English Settlement & Colonization
The economic theory that a nation's power depends on its wealth, inspiring England to establish colonies.
What is Mercantilism?
The horrific sea voyage that transported enslaved Africans to the Americas.
What is the Middle Passage?
This 1763 treaty concluded the French and Indian War, granting Britain extensive new territory.
What is the Treaty of Paris 1763?
He was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence.
Who was Thomas Jefferson?
The first governing document of the United States, known for its weak central government.
What are the Articles of Confederation?
This colonial region was characterized by its large plantations, cash crops like tobacco, and significant reliance on enslaved labor.
What are the Southern Colonies?
A period of relaxed British oversight that allowed colonies to develop their own forms of self-government.
What is Salutary Neglect?
A British decree that prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains.
What is the Proclamation of 1763?
The Continental Army's harsh winter camp, which, with Baron von Steuben's help, became a critical training ground.
What is Valley Forge?
This farmer uprising in Massachusetts exposed the critical weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
Who is Daniel Shays?
Established by religious dissenters like the Pilgrims and Puritans, this region featured a society centered on towns and a mixed economy.
What are the New England Colonies?
A widespread religious revival in the 1730s and 1740s that promoted colonial unity and questioned established religious authority.
What is the Great Awakening?
This 1765 tax on all printed materials spurred the creation of resistance groups like the Sons and Daughters of Liberty.
What is the Stamp Act?
This decisive battle was the turning point of the war, persuading France to become a key American ally.
What is the Battle of Saratoga?
This law established a method for surveying western lands and allocated funds from land sales for public education.
What is the Land Ordinance of 1785?
Home to cities like Philadelphia and New York, this was the most ethnically and religiously diverse colonial region.
What are the Middle Colonies?
Groups such as the Germans, Scots-Irish, and Dutch who contributed to the cultural diversity of the colonies.
Who are European Ethnic Groups?
A series of harsh measures enacted by Britain in response to the Boston Tea Party to punish Massachusetts.
What are the Intolerable Acts?
Geography was critical in this final major battle, where American and French forces trapped the British army on a peninsula.
What is the Battle of Yorktown?
This agreement settled the debate between large and small states over representation in the new government.
What is the Great Compromise?
The complex network of trade routes connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas for the exchange of goods and enslaved people.
What is the Trans-Atlantic Trade?
These are three major contributions made by the African population to colonial culture and development.
What are architecture, agriculture, and foodways?
The influential pamphlet by Thomas Paine that used plain language to argue for American independence.
What is Common Sense?
The 1783 agreement that formally concluded the war and officially recognized the United States as an independent nation.
What is the Treaty of Paris 1783?
A collection of essays by Hamilton and Madison that argued in favor of ratifying the new Constitution.
What are the Federalist Papers?