APUSH Chapter 3 Practice Flashcards

Vocabulary terms covering colonial conflicts, economic policies, social structures, and key historical figures from Chapter 3.

King Philip’s War / Metacom

A devastating conflict (1675–1676) between the Wampanoag Confederacy under Metacom and New England settlers; it was the deadliest conflict in colonial New England history and solidified English dominance over the region.

Significance: The English victory solidified their dominance over southern New England and fostered a lasting, bitter perception of Native Americans as dangerous “others.”

Mercantilism

An economic policy where colonies existed to enrich the mother country by providing raw materials and consuming manufactured goods, justifying strict imperial control and laying the framework for the American Revolution.

Significance: This policy justified strict imperial control over colonial trade and eventually sparked deep resentment as colonists sought economic independence.

Navigation Acts

A series of English laws requiring that colonial goods be transported on English ships and pass through English ports, designed to ensure colonial economic dependence and leading to widespread smuggling.

Significance: Designed to ensure the colonies remained economically dependent on Britain and generated revenue for the Crown.

Iroquois League (Haudenosaunee)

A powerful confederation of five (later six) Native American nations in upstate New York whose "Covenant Chain" maintained sophisticated diplomatic relationships and provided a model of federalism.

Significance: Their structure provided a model of federalism that some historians argue influenced the political thinking of the Founding Fathers.

Carolina(s)

Colonies south of Virginia with a plantation-based economy influenced by the Barbadian model; rice cultivation led to massive importation of enslaved Africans and established the enslaved labor system of the American South.

Significance: It became the primary source of the enslaved labor system that defined the social and economic structure of the American South.

Yamasee Wars

An uprising in 1715 by Native American tribes in South Carolina against colonial traders and land speculators, resulting in a restructuring of colonial Indian policy and greater regional dependence on slavery.

Significance: It shifted power dynamics, leading to greater regional dependence on slavery rather than indigenous trade alliances.

William Penn / Quakers

A religious group known for pacifism and egalitarianism who founded Pennsylvania as a "holy experiment," offering religious freedom and relatively fair treatment of Native Americans.

Significance: The Quaker emphasis on individual conscience planted seeds for later movements advocating for human rights and religious liberty.

Slave codes

A series of laws passed by colonial assemblies that systematically codified racial inequality, turning slavery into a permanent, hereditary condition and institutionalizing racism in the American social order.

Significance: By legally stripping enslaved people of their rights, these codes institutionalized racism as a fundamental aspect of American social order.

Nathanial Bacon / Bacon’s Rebellion

An armed rebellion in 1676 by Virginia settlers against the colonial governor’s policies, which exposed class tensions and accelerated the shift from indentured servants toward enslaved African labor.

Significance: The rebellion exposed severe class tensions between the wealthy tidewater elite and the land-hungry frontier settlers.

English Bill of Rights

A 1689 act passed by the English Parliament that established its supremacy over the Crown, reinforcing colonists' beliefs in their "rights as Englishmen" such as trial by jury and freedom from arbitrary taxation.

Significance: These principles became the foundational arguments used by the colonists in their protests against British taxes leading up to the Revolution.

Dominion of New England / Edmond Andros

An administrative union of English colonies under the strict rule of Governor Edmund Andros.

Significance: Its collapse following the Glorious Revolution signaled to colonists that their political systems were resilient against royal encroachment.

Jacob Leisler / Leisler’s Rebellion

An uprising in New York City in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution, which illustrated deep divisions between Dutch and English factions and resulted in Leisler's execution.

Significance: Leisler’s eventual execution deepened ethnic and political fractures in New York that persisted for generations.

English Toleration Act

A 1689 law that granted religious freedom to non-conformist Protestants, fostering a pluralistic society and encouraging migration to the colonies by various religious sects.

Significance: The shift toward broader religious freedom encouraged migration to the colonies by various religious sects.

Salem Witch Trials

A series of accusations and trials in 1692 resulting in 20 executions; the events highlighted social and gender tensions and prompted a shift toward more rationalist and judicial legal standards.

Significance: The public disavowal of the trials prompted a shift toward more rationalist and judicial legal standards in colonial society.

Staple crops / Cash crops

Agricultural products like tobacco, rice, and indigo grown specifically for export and profit, leading to a boom-and-bust economy and intensifying the demand for enslaved labor.

Significance: It defined regional economic identities, creating differences between the plantation-heavy South and more diversified Northern economies.

Anglicization

The process by which American colonies increasingly adopted British customs, fashions, and consumer goods, creating a unique identity defined by cultural alignment with Britain and political resistance.

Significance: This paradox of cultural alignment with Britain versus political resistance eventually created a unique American identity.

Coverture laws

The legal doctrine where a woman's legal rights and property were subsumed by those of her husband upon marriage, enforcing a patriarchal social structure and limiting women's economic agency.

Significance: Despite these restrictions, many colonial women exerted ‘informal’ influence that pushed against the boundaries of their legal standing.

Blue laws

Laws designed to restrict personal behavior, especially on Sundays, in accordance with strict moral or religious codes.

Significance: They represent the historical origins of the American culture wars over the intersection of religion, law, and personal freedom.