Periods 1 and 2 APUSH CED Review

Native American societies before European contact

Native peoples developed complex societies by adapting to and transforming diverse environments in North America.

Maize cultivation in the Southwest

Supported economic development, irrigation, and social diversification in societies like the Pueblo.

Mobile lifestyles in the Great Basin and Great Plains

Due to arid conditions, many groups adopted nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyles.

Mixed economies in the Northeast and Mississippi Valley

Combined agriculture and hunting-gathering, supporting permanent villages.

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of goods, ideas, diseases, and people between Europe, Africa, and the Americas after 1492.

Spanish conquest and empire-building

Involved devastating epidemics, new crops and animals, and the establishment of the encomienda system.

Encomienda system

Spanish system where Native labor was used for agriculture and resource extraction in return for supposed protection.

African slavery in Spanish colonies

West African groups sold slaves to Europeans, who were brought to the Americas for plantation labor and mining.

Spanish caste system

Social hierarchy defined by racial and ethnic background (Europeans, Natives, Africans, mixed peoples).

European and Native American cultural interactions

Were shaped by misunderstandings and adaptation; differing worldviews on land, gender, and power.

Resistance by Native Americans

Included diplomacy and military conflict to protect sovereignty, culture, and land.

Debates about treatment of Natives and Africans

Europeans argued over religious, cultural, and racial justifications for colonization and slavery.

Chesapeake and North Carolina colonies

Economies based on tobacco cultivation; relied on indentured servants and later African slaves.

New England colonies

Founded by Puritans seeking religious freedom; mixed economy of agriculture and commerce.

Middle colonies

Diverse in religion and ethnicity; economies based on cereal crops.

Southernmost Atlantic coast and British West Indies

Economies based on staple crops; used enslaved Africans for labor.

European conflicts in the Americas

Colonial rivalry and wars among European powers influenced Native alliances and resistance.

Atlantic economy

Exchange of goods and slaves between Europe, Africa, and the Americas; led to the rise of the triangular trade.

Anglicization of the British colonies

Colonies developed political and cultural ties to Britain, including legal structures and trans-Atlantic print culture.

Enlightenment ideas

Emphasized reason and individualism; influenced American political thought.

First Great Awakening

Religious revival movement; emphasized personal faith and piety.

British imperial policies

Attempts to integrate colonies into a coherent, hierarchical structure; met with colonial resistance.

Colonial resistance to imperial control

Based on local experiences, self-government, and evolving ideas of liberty.