Age of Exploration

1. Line of Demarcationestablished in the Treaty of Tordesillas as a result of the rivalry between Spain & PortugalSpain received land west of the line & Portugal received land east of the line

2. conquistadors

• Refers to the early Spanish explorers of America such as Ponce de Leon, Hernando Cortes, Francisco Coronada whose main interest was in finding gold in the New World

3. Ponce de Leon

• Discovered Florida; was looking for a Fountain of Youth

4. Vasco de Gama

• Explorer for Portugal who sailed around the southern tip of Africa (the Cape of Good Hope) to get to India, thus opening the first continuous trade route by sea between Europe and the Far East

5. Ferdinand Magellan

• Spanish explorer who led the expedition for the first circumnavigation of the world.

• He was killed in the Philippines after claiming the Philippines for Spain.

6. St. Augustine

• The first permanent European settlement founded by the Spanish

7. Norsemen/Vikings

• Were the first Europeans to discover America

8. Sir Francis Drake

• An English privateer known for plundering Spanish ships

• The first Englishman to sail around the world

9. Sir Walter Raleigh

• An English explorer who attempted to establish the first English colony off the coast of NC which became known as the Lost Colony

10. Henry Hudson

• Explored the east coast of North America first for England and then for the Dutch East India Company

• Was lost at sea after his mutinous crew set him adrift in the Hudson Bay in 1611

11. Toleration ActWho: Lord Baltimore (George Calvert)What: law that ensured religious freedom in

Maryland to all Christians, not freedom of all religions; also called the “Act concerning Religion”

When: 1649Why: Maryland was established as a religious

haven for CatholicsEffect: Protestants rebelled & the act was

repealed

12. Fundamental Orders

• The “first” constitution” in colonial America (CT)

• Called for the power of government to be derived from the governed (consent of the governed)

13. Headright system

Where: Jamestown (Chesapeake Bay)Why: to deal with labor shortages due to low

birthrate & diseaseWhat: a landowner would pay the passage from

England for a white “indentured servant” & receive 50 acres of land in return.

14. Cambridge Agreement

• Signed by Jonathan Winthrop and 12 others in secret pledging to establish a colony in the New World

• They formed the Massachusetts Bay Company, a joint-stock company and established the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

15. The Glorious Revolution

• Refers to the change in the British monarchy in which James I was removed from the throne and replaced with William & Mary

• This limited the power of the monarch because it would now have to govern with Parliament.

16. House of Burgesses

• The first elected representative government in VA

17. charter

• Permission granted by the monarch to establish a colony

18. Types of colonies

• Joint-stock – ex: VA, MA• Proprietary – land was granted to one or more

persons; ex: PA, the Carolinas, GA, MD• Royal – colonies under the direct control of

the monarch – ex: VA became one

19. “liberty of conscience”

• Freedom of religion

20. freeman

• Originally referred to stockholders in a joint-stock company (Massachusetts Bay Company) but was changed by the Puritans to mean adult male church members who were the only ones who had the right to vote.

21. Sumptuary Laws

• limited the wearing of fine apparel to the wealthy & prominent so that those not of the gentry class could not dress as if they were!

22. Half-Way Covenant

• A way Puritans found to increase church membership

23. yeomen

• Independent farmers

24. Middle Passage

• Refers to the slave voyage• Was a part of the Triangular Trade

25. Stono Uprising

• Occurred in SC• was the most serious colonial slave rebellion;

slaves were trying to get to Spanish Florida

26. Salutary neglect

• As long as the colonies made a profit for the Crown, the monarchy left them alone. (neglected them) This led the colonies to become more independent, economically and politically.

27. mercantilism

• A term coined by British economist Adam Smith

• Required colonies, raw materials, markets, & a favorable balance of trade (export more than import)

28. Navigation Acts

• A series of laws passed to enforce mercantilism and to eliminate the Dutch trade with the colonies.

29. Enumerated goods

• Items that were produced in the colonies and that could only be trade with England

• Included tobacco, sugar, cotton, indigo, rice

30. Staple Act

• stated nothing could be imported into America unless it was first shipped to England which would increase the cost of the good to America (protective tariff)

• Part of the Navigation Acts

31. New England Confederation

• The New England colonies formed this organization in 1643 to provide collective security from attack by surrounding Native Americans tribes. This organization aided in the development of colonial self-government and widened the differences between the Mother country and her colonial citizens.

32. Pueblo Revolt

• Occurred in 1680 in present-day New Mexico• Was the most successful uprising against

Spanish authority in the New World• The Native Americans took over the

governor’s residence as their own and remained there to protect their land.

• Spain was unable to reclaim its New Mexico colony for nearly 50 years.

33. middle ground

• The meeting between the Native Americans and settlers in the backcountry mainly for the purpose of trade.

34. entrepot

• A commercial or trade center

35. John Locke

• British philosopher• Author or Two Treatises of Government in

which he claimed all people have inalienable rights (natural rights) – life, liberty, property

• Also contributed the idea of a social contract – that government is an agreement with the governed (the people) and the government itself (those the people elect) = consent of the governed

36. Massachusetts Circular Letter

• Written by Samuel Adams, explaining that there was no difference between external taxes (British imposed) and internal taxes (colonial taxes) and that the Townsend Acts must be immediately repealed.

• The letter was copied and distributed throughout the colonies, sparking the rejuvenation of boycotts of British goods.

37. Writs of assistance

• Due to the Townsend Acts, these documents allowed customs officials to search colonial homes, businesses, and warehouses for smuggled goods without a warrant from a judge

38. Declaration of Rights and Grievances

• This document, sent to King George III by the First Continental Congress in 1774, urged him to correct the wrongs incurred by the colonists, but did acknowledge the authority of Parliament to regulate trade and commerce.

39. Declaration of the Causes and Necessities of Taking Arms

• This document, drawn up by the Second Continental Congress in 1775, urged King George III a second time to consider colonial grievances and provided for the raising of a professional colonial military force.

40. New Light preachers

• These preachers traveled throughout the colonies speaking to large crowds about the “fire and brimstone” eternity all sinners would face if they did not absolve (to free from guilt or blame) their sins publicly.

• These preachers sought to undermine the power and prestige of “Old Light” ministers by proclaiming the gospel of the Lord without the leadership of a man of the cloth.

41. Popular sovereignty

• The people govern

42. Alexis de Tocqueville

• A French traveler who visited the US many times and wrote about American Democracy and how the US was constantly trying to reform society. He questioned why slavery still existed in such a society.

43. Tariff of 1828• Southerners called it the Tariff of Abominations• This tariff led to the Nullification Crisis in which SC

declared the right of a state to declare a federal law unconstitutional.

• It was also the first time a state threatened to secede.

• President Jackson responded with the Force Bill, threatening to use military force if necessary to make SC pay the tax.

• The Nullification Crisis ended when a compromise tariff (the Tariff of 1833) was passed.

44. Specie circular

• Issued by Jackson requiring payment for public lands to be in gold and silver only

• This action curbed inflation and land speculation but did so in such a sudden and drastic way that it helped precipitate the financial Panic of 1837.

45. Manifest Destiny

• A phrase coined by John L. O’Sullivan, an editor

• The destiny of the US is to overspread the continent and that God was on the side of American expansion.

46. Webster-Ashburton Treaty

• Negotiated by Daniel Webster• Between the US & Canada• Established a definite northeastern boundary

with Canada, establishing a border between Maine and northern Minnesota & New Brunswick (337)

47. Kitchen cabinet

• Unofficial presidential cabinet • Made up of close friends and advisors who did

not have to answer to Congress since they were not official cabinet officers

• Jackson appointed many of his friends to his “kitchen cabinet”.

48. Worcester v. Georgia• Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that the

state of Georgia could not infringe on the tribe’s sovereignty, thus nullifying Georgia state laws within Cherokee territory

• Jackson responded by saying “John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it.”

• Jackson had Congress pass the Indian Removal Act which forced the Cherokee to relocate west of the Mississippi River

• Lead to the Trail of Tears

49. Wilmot Proviso

• Proposed by Senator David Wilmot that would forbid slavery in the Mexican Cession

• Passed in the House but filed in the Senate• Signaled the start of an even deeper crisis that

would pit the North against the South over issues of slavery, states’ rights, and representation.

50. Independent Subtreasury Bill• Proposed by President Martin Van Buren as a

public depository for government funds with no connections to commercial banking.

• Whigs strongly opposed an independent subtreasury and favored the reestablishment of a national bank as the only way to restore economic stability

• The Whigs stalled the bill for 3 years• Became law in 1840 and later replaced by the

Federal Reserve System we have today

51. Mexican Cession

• Refers to the land the US gained in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the Mexican War

• Brought up the issue of slavery

52. Stephen Douglas

• Senator from Illinois dubbed the “Little Giant”• Proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act based on

popular sovereignty

53. Compromise of 1850

• Proposed by Henry Clay• CA became a free state• Slavery in the rest of the Mexican Cession

would be decided by popular sovereignty• Included a stricter Fugitive Slave Act• Established a new border between New

Mexico & Texas• Slave trade in the District of Columbia was

banned

54. American Party

• Also called the Order of the Star-Spangled Banner

• Members were the Know-Nothings• Were Nativists – anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic

55. Ostend Manifesto

• Suggested that the US take Cuba from Spain by force if Spain refused to sell it

• Abolitionists saw this as a plot to extend slavery

• Northern protests led to the Southerners abandoning this idea

56. Freeport Doctrine

• Refers to Douglas’s response to Lincoln in the Lincoln/Douglas Debates

• Douglas stated that despite the Dred Scott case, slavery could be prevented by the refusal of the people living in a territory to pass laws favorable to slavery

57. Free Soil Party

• Created by Democratic-Republicans opposed to slavery; included anti-slavery Whigs

• Opposed extension of slavery into new territories, supported national internal improvements and small tariffs to raise revenue

58. “Bleeding Kansas”

• A response to the Kansas-Nebraska Act• Refers to fighting between pro- and anti-

slavery groups who moved into the Kansas-Nebraska Territories

59. James Buchanan

• As president, he wanted the Supreme Court to make a decision regarding slavery (Dred Scott Case)

• Supported the Lecompton Constitution to appease the South

• Promised to protect slavery in the South

60. Pottawatamie Creek

• John Brown led a raid on Pottawatamie Creek, Kansas, killing 5 pro-slavery settlers; was not punished for his actions

• Was supported by Northern abolitionists

61. Comstock Lode

• The richest discovery of precious ores (gold/silver) in history, 1859 in Nevada

62. Homestead Act

• A way to gain land in the West• For a $10 registration fee, you would receive

160 acres of land free if you lived on it and cultivated the land for 5 years

• Didn’t work as Congress had hoped because few farmers and laborers had the cash to move to the frontier, buy farm equipment, and wait out the 1-2 years it would take for the farm to become self-sufficient

63. Dawes (Severalty) Act

• Passed by Congress in response to Helen Hunt Jackson’s book, A Century of Dishonor in which she described the shameful way Native Americans had been treated

• Was a way to assimilate Native Americans• Tribal land was divided into farming plots• After 25 years, they would own the land and

gain citizenship

64. Frederick Jackson Turner

• Wrote “Turner’s Thesis” – his analysis of how the settling of the West shaped the character of the American as one who is independent & self-confident. He emphasized “rugged individualism” that fostered invention and adaptation.

65. National Grange• Founded by Oliver H. Kelley, who worked for

the Department of Agriculture• Also called the Patrons of Husbandry• The Grange provided social, cultural, and

educational activities for its members. • Most of its members were farmers from the

Midwest & the South• It set up cooperative stores, grain elevators,

farm machine factories.• Led to other groups forming such as the

Farmers’ Alliance.

66. The National Reclamation Act

• Also called the Newlands Act• Money from the sale of public lands in 16

western states went to finance irrigation projects in the West

• Its purpose was to turn the Great American Desert into fertile farmland.

67. Oklahoma Land Rush

• Refers to the opening of the last Indian territory, Oklahoma

• The Native Americans living there were forced to give up the land that was to be open at noon, on April 22, 1889.

• Those who rushed to stake a claim were the “boomers” and those who claimed land early were the “sooners.”

68. Battle of Little Bighorn

• US Lt. Colonel George Custer and his troops attempted to surprise and defeat the Sioux.

• The Sioux outnumbered the cavalry.• Custer was killed which is why this battle is

referred to as “Custer’s Last Stand”.• This was a victory for the Native Americans

but was their last great victory.

69. Buffalo Soldiers

• African Americans helping to keep order on the Great Plains.

• Were given this name by the Native Americans

• Refers to the members of 4 all black regiments that served with distinction and were well known for their bravery in battle

70. Nez Perce• Their leader was Chief Joseph.• They lived in Oregon.• They hoped to reach Canada but ran out of

food, horses, and ammunition.• Were forced to surrender and relocate to

Indian Country – Oklahoma, where most of them died from disease.

• Famous quote: “ I am tired…From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever.”

71. Interstate Commerce Act

• The first attempt at government regulation of businesses, used to regulate the railroads.

• Prohibited rebates and required railroads to publish their rates.

72. Sherman Antitrust Act

• Prevented monopolies or any type of business transaction that would restrict trade

• Was applied to both labor unions and corporations

73. The Great Railway Strike 1877

• The first major labor strike due to pay cuts• President Hayes used federal troops to restore

order after workers were killed

74. Homestead Strike

• Involved the Carnegie Steel Company• Workers went on strike over pay cuts• The Pinkertons (hired police) were called in to

guard the plant, but fighting began and several deaths resulted on both sides

• Pennsylvania state militia was called in to restore order.

75. Haymarket Square Riot

• Started as a rally• Began at McCormick Harvesting Machine Co.• Police attempted to disperse the crowd which

was followed by a bomb explosion• Eight anarchists were put on trial and four

were executed• Incident was used to discredit the Knights of

Labor

76. Eugene V. Debs• President of American Railway Union• Led the strike against the Pullman Palace Car

Company• Refused to obey the court injunction (order)

issued by President Cleveland to workers to return to work because the strike was interrupting the delivery of the mail

• Was founder of the Social Democratic Party• Ran for president as a Socialist candidate 5

times

77. Andrew Carnegie

• Started out in the iron business but moved into steel after learning of the BESSEMER PROCESS which turned iron into steel

• Created Carnegie Steel Company• Wrote “Gospel of Wealth” which offered the

belief that you should be able to make all the money you can but use your money to benefit society in ways to help the masses, not a particular group. Ex: libraries

78. Social Darwinism

• A theory used to justify the rise of big business leaders such as Rockefeller, Morgan, Carnegie, and Vanderbilt.

• Used by wealthy industrial leaders to justify vast differences in classes and that it was okay for a business to form that might eliminate one or more similar businesses

79. Comstock Law

• 1873 prohibited the mailing or transporting of obscene articles

• Named after Anthony Comstock• An attempt to suppress vice (immoral

conduct)• The law was not successful.

80. Half Breeds, Stalwarts, Mugwumps

• Factions of the Republican Party in the 1880s• Half-Breeds – supported civil service reform &

merit appointments to government• Stalwarts – opposed civil service reform and

supported the protective tariff• Mugwumps – left the Republican Party to

become Democrats; favored civil service reform