American History: Pre 1776
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- Great Extinction or Mega fauna Extinction
-
Who? Wholly mammoths, saber-toothed tigers, and other land animals
What? Became extinct over thousands of years.
When? This happened around 10,000 BC
Where? All across North America.
How? Climate change or over hunting are theories. - Cheng Ho
- Cheng Ho was an early Chinese explorer that explored the coastline of Africa and India in the early 15th century.
- Mound Builders
- Mound Builders was a group of people spread throughout central US from 3,000 BC until 1700 AD.
- Conquest of the Incas
-
Who: Incas were conquered by a Spanish, Francisco Pizarro.
When: 1532
Where: high in the Andes mountains
How: Smallpox had killed the reigning Inca and the kingdom was in the middle of a civil war. After conquering the empire, Spain established a new capital called Lima. - Conquest of the Aztecs
- The Aztecs were conquered in 1519 by Cortes. Small pox decimated the Aztec population and prevented them from fighting off Cortes. Mexico City was built on the ruins of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan.
- Small Pox
- Indians had no immunity to Small Pox and were killed in high percentages. Small Pox was a large factor in the conquest of the Inca and Aztec empires.
- Columbian Exchange
- The Columbian Exchange is a term used to describe the exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and objects between the New World and the Old World.
- Virgin soil epidemics
- Virgin soil epidemics happened when a disease affected a group of people that had no natural immunity to the disease. The mortality rate can be as high as 50-90%.
- Cahokia
-
Who: Native peoples
When: around 1100 to 1200 AD
Where: In Illinois
Why: Cahokia was the most advanced civilization north of Mexico. The city covered about six sq miles at it's peak. - New France
-
Who: New France was settled mostly by Jesuit Missionaries, Huegonots and professional soldiers.
When: Settlement mainly started in the early 1600's
Where: Most of the population was in the St Laurence valley and around the Great Lakes.
Why: The economy in New France was fur trading and farming. Jesuit missionaries also had a profound influence on Indians. - Sir Humphrey Gilbert
-
Who: Gilbert was an Englishman
When: Around the 1560s
Where: Gilbert lived in England and conquered Ireland.
Why: Gilbert killed Irish natives and settled that island. One tactic that he used that would be repeated later in the war with Indians was that he killed the women and children and destroyed the crops. - Jamestown
-
Who: Jamestown was settled by an expedition from the London Company.
When: Jamestown was founded in 1607.
Where: It was located in southeast Virgina.
Why: Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in the New World. The expedition was only interested in finding gold and silver when they first arrived. Many died from starvation, disease, and Indians. John Smith helped the colony get established by forcing them to farm. - John Smith
-
Who: John Smith is an English former military figure.
When: John Smith helps found Jamestown in 1607
Why: John Smith takes charge of the settlement and forces the colonists to farm instead of searching for riches. - John Rolfe
-
Who: Was an Enlishman
When/Where: Came to Jamestown in 1613.
Why: Rolfe married Pocahontas and made peace with the Indians. He also brought a new strain of tobacco which became the cash crop of Jamestown. - Headright System
-
Where/Who: Jamestown encouraged emigration to their colony by the headright system. All colonists who paid their passage over were granted 50 acres of land.
When: The headright system was started in 1618.
Why: Jamestown was in desperate need of colonists so their offered this deal to all those that wanted to come over. - Indentured Servant
- Indentured servants were hired from England to Jamestown. An indentured servant's passage and board were provided for four or five years in exchange for their work.
- Pilgrims
- The Pilgrims founded Plymouth Rock in 1620. Pilgrims were Seperatists. They sought religious freedom in the New World.
- Puritans
- The puritans secured a charter near the Pilgrims in the New England area. They recieved their charter in 1629. They also sought religious freedom.
- Pequot War
-
-1637
-The war started over a number of tensions between the New Englanders and the Pequot Tribe. In the end the Pequot Tribe was almost completely destroyed. - Quaker
- Most Quakers in the New World lived in Pennslyvania. Tried to maintain good relations with Indians.
- Mercantilism
- The idea that there is a finite amount of wealth. Each empire must legislate trade, industry, and their colonies to have a favorable balance of trade.
- Navigation Acts
- The Navigation Acts were a series of laws that were meant to force out foriegn shipping competition between the New and Old Worlds. The first act was in 1651. This started the Dutch War.
- Mourning Wars
- The mourning wars were conducted by the Iroquois Nation. When members of a tribe were killed the women demanded more members. The wars were conducted to get captives.
- Metacom's War
-
-1675
Metacom was a Indian chief who demanded retribution for an Indian that was killed. This escalated into a war between the Indians and the settlers. - Bacon's Rebellion
- In 1675, Bacon warred against peaceful Indians and when then attacked Jamestown when Berkeley tried to interfer.
- Salem Witch Trials
- In 1692 a group of girls accused some others in the countryside of Massachusetts of witchcraft. 19 people were hanged and other died in Jail before it was stopped.
- Pueblo Revolt
- It was the most organized Indian revolt in American History. It happened in 1680 and 400 Spanish were killed.
- Coffles
- Coffles were used in the slave trade in Africa. They were branches that neck-cuffed slaved together.
- Middle Passage
- The middle passage was the term to describe the shipping between the coast of Africa and the New world. The trade was in Slaves. The trip would last 1 to 2 months.
- Jumping the Broomstick
- This was a traditional wedding ritual that was used in the New World by the Africans.
- Stono Rebellion
- Was a slave uprising in South Carolina in 1739.
- Proclamation of 1763
- Was given by England to try and control the newly aquired colonies. It said that no new settlments could go east of the continental divide in the Appalachian Mountains.
- The Stamp Act
- The stamp act was put in place in 1765. It placed a tax on all legal documents and other things such as playing cards. It wasn't possible to enforce and soon was repealed.
- Boston Massacre
- Happened in 1770 in Boston. Sons of Liberty were throwing rocks and snowballs at British troops. A musket was accidently discharged and the British began firing into the crowd. Five were killed.
- Declaration of Independence
- On July 4th, 1776 the Declaration of Independence was signed. It officially started the War for Independence.