American Colonies 1
What crop became Jamestown’s economic salvation?
Tobacco, cultivated by John Rolfe, became Virginia’s profitable export.
What was the Great Awakening?
A religious revival movement emphasizing emotional faith and personal salvation.
What happened at the Boston Massacre (1770)?
Confrontations over jobs escalated; British soldiers fired on a crowd, killing five including Crispus Attucks.
Describe the Boston Tea Party (Dec. 16, 1773).
Men disguised as Native Americans dumped 18,000 pounds of tea into Boston Harbor from three ships
Q: What was Shays’s Rebellion?
A: A farmers’ uprising in Massachusetts protesting debt and taxes in 1786–87.
How did Bacon’s Rebellion end?
Bacon died of illness; his followers were defeated and punished by Berkeley’s forces.
What was salutary neglect?
England’s policy of relaxing enforcement of laws in exchange for colonial loyalty.
Who helped found the Sons of Liberty, and what did the group do?
Samuel Adams was a key founder; the group organized protests, harassed stamp agents, and led resistance to British taxes.
Describe conditions at Valley Forge (winter 1777–78).
Brutal cold, little shelter, disease and hunger; over 2,000 of 10,000 soldiers died, but the army endured.
Q: What was the Three-Fifths Compromise?
A: Counted each enslaved person as three-fifths of a person for taxation and representation.
What was the House of Burgesses and when was it established?
Formed in 1619, it was the first representative assembly in colonial America.
What was the economic focus of the North?
Commerce, trade, and small-scale industry.
Why was Cornwallis’s move to Yorktown a strategic mistake?
He placed his army on a peninsula vulnerable to siege and naval blockade.
Why is the Battle of Bunker Hill (June 17, 1775) significant?
A costly British victory; showed colonials could stand against regulars, with over 1,000 British casualties
Q: What were the main weaknesses of the Articles?
A: No power to tax, no power to regulate trade, no national executive, and no national court system.
What was the Maryland Toleration Act (1649)?
It granted religious freedom to all Christians in Maryland.
What was the Stono Rebellion (1739)?
A slave uprising in South Carolina seeking freedom in Spanish Florida.
What were the Townshend Acts (1767) and how were they different from the Stamp Act?
They were indirect duties on imports like glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea, collected at ports—unlike the direct Stamp Act.
What disadvantages did Washington face in New York?
Outnumbered, poorly trained and equipped troops versus Britain’s large professional force.
Q: What did the Federalists promise to win support?
A: They pledged to add a Bill of Rights after ratification.
Why was Sir Edmund Andros unpopular?
He enforced the Navigation Acts and restricted local assemblies.
What was the Proclamation of 1763?
It banned colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains.
What unresolved issues remained after the Treaty of Paris?
No protection for Native lands, no timeline for British evacuation of forts, and Loyalist claims/debts created tensions.
Why is Saratoga (Oct. 17, 1777) considered the turning point?
Burgoyne surrendered, prompting France to recognize the U.S. and sign a military alliance.
Q: What was the New Jersey Plan?
A: Proposed a one-house legislature with equal representation for all states.