Refine APUSH VOCAB UNIT 1-5

Encomienda System

A Spanish colonial labor arrangement that granted settlers authority over Indigenous communities, allowing them to demand labor and tribute while claiming to provide protection and religious instruction; in practice it caused severe exploitation and population decline.

Caste System

A legally enforced social hierarchy in Spanish America that ranked people by ancestry, privileging those of European descent while restricting rights and opportunities for mixed-race, Indigenous, and African populations.

European Colonization

The expansion of European control into the Americas through settlement, conquest, and resource extraction, driven by competition for land, wealth, and global influence.

Maize

A high-yield crop developed by Native societies that supported large populations and later became a global staple after contact.

Columbian Exchange

The massive transfer of plants, animals, people, diseases, and ideas between the Americas and the rest of the world, producing economic growth but devastating Native populations.

Jamestown (1607)

The first permanent English settlement, founded for profit and sustained by tobacco despite early disease, famine, and leadership failures.

House of Burgesses

The first elected legislative assembly in English America, giving colonists experience with self-government and representative lawmaking.

Mayflower Compact

A written agreement establishing self-government and majority rule, reinforcing the idea that political authority comes from the people.

Tobacco

A profitable cash crop that shaped the Chesapeake economy and increased reliance on bound labor.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

A New England settlement founded by religious reformers who sought to build a disciplined, morally ordered society.

"City Upon a Hill"

The belief that the colony had a divine mission to serve as a moral and religious example.

King Philip's War

A violent conflict that devastated Native communities and expanded colonial control in New England.

Puritans

Religious reformers who emphasized moral discipline, community responsibility, and religious conformity.

Pilgrims

Religious separatists who rejected the national church entirely and sought freedom to worship independently.

Indentured Servants

Individuals who worked for a fixed number of years in exchange for passage, food, and shelter.

Bacon's Rebellion

An armed uprising of frontier settlers against colonial elites, exposing social inequality and instability.

Mercantilism

An economic system in which colonies supplied raw materials to the mother country and remained economically dependent.

Salutary Neglect

A period of weak enforcement of imperial laws that allowed colonial self-rule to develop.

Atlantic Slave Trade

The forced transportation of Africans to the Americas to provide plantation labor.

Middle Passage

The deadly transatlantic voyage endured by enslaved Africans under brutal conditions.

Stono Rebellion

A large enslaved uprising that led to stricter slave laws.

Enlightenment

An intellectual movement emphasizing reason, natural laws, and individual rights.

First Great Awakening

A religious revival that challenged traditional authority and emphasized personal faith.

Pueblo Revolt

A Native uprising that temporarily expelled Spanish settlers from the Southwest.

French and Indian War

A conflict over colonial territory that left Britain dominant in North America but increased tensions with colonists.

Pontiac's Rebellion

Native resistance to British expansion after the war.

Proclamation of 1763

A British policy restricting westward settlement to limit conflict.

Stamp Act

A direct tax on printed materials that sparked widespread colonial protest.

No Taxation Without Representation

The belief that taxes were illegitimate without political representation.

Boston Massacre

A deadly confrontation that fueled anti-British sentiment.

Boston Tea Party

A protest against imperial economic control involving destruction of imports.

First Continental Congress

A meeting to coordinate colonial resistance.

Second Continental Congress

The governing body that led the war effort.

Common Sense

A pamphlet persuading colonists to support independence.

Declaration of Independence

A statement asserting natural rights and justifying separation.

Patriots

Colonists who supported independence.

Loyalists

Colonists who supported British rule.

Republican Motherhood

The belief that women should raise informed citizens.

Articles of Confederation

The first national government with weak central authority.

Virginia Plan

A proposal favoring representation by population.

New Jersey Plan

A proposal favoring equal state representation.

Federalism

A system dividing power between national and state governments.

Three

Fifths Compromise-An agreement partially counting enslaved people for representation.

Federalists

Supporters of a strong national government.

Anti

Federalists-Opponents of centralized authority who demanded protections.

Election of 1800

A peaceful transfer of power demonstrating political stability.

Louisiana Purchase

A land acquisition that doubled national territory.

Marbury v. Madison

A case establishing judicial review.

War of 1812

A conflict strengthening national identity.

Era of Good Feelings

A period of political unity and nationalism.

American System

A plan promoting tariffs, infrastructure, and a national bank.

Market Revolution

A shift toward industrialization and national markets.

Cotton Gin

A machine that increased cotton production and expanded slavery.

Cult of Domesticity

An ideology defining women's roles in the home.

Second Great Awakening

A religious revival that inspired reform movements.

Abolitionism

A movement advocating the end of slavery.

Missouri Compromise

An agreement balancing free and slave states.

Monroe Doctrine

A policy opposing European interference.

Jacksonian Democracy

An expansion of political participation for white men.

Indian Removal Act

A law forcing Native relocation westward.

Trail of Tears

The deadly forced migration of Native peoples.

Nullification Crisis

A conflict over state resistance to federal law.

Manifest Destiny

The belief that westward expansion was justified.

Mexican

American War-A conflict that expanded U.S. territory.

Seneca Falls Convention

The first organized meeting advocating women's legal and political rights.

California Gold Rush

A migration boom accelerating western settlement.

Wilmot Proviso

A proposal banning slavery in new territories.

Underground Railroad

A secret network helping enslaved people escape.

Harriet Tubman

A leader who guided many enslaved people to freedom.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

A novel that increased Northern opposition to slavery.

Compromise of 1850

Laws attempting to ease sectional conflict.

Fugitive Slave Act

A law forcing the return of escaped enslaved people.

Popular Sovereignty

Allowing settlers to vote on slavery.

Kansas

Nebraska Act-A law that intensified sectional conflict.

Bleeding Kansas

Violent clashes over slavery.

Dred Scott v. Sanford

A ruling denying Black citizenship.

Lincoln

Douglas Debates-Debates over slavery's expansion.

Election of 1860

An election triggering southern secession.

Free Soil Ideology

Opposition to slavery's expansion.

Emancipation Proclamation

A wartime order freeing enslaved people in rebel states.

Gettysburg Address

A speech redefining the war's purpose.

13th Amendment

A constitutional ban on slavery.

14th Amendment

A guarantee of citizenship and equal protection.

15th Amendment

Protection of voting rights for Black men.

Freedmen's Bureau

An agency assisting formerly enslaved people.

Black Codes

Laws restricting African American freedom.

Redeemer Governments

Southern regimes reversing Reconstruction.

Ku Klux Klan (1st Wave)

A violent group opposing Reconstruction.

Radical Republicans

Lawmakers pushing for full civil rights.

Andrew Johnson

A president who opposed Reconstruction policies.

Carpetbaggers

Northerners who moved south after the war.

Scalawags

Southern whites who supported Reconstruction.

Sharecropping

A labor system trapping workers in debt.

Jim Crow Laws

Laws enforcing racial segregation.

Homestead Act

A law promoting western settlement.

Transcontinental Railroad

A rail line connecting eastern and western markets.

Sand Creek Massacre

A violent attack on a peaceful Native community.