APUSH Unit 1/2

2025/2026

Puritans

A group that wanted to simplify the Anglican church and were banished from England. Mostly resettled in American colonies.

Virginia Company

Joint Stock company chartered under King James to est. settlements (e.g Jamestown).

Powhatan Confederacy

A group of ~30 Algonquin tribes, led by it’s namesake, across Virginia mostly.

John Rolfe

The husband of Pocahontas and an early Jamestown settler. Discovered how to cure/grow tobacco for export in Virginia as a cash crop.

Indentured Servants

Lower class colonists exchange labor for passage to America, eventually earning land and freedom.

Headright System

Land grants by the Viriginia company, 1 ticket = 50 acres of land, allowing the wealthy to come into the New World even wealthier while the poor come as indentured servants.

Bacons Rebellion (1676)

Frontiersmen challenging the wealthy elite that overlooked their conflicts with the natives, dwindling population, deep poverty in favor of trade agreements.

Mayflower Compact (1620)

Pilgrims at Plymouth Bay draw up the first agreement of self governance on the Mayflower, leaving England to form an independent church.

Anne Hutchinson

Female puritan preacher that broke gender norms and was banished from MA Bay colony to Rhode Island.

Roger Williams

Founded Rhode Island to support the separation of Church and State. Believed that puritans held too much gov. power.

Quakers

Established Pennsylvania. Regularly fought religious authority, ministers, military, and taxes. Heavy emphasis on good in all people and solutions focused on peace.

William Penn

Founded PA to encourage religious freedom and maintained good relations with local natives.

The Starving Time (1609)

Settlers in Jamestown struggle through early winters causing a massive famine, population drop, and eventually human cannibalism.

Lord De La Warr (1610)

Governor of Jamestown that imposed a military regime, declared war against the Powhatan Confederacy and burned their homes and fields.

Captain John Smith

Organized Jamestown and imposed the law of: “He who will not work will not eat”.

Pocahontas

The daughter of Powhatan, important figure that negotiated between Jamestown settlers and Powhatan Confederacy. Became a symbol of peace and married John Rolfe which created good relations up until her fathers death.

The Great Migration (1630s)

Large numbers of Puritan families cross the Atlantic for the MA Bay Colony.

House of Burgesses (1619)

The first elected legislative assembly in the New World. Established in VA, and while it could make laws and levy taxes, it could still be vetoed by England.

George Calvert/Lord Baltimore

An English Catholic that founded the colony of Maryland. His son, Cecil, was the first governor.

Proprietorship

An unincorporated business owned by a single person who is responsible for its liabilities and entitled to its profits.

Maryland Toleration Act (1649)

Guaranteed toleration of all Christians regardless of denomination or sect. Predecessor to the First Amendment.

Squanto

A member of the Wampanoag tribes best known for being an early liaison to the English, teaching them agricultural techniques and served as an interpreter.

John Winthrop (1588-1649)

A governor to MA Bay Colony, envisioned modern day Boston and was instrumental in forming colonial government and shaping legislative policy. “A city upon a hill”

James Oglethorpe

Founder and Governor of the Georgia colony— Tightly disciplined and military like. Forbade slaves, alcohol, and Catholicism. Lowkey a dictator and quickly lost his position as the colony began to break down.

John Locke

An Enlightenment philosopher heavily influential in New World colonies, advocated the idea of a Social Contract and natural rights to life, liberty, and property.

Two Treatises on Government

Locke’s book that emphasized governments responsibility to protect its peoples rights and the peoples right to rebellion if the government failed to do so.

Navigation Acts

Laws that governed the trade between England and its colonies. Forbade colonies from trading to other countries.

Thomas Hooker

A clergy man that helped found Hartford. The Father of American Democracy, defended peoples rights to choose their magistrates.

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

Set up a unified local government, the first constitution written in America.

Pueblos

A cliff dwelling native group in Arizona/New Mexico, sedentary farmers, complex social/economic/political organization.

Mississippi Valley Tribes

Developed farming culture ~800 BCE. Built large earthen pyramids and established trade across the Eastern seaboard.

Aztecs

Massive capital city, Tenotchitlan, written language, complex irrigation systems, and complex religious structure.

Mayans

Yucatan peninsula, irrigation, stone temples and palaces.

Inca

Andes/Peru, empire of 16 million, cultivation of surrounding mountain valleys.

Ute

Nomadic in the Great Plains/Great Basin region. Egalitarian kinship based small bands.

Chinook

Fishing villages with Elk reliance. Cedar plank homes that housed up to 70 people of the same family.

Chumash

California hunter/gatherers that lived a sedentary lifestyle. Fishing villages.

Iroqouis

Similar to structure of PNW tribes, sedentary lifestyles in fishing villages.

The Halfway Covenant

Created due to a decline in Puritan church membership. Eased requirements for church membership by allowing baptism of the children of uncoverted Puritans.

Salem Witchcraft Crisis (1692)

Anti-witchcraft hysteria in MA. Community members accuse mostly women, leading to the trial and execution of 20 people. Followed by anti-Puritan sentiment and weakening of Puritan authority.

The First Great Awakening (1730)

Religious revival starting in New England, bringing a renewed sense of piety in Protestant denominations. New Light ministries, advocating for an emotional approach to religious practice, weaking authority of older churches.

New Light Ministries

A part of the Great Awakening, established institutions of higher learning (Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth), converted many slaves, focused on emotional experience, increased women in congregations, division led to religious diversity, and challenged political/religious authority.

Republicanism

Belief that government should be based on the consent of the governed (John Locke). Small limited government, right to rebel, representation based on population.

Anne Bradstreet

1612/1672 The first American poet and first woman to be published in America.

Phillis Wheatley

1753/1784 First published African-American poet, mothered the genre of African American literature.