| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Mayflower Compact | The first agreement for self-government in America. It was signed in 1620 by the 41 men on the Mayflower and set up a government for the Plymouth colony. |
| Massachusetts Bay Colony | One of the first settlements in New England; established in 1630 and became a major Puritan colony. Became the state of Massachusetts, originally where Boston is located. It was a major trading center, and absorbed the Plymouth community |
| John Winthrop | Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, envisioned colony as a "city upon a hill" |
| Separatists | English Protestants wh owould not accept allegiance in any form to the Church of England. Included the Pilgrims and Quakers |
| Anne Hutchinson | Puritan dissenter banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony who fled to Rhode Island in 1638 |
| Roger Williams | A dissenter who clashed with the Massachusetts Puritans over separation of church and state and was banished in 1636, after which he founded the colony of Rhode Island to the south |
| Half-way 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. |
| King Philip's War | 1675 - A series of battles in New Hampshire between the colonists and the Wompanowogs, led by a chief known as King Philip. The war was started when the Massachusetts government tried to assert court jurisdiction over the local Indians. The colonists won with the help of the Mohawks, and this victory opened up additional Indian lands for expansion. |
| joint stock company | A company in whih investors pool their resources for a major commericial undertaking |
| House of Burgesses | The first official legislative assembly in the Colonies |
| Bacon's Rebellion | Rebellion of discontent former landless servants led by Nathaniel Bacon. Though the rebellion was crushed, it caused a move from indentured servants to African slaves for labor purposes. |
| Benjamin Franklin | Printer, author, inventor, diplomat, statesman, and Founding Father. One of the few Americans who was highly respected in Europe, primarily due to his discoveries in the field of electricity. |
| First Great Awakening | Religious revival in the American colonies of the eighteenth century during which a number of new Protestant churches were established. |
| Jonathan Edwards | A Congregationalist preacher of the Great Awakening who spoke of the fiery depths of hell. |
| George Whitefield | Preacher who traveled throughout the colonies: He said the key test of election (salvation) is an emotional conversion experience |
| Maryland Act of Toleration | Act concerning religion; passed in 1649 by colonial assembly 'Province of Maryland' mandating religious toleration. CAlverts (founded Maryland) wanted to attract settlers= profitable. safe haven for catholics |
| 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 |
| Albany Plan of Union | plan proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1754 that aimed to unite the 13 colonies for trade, military, and other purposes; the plan was turned down by the colonies and the Crown |
| Treaty of Paris (1763) | Officially ended French/Indian war, Britain dominated |
| Proclamation of 1763 | issued by King goege III following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War. organize Britain's vast new North American empire, and to stabilize relations with North American Indians through regulation of trade, settlement, and land purchases on the western frontier. forbade Americans from settling or buying land west of the Appalachians. |
| Navigation Acts | Laws that governed trade between England and its colonies. Colonists were required to ship certain products exclusively to England. These acts made colonists very angry because they were forbidden from trading with other countries. |
| Sugar Act 1764 | placed a tax on molasses and sugar which was suppose to stop the smuggling and bribery that was associated with the tax on molasses |
| Non-importation Agreement | an agreement that pledged not to import or use goods imported from great britain |
| Stamp Act | A tax that the British Pariliament placed on newspapers and official documents sold in the American Colonies |
| Sons of Liberty | colonists, formed to keep colonies informed of events and organize protests against British (boycotts, riots, articles) |
| John Dickinson | delegate of Pennsylvania, who led a group that favored quick reconciliation with Great Britain as opposed to independence. |
| Boston Massacre | British soldiers fired into a crowd of colonists who were teasing and taunting them. Five colonists were killed. The colonists blamed the British and the Sons of Liberty and used this incident as an excuse to promote the Revolution. |
| Committees of Correspondence | A network of communicaiton set up in Massachusetts and Virginia to inform other colonies of ways that Britain threatened colonial rights |
| Intolerable Acts | in response to Boston Tea Party, 4 acts passed in 1774, Port of Boston closed, reduced power of assemblies in colonies, permitted royal officers to be tried elsewhere, provided for quartering of troop's in barns and empty houses |
| Second Continental Congress | It met in 1776 and drafted and signed the Declaration of Independence, which justified the Revolutionary War and declared that the colonies should be independent of Britain. |
| George Washington | Virginian, patriot, general, and president. Lived at Mount Vernon. Led the Revolutionary Army in the fight for independence. First President of the United States. |
| Washington's Farewell Address | he advised the nation to steer clear of permanent allies and he urged us to have as little connection as possible |
| Olive Branch Petition | On July 8, 1775, the colonies made a final offer of peace to Britain, agreeing to be loyal to the British government if it addressed their grievances (repealed the Coercive Acts, ended the taxation without representation policies). It was rejected by Parliament, which in December 1775 passed the American Prohibitory Act forbidding all further trade with the colonies. |
| Common Sense | A pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1776 to convince the colonists that it was time to become independent. |
| Richard Henry Lee's Resolution | Stated that the colonies should be independent and sever all political ties with Britain. It was adopted by Congress and was the first step towards independence. |
| Thomas Jefferson | Virginian, architect, author, governor, and president. Lived at Monticello. Wrote the Declaration of Independence. Second governor of Virgina. Third president of the United States. Designed the buildings of the University of Virginia. |
| Treaty of Paris (1783) | Ended the Revolution, recognized American Independence, granted all land south of Canada to Florida & Atlantic to Mississippi to Americans |
| John Peter Zenger | A New York editor whose trial for seditious libel backfired on the government; the jury found that truth was a defense for libel. |
| Alexander Hamilton | Delegate to the Constitutional Convention and leader of the Federalists; first secretary of the treasury. |
| Samuel de Champlain | Cartographer, explorer, governor of New France. The major role Champlain played in the St Lawrence River area earned him the title of "father of New France." |
| Alien and Sedition Acts | President John Adams said that you could not speak or write anything against him of the U.S. government. It also increased time for people to become citizens. These laws were to keep people from joining the Democrats or Republicans |
| Pinckney's Treaty | agreement between the united states and spain that changed floridas border and made it easier for american ships to use the port of new orleans |
| restoration colonies | A number of land grants in North America given by King Charles II of England in the latter half of the 17th century, ostensibly as a reward to his supporters in the Stuart Restoration. The grants marked the resumption of English colonization of the Americas after a 30-year hiatus. The two major restoration colonies were the Province of Pennsylvania and the Province of Carolina. |
| Missouri Compromise | 1820 compromise of the admission of MIssouri into the United States. Admitted Missouri as a slave state, and Maine as a free state |
| Treaty of Tordesillas | Set the Line of Demarcation which was a boundary established in 1493 to define Spanish and Portuguese possessions in the Americas. |
| Democratic Republicans | Jefferson's political party - limited government, focus on agriculture, alliance with France |
| Federalist Papers | Series of essays that defended the Constitution and tried to reassure Americans that the states would not be overpowered by the federal government. |
| Articles of Confederation | This document, the nation's first constitution, was adopted by the Second Continental Congress in 1781 during the Revolution. The document was limited because states held most of the power, and Congress lacked the power to tax, regulate trade, or control coinage. |
| French and Indian War | This struggle between the British and the French in the colonies of North America was part of a worldwide war known as the Seven Years' War. |
| Iroquois Confederation | a group of First Nations/Native Americans that originally consisted of five nations: the Mohawk, the Oneida, the Onondaga, the Cayuga, and the Seneca. |
| Marbury v. Madison | This case establishes the Supreme Court's power of Judicial Review |
| Townshend Acts | A tax that the British Parliament placed on leads, glass, paint and tea |
| Virtual Representation | George Grenville invoked this concept to explain why Parliament could legally tax the colonists even though the colonists could not elect any members of Parliament. |
| Embargo Act 1807 | banned imports and exports/ was a disaster, wiped out all trade with all nations |
| Jamestown | First permanent English settlement in North America |
| Louisiana Territory | Land from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains purchased from France for 15 million dollars. It doubled the size of the US at the time, getting more land than the US wanted. |
| Treaty of Ghent | a treaty signed in Belgium that ends the War of 1812; it is signed in 1814 but since news took over six weeks to get across, the Battle of New Orleans was still fought in 1815 |
| Shays Rebellion | this conflict in Massachusetts caused many to criticize the Articles of Confederation and admit the weak central government was not working; uprising led by Daniel Shays in an effort to prevent courts from foreclosing on the farms of those who could not pay the taxes |
| United States Constitution | the constitution written at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 and subsequently ratified by the original thirteen states |
| War of 1812 | Resulted from Britain's support of Indian hostilities along the frontier, interference with American trade, and impressments of American sailors into the British army (1812 - 1815) |
| seperate spheres | Nineteenth-century idea in Western societies that men and women, especially of the middle class, should have clearly differentiated roles in society: women as wives, mothers, and homemakers; men as breadwinners and participants in business and politics. |
| Federalists | supporters of the stronger central govt. who advocated the ratification of the new constitution |
| Barbary Pirates | Plundering pirates off the Mediterranean coast of Africa; President Thomas Jefferson's refusal to pay them tribute to protect American ships sparked an undeclared naval war with North African nations |
| Haitian Rebellion | A number of complex events set the stage that culminated in the most significant revolt in the history of enslaved Africans. |
| deism | belief in the existence of a God on the evidence of reason and nature only, with rejection of supernatural revelation |
| Monroe Doctrine | an American foreign policy opposing interference in the Western hemisphere from outside powers |
| republican motherhood | suggested that women would be responsible for raising their children to be virtuous citizens of the new American republic |
| Constitutional Convention | meeting of delegates in 1787 to revise the Articles of Confederation, which produced the new U.S. Constitution |
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