Paeth APUSH Unit 1 & 2 (1491-1754)

Christopher Columbus

man who sailed from Spain to find a faster route to Asia from the Old World. He is credited with ‘discovering America’ even though it was by accident in 1492. He enslaved Native Americans and is seen as a hero by some, but as a person who would ultimately wipe out many Natives by disease.

Encomienda System

Spanish labor system where Indians were exploited by the Spanish. Indians had to pay tributes to Spanish representatives in exchange for military protection. Often times, it was very similar to a system of slavery.

Pueblo Revolt

1680 revolt of Native Americans in the American Southwest against the Spanish. The Natives revolted when they felt their religious practices were being infringed on by Catholics. After the Spanish took back over, they became a little more tolerant.

Columbian Exchange

spread of goods, animals, disease, crops, and ideas from the Old World to the New world and vice versa.

Mercantilism

Economic policy or belief that all economic activity should support the whole country or empire. It created competition between imperial powers in Europe, especially with regards to colonies in America.

Predestination

religious, Calvinist idea that people’s fates were determined. Some would go to heaven or hell, and the belief was that people’s behavior was evidence of their fate.

Puritans / Puritanism

Religious group or belief that the Church of England needed to be purer. Some extreme people in this group believed they had to separate from the Church of England.

Jamestown

first permanent British settlement in North America. Its founders originally sought gold, but later shifted to cultivating tobacco.

Joint Stock Company

the term for an investment company in colonial times that would pool multiple investors’ money to invest in founding a new colony.  The Virginia Company is an example of this.

Powhatan

native American tribe near Jamestown colony. They had conflict with the settlers of Jamestown. Pocahontas was a member of this tribe.

John Smith

Jamestown leader who pushed his people to work harder to survive after many died off from being too lazy or not creating a solid enough settlement with adequate food sources.

Starving Time

Term to describe winter of 1609-1610 in Jamestown where many died from cold and hunger in Jamestown.

John Rolfe

Planter in Jamestown who introduced a strain of tobacco that made the tobacco industry explode and highly profitable.

Headright System

Fifty-acre grants of land that encouraged new settlers to Jamestown or to have people bring others or families with them.

House of Burgesses

The first elected legislature in what would later be the United States of America. It first met in 1619.

Pocahontas

Powhatan woman and chief’s daughter, kidnapped by Virginia Company men who tried to get a ransom. When the chief refused, she converted to Christianity and married John Rolfe and was sent to England to be shown off.

Act of Toleration

1649 religious law in Maryland that allowed all Christians to practice their religion. It was designed to help protect the Catholics there.

Bacon’s Rebellion

1675-1677 rebellion in Virginia of Western farmers against the colonial government in Jamestown. The farmers complained they were not protected against Native Americans and their voices were not heard. It was a result of a large number of poor, landless whites who used to be indentured servants. It marked a turning point from indentured servitude to African slavery.

Chesapeake Colonies

British North American colonial region made up of the Virginia and Maryland areas.  It was characterized by its cultivation of tobacco.

Pilgrims

Puritans seeking religious freedom who sailed to Plymouth Colony in 1620.

Mayflower Compact

Document signed by most male passengers before they settled at Plymouth in 1620.  It set up the ideas of hard work, religion, and self government.

John Winthrop

Puritan religious and political leader who helped grow Massachusetts Bay Colony. He went on to be its governor for many years. He is also famous for his “City on a Hill Speech”.

“City Upon a Hill” / Arbella Sermon

Speech and sermon by John Winthrop in 1630.  In it, he envisioned a city where people would work hard an be an example of a Christian community to the whole world.

Roger Williams

This man founded Rhode Island after being banished from Massachusetts for his view. He established the idea there of separation of church and states.

Anne Hutchinson

Outspoken Puritan woman who challenged the teachings of the time. She believed people could make their own connection with God, not just through the established churches. After being banished from Massachusetts, she moved to Rhode Island.

King Philip’s War

War fought from 1675-1676 between New England colonists and neighboring tribes including the Wampanoag and Narragansett tribes. It was sparked after three Wampanoag men were executed. The war was costly on both sides, but it led to further white expansion west.

New England Colonies

the term for the colonies in the American northeast. They were largely settled initially for religious reason and were made up of families and small farms.

Quakers

The Religious Society of Friends, a Christian group who were pacifists. They were persecuted in Britain and eventually many came to the colonies. Eventually they settled into Pennsylvania and had peaceful relations with their natives.

William Penn

Wealthy English Quaker who founded Pennsylvania in as a colony that embraced religious tolerance. 

Navigation Acts

1650s and 1660s laws intended to increase British colonial dependence on British goods and decrease other foreign trade. It is an excellent example of mercantilism.

Dominion of New England

1686 merging of numerous northeastern colonies after Massachusetts ignored Britain’s laws. It put a royal governor in charge of this group of colonies. This was meant to punish the colonies for not following the Navigation Acts.

Middle Colonies

Most diverse colonial region in America, made up of diverse religions, merchants, and farmers. It was the most religiously tolerant region as well. It was known as the breadbasket region because of its grain cultivation.

Southern Colonies

British North American Colonies that featured plantations, crops and cash crops like rice, sugar, and indigo, and were closely onnected with the Caribbean Sea.  Life expectancy was lower in these areas.