CSS History of USA Colonial Foundations and Independence Syllabus

Colonial Foundations and Independence syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Colonial Foundations and Independence in CSS History of USA, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Introduction: From Ancient Times to 1492

   2 topics

   • Pre-Columbian America
   • European Discovery (1492)
2. 2

   Advent of Europeans to British Supremacy (1492-1606)

   2 topics

   • Early European Settlements
   • Rise of British Influence
3. 3

   USA as a British Colony (1606-1783)

   4 topics

   • The Thirteen Colonies
   • Mercantilism and Colonial Governance
   • Road to Revolution
   • American War of Independence
4. 4

   USA as an Independent Country (1783-1819)

   3 topics

   • Articles of Confederation
   • Early Republic and Foundations
   • Jeffersonian Era

Colonial Foundations and Independence flashcards for CSS History of USA

20 of 51 cards from the Colonial Foundations and Independence deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. Who were the first inhabitants of the Americas, and how are they believed to have arrived?

   Paleo-Indians (ancestors of Native Americans) who migrated from Asia across the Bering land bridge (Beringia) during the last Ice Age, roughly 15,000-20,000 years ago.

2. Name three major advanced civilizations of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and South America.

   The Aztec (central Mexico), the Maya (Yucatan/Central America), and the Inca (Andes/Peru).

3. What were the Three Sisters in Native American agriculture?

   Maize (corn), beans, and squash - companion crops grown together that formed the dietary staple of many North American indigenous peoples.

4. Which major North American mound-building culture flourished around Cahokia?

   The Mississippian culture, whose largest center, Cahokia (near modern St. Louis), was a major urban settlement around 1050-1350 CE.

5. In what year did Christopher Columbus reach the Americas, and under whose patronage?

   1492, sailing under the patronage of the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile.

6. What were the names of Columbus's three ships on his 1492 voyage?

   The Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria.

7. What was the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)?

   A treaty, sanctioned by the Pope, that divided newly discovered lands outside Europe between Spain and Portugal along a meridian, giving Spain most of the Americas and Portugal Brazil and Africa/Asia routes.

8. What was the Columbian Exchange?

   The widespread transfer of plants, animals, people, diseases, and culture between the Americas (New World) and Europe/Africa/Asia (Old World) following 1492.

9. Which Old World disease caused the greatest demographic collapse among Native Americans?

   Smallpox (along with measles and influenza), to which indigenous populations had no immunity, killing up to 90% in some regions.

10. After whom is America named, and why?

    Amerigo Vespucci, the Italian navigator who recognized that the lands were a New World (separate continent) rather than Asia; mapmaker Waldseemuller labeled it America in 1507.

11. What was the first permanent English settlement in North America, and when was it founded?

    Jamestown, Virginia, founded in 1607 by the Virginia Company of London.

12. Who were the Pilgrims and where did they settle in 1620?

    English Separatists (Puritans who broke from the Church of England) who sailed on the Mayflower and founded Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts.

13. What was the Mayflower Compact (1620)?

    An agreement signed by the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower establishing self-government by majority rule - an early foundation of American constitutional/democratic governance.

14. Which crop saved the Jamestown colony economically, and who pioneered its cultivation?

    Tobacco, pioneered as a cash crop by John Rolfe around 1612.

15. What was the House of Burgesses (1619)?

    The first elected representative legislative assembly in the English colonies, established in Virginia.

16. When and where did the first enslaved Africans arrive in English North America?

    In 1619, at Point Comfort, Virginia (Jamestown colony), brought aboard an English privateer ship.

17. What was the Spanish encomienda system?

    A labor system granting Spanish colonists the right to demand tribute and forced labor from Native Americans in exchange for nominal protection and Christianization - effectively a form of coerced labor.

18. Which European powers established the colonies of New France and New Netherland?

    France established New France (Quebec, founded 1608 by Champlain); the Dutch established New Netherland (New Amsterdam, later New York).

19. How did England gain control of New Netherland?

    In 1664 the English seized New Amsterdam from the Dutch and renamed it New York (after the Duke of York).

20. What was the chief reason for the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630)?

    Puritans, led by John Winthrop, sought to build a model religious community - a 'City upon a Hill' - free to practice their faith.

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