Italian navigator sponsored by Spain; his 1492 voyage initiated sustained European contact with the Americas.
Christopher Columbus
Spanish friar who denounced mistreatment of Native Americans in A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies (1552).
Bartolomé de las Casas
Wampanoag leader who led Native resistance against English settlers in King Philip’s War (1675–1676).
Metacom (King Philip)
Italian explorer whose name was used for “America”; wrote accounts distinguishing the “New World” from Asia.
Amerigo Vespucci
Iroquois leader whose 1744 Treaty of Lancaster speech advised colonial unity and criticized unfair land dealings.
Canassatego
Puritan leader, governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, who envisioned the colony as a “city upon a hill.”
John Winthrop
English Protestants seeking to “purify” the Church of England; emphasized piety, community discipline, and predestination.
Puritans and Puritanism
Winthrop’s idea that Massachusetts Bay Colony should serve as a moral example for the world.
“City upon a hill”
Puritan belief that settling the New World was a divine mission to spread and protect true religion.
“Errand into the wilderness”
The value placed on self-reliance and independence; rooted partly in Puritan ideals but evolving in U.S. culture.
American individualism
Calvinist doctrine that God has already chosen who will be saved or damned.
Predestination
Method of interpreting daily events as biblical parallels, reinforcing Puritan identity and purpose.
Puritan Typology
The perceived decline of Puritan piety and community values in New England by the late 1600s.
Declension
Legislative body of Massachusetts Bay Colony that governed according to Puritan religious and civic values.
Massachusetts General Court
Puritan woman captured during King Philip’s War; her captivity narrative became influential in shaping Puritan views of Natives.
Mary Rowlandson
Brutal conflict (1675–1676) between New England settlers and Native Americans, devastating both sides.
King Philip’s War
Sioux writer and activist (late 19th–early 20th century) who critiqued forced assimilation and sought to reclaim Native identity.
Zitkala-Sa (Gertrude Simmons Bonnin)
A confederation of tribes in the northern Great Plains, central to U.S. history of westward expansion and Native resistance.
The Sioux Indians
Intellectual movement emphasizing reason, science, progress, and human rights (17th–18th century).
The Enlightenment
Enlightenment belief in a rational Creator who does not intervene in human affairs.
Deism
English philosopher who argued for natural rights (life, liberty, property) and government by consent.
John Locke
Rights inherent to all people, central to Locke’s philosophy and the U.S. founding documents.
Natural Rights and Human Rights
1776 pamphlet urging independence; criticized monarchy and promoted Enlightenment principles.
Common Sense (Thomas Paine)
Paine’s idea that in a republic, laws, not monarchs, hold ultimate authority.
“Law is King”
