Geo/Regions
According to Captain John Smith’s 1616 description, what two geographic features of New England most directly enabled its shipbuilding and maritime industries?
Dense pine forests and natural deepwater/safe harbors
What democratic alliance in New York utilized the Great Law of Peace among diverse Indigenous nations?
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy.
What democratic alliance in New York utilized the Great Law of Peace among diverse Indigenous nations?
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy.
What ancient civilization gave us the concept of a democracy (government run by the consent of the people), and which gave us a republic (voters elect representatives)?
Greece gave us Democracy; Rome gave us a Republic.
What geographic reality most directly necessitated the creation of local colonial legislatures, as colonists lived thousands of miles from Britain?
The thousands of miles of ocean separating the colonies from Great Britain.
Which Enlightenment thinker argued that all people possess Natural Rights (Life, Liberty, Property) and formulated the Social Contract?
John Locke.
Why were the Middle Colonies nicknamed the "breadbasket" of the colonies?
Because their fertile soil and moderate climate allowed farmers to grow large quantities of grain (wheat and flour) for export.
What introduction from the Columbian Exchange decimated up to 90% of Indigenous populations and cleared the path for European settlement?
Deadly European diseases like smallpox.
What introduction from the Columbian Exchange decimated up to 90% of Indigenous populations and cleared the path for European settlement?
Deadly European diseases like smallpox.
What 1215 English document limited the power of the King and established the Rule of Law?
The Magna Carta
What 1620 document was the first plan for self-government in the colonies and used a majority rule vote?
The Mayflower Compact.
According to John Locke's Social Contract, what is the ultimate right of the people if a government fails to protect their natural rights?
The right to overthrow the unjust government.
True or False: The New England colonies featured a warm climate with long, fertile growing seasons.
False (New England had a cold climate, short growing seasons, and poor, rocky soil).
How did the Native American perspective on land differ fundamentally from the European perspective?
Natives viewed land as sacred, communal, and shared (granting hunting rights), whereas Europeans viewed land as a buyable commodity defined by legal deeds and permanent fences.
What 1676 Virginia uprising of poor settlers and servants made wealthy planters fearful of a landless armed class, accelerating the shift to racial slavery?
Bacon’s Rebellion.
What legal tradition requires court evidence to try an accused person and prevents arrest/imprisonment without trial?
The Writ of Habeas Corpus.
What document served as an early model of a constitution where all male property owners could vote in Connecticut?
The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut.
Baron de Montesquieu advocated for a separation of powers into three branches of government to create what system that prevents tyranny?
Checks and Balances.
What specific labor-intensive economic system defined the Southern colonies due to their warm climate and fertile soil?
The Plantation System, relying on cash crops (tobacco, rice, cotton, indigo) and slavery.
Instead of legal land titles, how did Indigenous diplomacy record constitutional agreements?
Through ceremonial wampum belts.
What term describes the brutal sea voyage that forcibly transported enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas?
The Middle Passage.
How did the English Bill of Rights shift political power away from the monarchy?
It shifted power to Parliament, establishing a constitutional monarchy where representative government outweighed royal authority.
What was the name of the first colonial bicameral (two-house) representative legislature, established in Virginia?
The Virginia House of Burgesses.
Which Enlightenment thinker strongly promoted free speech and criticized governments and churches for restricting intellectual freedom?
Voltaire
Complete the Exit Ticket concept: Geography was the primary influence on colonial settlement patterns and what other major system?
Economic systems (and regional values/politics).
What West African innovation was introduced to America in 1721 by Onesimus, helping shape early medical practices?
Smallpox inoculation concepts.
What landmark 1705 Virginia law established race-based, permanent, and hereditary slavery?
The Virginia General Assembly Slavery Laws (establishing a dual legal system discriminating against people of African descent).
What English legal system serves as the overall foundation for American colonial law?
Common Law.
Why were New England Town Meetings able to function successfully as a direct democracy instead of a representative one?
Because the colonial towns were very small, making it practical for eligible citizens to participate directly.
Rousseau championed "Popular Sovereignty." What does this mean in terms of where political power comes from?
Political power comes from the consent of the people (and the government must act in the common good/best interest of the people).