and were eventually replaced with slaves.

Front 12

GEORGE WASHINGTON

Back 12

Who: Commander of the Continental Army and first president
What: N/A
Where: America
Significance: He helped build America and its constitutions and fought to keep the nation from falling apart.

Front 13

STAMP ACT 1765

Back 13

Who: N/A
What: act imposed by the British on the American Colonies that required for a number of colonial products to be taxed, which contributed to the payment of British soldiers organized in the colonies as a direct result of the Seven Years’ War.
Where: American Colonies
Significance: It was condemned in the colonies, which viewed it as the crown taxing them without their consent

Front 14

STAMP ACT CONGRESS

Back 14

Who: N/A
What: A meeting of 9 colonies that discussed and acted on the Stamp Act
Where: New York City
Significance: They kept track of the Stamp Act and acted upon it when necessary.

Front 15

SONS OF LIBERTY

Back 15

Who: a secret group formed by colonists and patriots in the midst of the American Revolution
What: N/A
Where: American Colonies
Significance: They attacked British supporters. English products, and at times even the British themselves

Front 16

COMMITTEES OF CORRESPONDENCE

Back 16

Who: N/A
What: Documents created by the governments of the thirteen colonies
Where: American Colonies
Significance: to organize written exchanges between colonies outside of British knowledge.

Front 17

BOSTON MASSACRE

Back 17

Who: N/A
What: a large group of colonists provoked and attacked a number of British troops, leading to the death of three civilians the eventual death of two others.
Where: Boston
Significance: patriots to further raise the tension between the colonists and the English used the incident as propaganda.

Front 18

INTOLERABLE (COERCIVE) ACTS 1774

Back 18

Who: N/A
What: a series of acts imposed by Parliament on the colonies that included the Boston Port Act, Massachusetts Government Act, the Administration of Justice Act, Quartering Act, and the Quebec Act.
Where: American Colonies
Significance: The acts were unpopular and hastened the colonies’ decision to enter the American Revolution.

Front 19

SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS 1775

Back 19

Who: a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies
What: N/A
Where: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Significance: managed the colonial war effort, and moved slowly towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence

Front 20

. NORTHWEST ORDINANCE

Back 20

Who: N/A
What: an act of the Congress of the Confederation of the United States.
Where: Northwest Territory
Significance: it established the precedent by which the United States would expand westward across North America by the admission of new states, rather than by the expansion of existing states.