Essay: Defining a range of terms with context

PART 1: IDs – Choose FIVE (5) of the following.  Fully define the term, provide context (answering the “who, what, when, and where” about it), then, provide its larger significance (answering the “why does it matter?” question).  Answers must be in complete sentences, no bullet points. Be as specific as possible, and include examples. [10 points each, 50 points total]
1.  Columbian Exchange
The Columbian Exchange was the trading of crops, livestock, disease, and culture that emerged when the Old World (Europe, Africa, and Asia) conquested the Americas during the 15-16th centuries. Named after explorer Christopher Columbus, this exchange is what globalized our economy. Europe, Africa, and Asia introduced sugarcane, grains, bananas, onions, and livestock such as cattle and horses to the Americas. In return, America introduced tobacco, tomatoes, potatoes, cacao, and turkeys to the Old World. The introduction of horses to the Natives completely changed their culture; hunting was made more efficient as well as transportation. However, despite the positives of the Natives and their horses, adding more variety to the world’s diet, and increasing European caloric intake (causing a population boom), the Columbian Exchange did have some lethal downsides. Both the people of the Old World and the New World had developed immunities to diseases native to their area. When the two populations were introduced to each other, the diseases were exchanged and due to the lack of immunity millions died. The Old World brought Smallpox, Malaria, and Yellow Fever to the Natives, wiping out nearly their entire population. In return however, the Native Americans introduced Syphilis to the Europeans. This syphilis epidemic was only made worse by the fact that the Europeans rampantly raped the Natives. Therefore, sexually transmitted diseases spread like wildfire. The Columbian Exchange is arguably one of the most prominent events of American history. The exchange globalized our economy, added variety to our diets, caused a European population boom, and a decimation of the Native population.
2.    Encomienda
Encomienda was a slave-labor system imposed by the Spanish government during the 15-16th century conquests of the Americas. The basics of the system were that Spanish conquistadors, soldiers, and other nobles were entitled to (by the Spanish crown) a set amount of land and Natives in America. The Natives were required to pay tribute, either in gold or labor (usually labor due to the fact the Spaniards had pillaged nearly all of the Native gold mines) to their their Spanish masters known as Encomenderos. These Spaniards in return would offer them “protection” and convert them to the Christian faith. As in most slave labor systems, the Encomenderos treated their Natives with intense brutality. This brutality was observed and documented by Spanish historian Bartolomé de las Casas in his book The Destruction of the Indies. Horrified by the gruesome accounts of Bartolomé, the Spanish public demanded a new labor system that allocated for better treatment of the Indians. In 1542 the Spanish government changed the system to a supposedly milder one called repartimiento. Although this system was supposed to provide more safeties to the Indians, many of the same brutalities still occurred. Encomienda was significant to American history because it displays yet another example of European brutality and provides more context as to why the Natives were eradicated so rapidly.
3.    Virginia Company
4.    Indentured Servants
5.    Roger Williams
Roger Williams was a radical Puritan who was exiled from Massachusetts on account of his comparatively liberal views on how a colony should be run. He was a strong believer in separation of the church and state, religious and political freedom, and that stealing land from the Natives was morally wrong. After being banished from Massachusetts, Williams and his following created a settlement called Providence near modern day Rhode Island in 1636 using land bought from the Narragansett sachems Canonicus and Miantonomi Indians. A year later, a fellow Massachusetts exile Anne Hutchins and her supporters joined the colony and the settlement began to grew. After receiving a charter from Parliament in 1644, the colony began to implement revolutionary laws such as the abolition of witchcraft trials, chattel slavery, and the banning of imprisonment for debt. Also, the religious freedom allowed by the colony made it a safe haven for persecuted religious minorities such as Quakers and Jews. Roger Williams and his colony of Providence was largely significant to American history because it was one of the first steps in introducing the modern American principals of religious freedom and slavery abolition. This colony also allowed for otherwise persecuted groups to grow their populations in America.
6.    Navigation Acts
7.    Treaty of Paris (1763)
The 1763 version of the Treaty of Paris marked the end of the French and Indian (Seven Years) War between Britain and France. Due to the rising amount of debt Britain was accumulating, coupled with the many French defeats Britain had claimed, the English were eager to end the war. Initial formal peace negotiations were rocky; including large disagreements between the English and Spanish on what to do with Cuba following the British invasion. Finally, a French negotiator named Choiseul was able to come up with a compromise that suited all parties involved. All French land east of the Mississippi would be granted to England, and all west would be granted to Spain (including the French port of New Orleans). Spain would be allowed to keep Cuba and in return, Florida would be given to the British. In return for all the land lost, France would regain control of all Caribbean Islands seized by Britain, French Canadians would be allowed to practice Catholicism, and fishing rights would be granted off the coast of Newfoundland. This negotiation, although stripping France of most of its land was more favorable for the French because the sugarcane plantations of the Caribbean were highly profitable. However, Native Americans were extremely unhappy with this change. European colonists were now moving onto their lands and were now pushed aside by the Europeans because they no longer held a purpose for them (military concessions.) This war ending treaty was significant to American history because it raised tensions between American colonists and Indians while also raising taxes. These events showed how little the British cared about the opinions of the American colonies. This started to create resentment for the British from the Americans and was a step towards the American Revolution.
8.    Proclamation of 1763
9.    Coercive (Intolerable) Acts
The Coercive (Intolerable) Acts were a series of four acts passed by Parliament in response to the rebellion in Boston. The main catalyst for these acts was the Boston Tea Party, in which Boston rebels dumped over 300 crates of tea into the harbor to protest unfair taxation. The British government reacted quickly with these four acts: The Boston Port Act, The Massachusetts Government Act, the Administration of Justice Act, and the Quartering Act. The Boston Port Act completely shut down the port and restricted trade to and from Boston. The Massachusetts Government Act dissolved the colonial government, placing the colony completely under British control and restricted town meetings. The Administration of Justice Act allowed any British official who committed a crime to be tried in Britain instead of Massachusetts. Finally, passed for all American colonies, the Quartering Act allowed British soldiers to quarter in colonial homes without consent of the owners. These acts outraged all the colonies, and many smuggled food and supplies into Boston. Virginia even fasted and held prayer vigils for Massachusetts. The colonies were united, and these acts were a significantly large catalyst to the American Revolution. With the colonies united against Britain, revolt was inevitable.
10.  Second Continental Congress