Key Figures & Events in Early American History: Explorers, Colonization & Revolution

Posted on Aug 17, 2024 in History

Key Figures & Events in Early American History

Explorers

Spanish Explorers

  1. Hernán Cortés: Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztecs and conquered Mexico (1485-1547)
  2. Francisco Pizarro: Crushed the Inca Empire and enslaved its people
  3. Hernando de Soto: Discovered the Mississippi River
  4. Francisco Vázquez de Coronado: Explored the Southwest
  5. Ferdinand Magellan: Led the first expedition to circumnavigate the world

Portuguese Explorers

  1. Bartolomeu Dias: In 1488, led the first expedition to sail around the southern tip of Africa from the Atlantic
  2. Vasco da Gama: In 1497-1498, his expedition from Europe to India led to Portuguese control of the spice trade
  3. Pedro Álvares Cabral: Claimed Brazil for Portugal

Other Explorers

  1. René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle: Claimed Louisiana for France
  2. Christopher Columbus: Italian explorer, sailing for Spain, reached the Americas in 1492 while searching for a western sea route from Europe to Asia
  3. Samuel de Champlain: French explorer who sailed to the West Indies, Mexico, Panama, and the St. Lawrence River/Quebec
  4. Jacques Cartier: French explorer who explored the St. Lawrence River and laid claim to the region for France (1491-1557)
  5. Henry Hudson: English explorer who explored for the Dutch. Claimed the Hudson River around present-day New York and called it New Netherland. The Hudson Bay is named after him.

Colonization and Early Settlements

Key Terms

  1. Line of Demarcation: The line drawn by Pope Alexander VI that gave Portugal most of Brazil and Spain the rest of South America
  2. Encomienda System: A land grant from Spain to a settler in America, granting the right to use Native Americans as laborers
  3. Conquistadores: Spanish explorers who conquered civilizations in the New World
  4. Triangle Trade: Shipping goods from Britain to West Africa to be exchanged for slaves, these slaves being shipped to the West Indies and exchanged for sugar, rum, and other commodities, which were in turn shipped back to Britain
  5. Mercantilism: Economic system where the state regulates the economy through taxes, tariffs, subsidies, and laws

Important Figures and Settlements

  1. Jamestown: The first permanent English settlement in North America, founded in East Virginia
  2. Lord Baltimore (George Calvert): Founder of Maryland, offered religious freedom for persecuted Roman Catholics
  3. James Oglethorpe: Founded the colony of Georgia where debtors from England could begin new lives
  4. William Penn: Quaker who founded Pennsylvania as a place where his people could be free from persecution
  5. Lord De La Warr (Thomas West): New governor of Jamestown who arrived in 1610; Delaware was named after him
  6. Plymouth: Settled by the Pilgrims, later merged with the Massachusetts Bay Colony
  7. John Winthrop: First governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630
  8. Massachusetts Bay Colony: Colony founded in 1630 by John Winthrop, part of the Great Puritan Migration, founded by Puritans

Religious Groups

  1. Quakers: Wanted to break away from the Church of England
  2. Puritans: Wanted to purify the Church of England

Native American Tribes

  1. Cahokia: Mound-builder settlement, located near today’s East St. Louis, Illinois
  2. Inca: A pre-Columbian civilization in the Andes Mountains. Excelled at engineering and developed new food crops like potatoes
  3. Iroquois: Indian people who were allies of Britain during the American Revolution
  4. Pueblo: Southwestern U.S. tribe known for extensive irrigation systems to water corn. Houses were multi-storied buildings made of adobe
  5. Aztec: Nomadic tribe of hunter-gatherers, known for their capital city Tenochtitlan, their bloodthirsty ruler, and human sacrifices
  6. Maya: Noted for their architecture and city planning, mathematics, calendar, and hieroglyphic writing system

The American Revolution

Key Events

  1. French and Indian War (1754-1763): Conflict between Britain and France, leading to British control of North America
  2. Fort Duquesne: French fort that was the site of the first major battle of the French & Indian War
  3. General Edward Braddock: British commander during the French & Indian War. Attempted to capture Fort Duquesne in 1755. Defeated by the French and Indians; Braddock was mortally wounded
  4. Stamp Act (1765): Tax on printed materials, leading to colonial protests
  5. Boston Tea Party (1773): Citizens disguised as Indians dumped tea into the harbor to protest the Tea Act
  6. Intolerable Acts (1774): Laws meant to punish Boston after the Tea Party
  7. First Continental Congress (1774): All colonies except Georgia met in Philadelphia to respond to the Intolerable Acts
  8. Battle of Bunker Hill (1775): The British took over a hill in Boston
  9. Battle of Yorktown (1781): Cornwallis and his troops were trapped in the Chesapeake Bay by the French fleet. He was sandwiched between the French navy and the American army

Important Figures

  1. Thomas Paine: Wrote *Common Sense*
  2. Sons of Liberty: A secret society formed to oppose British policies
  3. Thomas Jefferson: Founding Father, principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and third President of the United States
  4. Samuel Adams: Founder of the Sons of Liberty, a Patriot, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence
  5. George Washington: First President of the U.S. and commander-in-chief of the Continental Army
  6. Baron von Steuben: Prussian drill master and captain who volunteered to train the Continental Army
  7. Marquis de Lafayette: French nobleman and soldier who aided George Washington and spent time in Valley Forge

Important Legislation

  1. Quartering Act: Required colonists to provide housing for British soldiers
  2. Declaratory Act: Asserted Parliament’s supreme authority over the colonies
  3. Articles of Confederation: The first constitution of the United States, which had a weak central government
  4. Great Compromise: Created three branches of government and a system of checks and balances

Post-Revolution

  1. Shays’ Rebellion (1786-1787): Farmers in Massachusetts protested against debt and foreclosure
  2. Bank of the United States: Proposed by Alexander Hamilton to stabilize the national economy
  3. Funding and Assumption: Under Hamilton’s financial plan, the federal government took over the states’ debt
  4. Whiskey Rebellion (1791): An objection to the whiskey tax that helped fund the national debt under Hamilton’s financial plan
  5. Federalists: Supported the Constitution and a strong central government
  6. Republicans (Democratic-Republicans): Favored states’ rights and a limited central government
  7. Jay Treaty (1794): Treaty signed between the U.S. and Britain to improve trade relations
  8. Pinckney’s Treaty (1795): Established friendship between the United States and Spain
  9. Columbian Exchange: The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and technologies between the Americas and Europe following Columbus’s voyages