Pre-Columbian Period
When did Paleo-Americans begin to migrate from Asia across a landmass into the modern-day Americas?
Around 20,000 years ago.
What was the Debate of 1550?
This was a question over the morality of slavery raised by Bartolomé de Las Casas, who was a settler in Hispaniola from 1511.
What events are described as the "First American Revolutions" by Lepore in the mid-to-late seventeenth century?
Native peoples waging war and fighting for sovereignty, along with enslaved people waging rebellions and fighting for their emancipation.
What happened at the Albany Congress (1754)?
Benjamin Franklin proposed a Plan of Union to be administered by a "President General, To be appointed and Supported by the Crown, and a Grand Council to be Chosen by the Representatives of the People."
Describe what happened at the First Continental Congress that met in 1774.
Brought together delegates from 12 out of 13 colonies that would eventually declare independence/become the United States of America. Conveyed in Philadelphia, it met closer to geographical center of the colonies. It confronted the possibility of war with Britain after the passing of the Coercive Acts in the year before.
What forms did Native history-telling take?
Writing, music, stories, dances, arts and crafts.
Which diseases were spread to the Native Americans from the Europeans? (Name at least three).
Smallpox, measles, diphtheria, trachoma, whooping cough, chicken pox, bubonic plague, malaria, typhoid fever, yellow fever, dengue fever, scarlet fever, amoebic dysentery, influenza.
What was the name of the trade that the economy of much of the Atlantic relied on in the 18th century?
Triangular Trade.
What did William Pitt, Britain's secretary of state, promise the British colonists during the Seven Years' War?
The Crown would pay for the war and the colonists would not be taxed.
What was Jamaica's Petition and how does it connect to the American Revolution?
What was the first city in North America and when was it established?
Teotihuacán; 300 BCE.
Describe the events of the English Civil War and how it relates to early American history.
King Charles I ignored the Magna Carta and dismissed Parliament, prompting a war that led to his ousting. This inspired many to flee to the Americas due to religious persecution the war accelerated within England. Additionally, this series of events caused many to question how much power a king should have and how much say the people should have in governmental affairs.
What is mercantilism?
Economic policy that valued exports over imports and rests on the theory that wealth is generated by trade, which must be protected at all costs.
What was the series of events that some historians have called "The Indians' Great Awakening"?
A movement for unity among Native peoples that began during the Seven Years' War.
What was the impact of Thomas Paine's Common Sense (January 1776)?
It was a brisk political argument that was written to ensure everyone could understand. The work used philosophical arguments about the equality of man to argue for revolution.
What was the climate change phenomenon that made farming harder in North America and Europe?
The Little Ice Age.
What were the main differences between European and Native American beliefs about property?
In general, Native Americans did not believe a person could own land. They understood other goods to be owned in common, by the family/groups that made and used and needed them. European beliefs about property was derived from Roman law, which included a belief in private ownership of property, in land and goods.
What was the Stono Rebellion (1739)?
More than 100 African American men rose up in arms and killed more than 20 whites in South Carolina. This was inspired by the rebellions in Jamaica and Antigua.
What was Pontiac's War?
Pontiac, an Ottawa war chief, and his allies hoped to stop the incursion of settlers in Ohio and western Pennsylvania. They killed hundreds of British colonists but, by 1764, they had run out of ammunition and most surrendered.
What were some of the deficiencies of the Articles of Confederation (1777)?
How many people lived in the Americas by 1492?
75 million.
What was the Virginia Company?
A newly founded corporation of investors who set out to colonize North America. They were men who were eager to make their own fortunes, along with soldiers who'd fought in England's religious wars against Catholics and Muslims.
What was the Courant?
The first unlicensed newspaper in the colonies, started by Benjamin's brother, James Franklin.
What were the acts imposed upon the British colonists after the Seven Years' War to repay Britain's debts/punish disloyal colonists (Name at least three and what they did)?
Enforcement of the Proclamation Line of 1763 (colonists not allowed to settle west of the line), the Sugar Act/American Revenue Act (stricter enforcement of taxation), the Stamp Act (tax on all printed paper, including newspapers), the Townshend Acts (taxes on imported lead/paper/paint/glass/tea), Coercive Acts/Intolerable Acts (closed Boston harbor and annulled the Massachusetts charter).