Colonial Foundations
SSUSH1
SSUSH1
The economic theory where European nations established colonies to acquire raw materials and create markets to enrich the home country.
What is Mercantilism?
The horrific sea voyage that forcibly transported enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas.
What was the Middle Passage?
The 1763 agreement ending the French and Indian War that eliminated French power in North America and left Britain with massive war debt.
What is the Treaty of Paris of 1763?
Primary author of the Declaration of Independence who relied heavily on John Locke’s concepts of natural rights.
Who is Thomas Jefferson?
America's first national constitution, which intentionally created a weak central government incapable of taxing or enforcing laws.
What are the Articles of Confederation?
Colonial region whose economy was built on cash crops like tobacco and rice grown on large plantations using slave labor.
What is the Southern Colonies?
The British policy of relaxed enforcement of colonial trade laws, which encouraged early habits of American self-governance.
What is Salutary Neglect?
British royal decree prohibiting American colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains to avoid native conflicts.
What is the Proclamation of 1763?
French aristocrat who volunteered to fight with the Continental Army, trained troops, and helped secure French military support.
Who is Marquis de Lafayette?
A 1786 uprising of indebted Massachusetts farmers that exposed the weaknesses of the national government and spurred calls for a Constitutional Convention.
What is Shay's Rebellion?
Colonial region established primarily by Puritans seeking religious freedom, featuring small towns, cold climates, and a shipbuilding economy.
What are the New England Colonies?
A major religious revival in the 1730s and 1740s that swept through the colonies, fostering a shared identity and challenging traditional religious authority.
What is the First Great Awakening?
The first direct British tax on American colonists, levied on printed paper goods, sparking widespread protests and boycotts.
What is the Stamp Act?
The 1777 battle known as the turning point of the Revolutionary War because it convinced France to sign a military alliance with the U.S.
What is the Battle of Saratoga?
The agreement at the Constitutional Convention that established a bicameral legislature with proportional representation in the House and equal representation in the Senate.
What is the Great Compromise?
Colonial region known as the "Breadbasket" due to its high wheat production, river systems, and high ethnic/religious diversity.
What are the Mid-Atlantic Colonies?
Established in Virginia in 1619, this was the first elected legislative assembly in the American colonies.
What is the House of Burgesses?
Inter-colonial communication networks founded by Samuel Adams to coordinate colonial resistance against British policies.
What are the Committees of Correspondence?
The harsh winter encampment of 1777–1778 where Baron von Steuben transformed Washington’s troops into a professional fighting force.
What is Valley Forge?
A series of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay advocating for the ratification of the Constitution.
What are the Federalist Papers?
A 1675 conflict between New England colonists and a Wampanoag alliance led by Metacom over expanding colonial land settlement.
What was King Phillip's War?
Enslaved Africans contributed significantly to American culture through specific agricultural practices, foodways like okra and yams, and this unique architectural style.
What is shotgun house architecture?
A 1776 pamphlet written by Thomas Paine that used clear language to argue that the thirteen colonies should break away from British rule.
What is Common Sense?
Final major victory of the Revolutionary War where American and French forces trapped British General Cornwallis on a Virginia peninsula.
What is the Battle of Yorktown?
Added to the Constitution in 1791 to satisfy Anti-Federalist objections by explicitly protecting individual liberties against federal overreach.
What is the Bill of Rights?