Colonial Period & Revolution Flashcards

The transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and people between the Americas, Europe, and Africa after 1492. Catastrophic disease loss in the Americas; new crops (corn, potatoes) reshaped European diets.

Spanish labor system that granted colonists the right to extract labor and tribute from Native populations in exchange for nominal protection and Christian instruction.

Virginia policy granting 50 acres of land to anyone who paid passage for a settler. Encouraged immigration and concentrated land in the hands of wealthy planters who imported indentured servants.

Frontier settlers led by Nathaniel Bacon attacked Native Americans and burned Jamestown. The rebellion accelerated the colonial shift from indentured servitude to chattel slavery.

Largest slave uprising in the British North American colonies, in South Carolina. Led to harsher slave codes restricting movement, education, and assembly.

Religious revival movement of the 1730s-40s led by figures like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield. Cut across colonial and denominational lines and challenged established church authority.

British policy of loosely enforcing trade and political regulations on the American colonies before 1763. Allowed colonial self-government and economic autonomy to develop.

British victory ended salutary neglect. Britain sought to recoup war debts by taxing the colonies and limited western expansion through the Proclamation of 1763.

Direct tax on printed materials in the colonies. Sparked the slogan 'no taxation without representation' and was repealed in 1766 after colonial protests and boycotts.

British punitive laws after the Boston Tea Party. Closed Boston Harbor, restricted Massachusetts self-government, and quartered troops. Pushed the colonies toward unified resistance.

John Locke's natural rights (life, liberty, property), social contract theory, and government by consent of the governed. Drafted by Thomas Jefferson.

American victory convinced France to enter the war as an ally, providing critical naval power, troops, and funding that made eventual American victory possible.

No power to tax, no executive branch, no national court system, required unanimous approval for amendments, and could not regulate interstate or foreign commerce.

An uprising of indebted Massachusetts farmers exposed the weakness of the Articles of Confederation. It accelerated the call for a Constitutional Convention.

Constitutional Convention agreement (1787) creating a bicameral Congress: the House of Representatives based on population and the Senate with equal state representation.

Constitutional provision counting three-fifths of the enslaved population for purposes of congressional representation and taxation. Gave southern states disproportionate political power.

Supported the Constitution, a strong central government, and a loose interpretation of federal powers. Led by Hamilton, Madison (early), and Jay (Federalist Papers).

Opposed the Constitution as drafted, fearing centralized power. Demanded a Bill of Rights to protect individual liberties from federal overreach.

Federal assumption of state debts, a national bank, tariffs to protect industry, and an excise tax (including the whiskey tax that triggered the 1794 rebellion).

Federalists (Hamilton): strong central government, pro-British, commercial economy. Democratic-Republicans (Jefferson): states' rights, pro-French, agrarian economy, strict constitutional construction.

Federalist laws under John Adams that lengthened naturalization periods, allowed deportation of foreigners, and criminalized criticism of the government. Targeted Democratic-Republican opposition.

Authored by Jefferson and Madison in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts. Argued states could nullify unconstitutional federal laws. Established the doctrine of nullification.

Stamp Act (1765), Boston Tea Party (1773), Coercive Acts (1774), Declaration of Independence (1776).