HISTORY TCA #2

• Pre-Columbian: 


  The time before Columbus arrived in the Americas, when Native Americans had their societies, economies, and ways of farming
• Columbian Exchange:

  The sharing of plants, animals, and ideas between Europe and the Americas after Columbus's voyages, leading to big changes in both places
• Triangular Trade:

  A trade route between Europe, Africa, and the Americas involving goods, slaves, and resources
• Puritans:

  English Protestants who came to America for religious reasons, settling in Massachusetts and following strict rules
• European Settlement:

  The British and French set up colonies in America, affecting the land and Native Americans
• Great Awakening/Enlightenment Thinking:

  Movements that influenced how people thought about religion and reason during the colonial period
• Colonial Relationships - Albany Congress - "Join or Die": 


  Efforts to unite the American colonies during the French and Indian War, symbolized by the "Join, or Die" cartoon
• Causes of the American Revolution:

  Tensions over taxes, trade restrictions, and British presence leading to the Revolutionary War
• Sons of Liberty:

  Colonists who protested British actions before the Revolution, playing a big role in resisting British rule
• Thomas Paine - Common Sense: 


  Paine's pamphlet urging Americans to break free from British rule and support a republic.
• Republican Motherhood - Egalitarianism - Declaration of Independence: 


  Ideas about women's role in shaping good citizens in the new U.S., reflecting equality ideals in the Declaration
• Reasons Colonists Won the American Revolution:

  Alliances, guerrilla tactics, and determination helping the colonists defeat the British.
• Treaty of Paris:

  The 1783 agreement officially ending the American Revolutionary War and recognizing U.S. independence.
• Articles of Confederation/Constitution - Differences Between:

  The first U.S. constitution (Articles) giving more power to states; the Constitution creating a stronger central government
• James Madison - Federalist Papers - Support for Constitution: 


  Madison helped write papers explaining and supporting the Constitution to get it ratified.
• Great Compromise:

  Agreement at the Constitutional Convention settling disputes about representation in Congress.
• Separation of Powers/Checks and Balances:

  Basic principles in the Constitution dividing government powers and making sure no branch becomes too powerful.