Comprehensive Flashcards for AP US History Units 1-9 (2022-23)

Maize

An early form of corn grown by Native Americans; allowed for a more settled lifestyle

Natives in the Northeast

-Hunted & farmed

-Farming led to need for new soil = moving a lot

-Iroquois Confederation = union of 5 tribes, a powerful force for Europeans

Natives in the Northwest Coast

- Wet, fertile region in present day Washington, Oregon and northern California

- Plentiful food included salmon and forest animals

- lived in permanent wooden houses and created totem poles

Natives in the Southwest

-Dry region in Arizona/New Mexico area

-Farming w/ irrigation systems (maize)

-Lived in caves, under cliffs, & multi-storied buildings

- created sand art, woven blankets, jewelry, pottery

Natives of the Great Plains

-Either wandering hunters or stationary farming people

- Nomadic hunters used tepees (easy to move)

- Relied heavily on the Buffalo

-Used horses (after introduction by the Europeans) = easy to travel and hunt

Natives in the Great Basin

-High desert region between the Sierras & Rocky Mountains

-Gathered food & harvested pine nuts; began farming

-Basket weaving & dances were important to tradition

-Extreme weather

Columbian Exchange

An exchange of goods, plants, animals, and ideas between the Old World (Europe, Asia and Africa) and the New World (North and South America)

Encomienda System

A system whereby the Spanish crown granted conquerors the right to forcibly employ groups of Indians; it was a disguised form of slavery.

Jamestown

The first permanent English settlement in North America, found in East Virginia in 1607

Joint Stock Company

A business, often backed by a government charter, that sold shares to individuals to raise money for its trading enterprises and to spread the risks (and profits) among many investors.

Powhatan

Indian chief and founder of the Powhatan confederacy of tribes in eastern Virginia who negotiated with the original settlers of Jamestown

John Smith

Helped found and govern Jamestown. His leadership and strict discipline helped the Virginia colony get through the difficult first winter.

Starving Time

The winter of 1609 to 1610 in Virginia; Only sixty members of the original four-hundred colonists survived. The rest died of starvation because they did not possess the skills that were necessary to obtain food in the new world.

House of Burgesses

The first elected legislative assembly in the New World established in the Colony of Virginia in 1619

John Rolfe

Jamestown colonist who introduced a variety of tobacco that could be grown successfully in Virginia

Indentured Servants

Colonists who received free passage to North America in exchange for working without pay for a certain number of years; most common in the Chesapeake region

Headright System

Employed in the tobacco colonies to encourage the importation of indentured servants, the system allowed an individual to acquire fifty acres of land if he paid for a laborer's passage to the colony.

Maryland Act of Toleration (1649)

Guaranteed religious tolerance for all Christians living in Maryland

Navigation Acts

Acts passed in the 1660s to increase colonial dependence on Great Britain for trade; limit goods that were exported to colonies; and stipulate goods that could only be traded with the mother country; caused great resentment in American colonies.

Mercantilism

An economic policy under which nations sought to increase their wealth and power by exporting more than they imported and exploiting the natural resources and markets of their colonies

Bacon's Rebellion

1676 rebellion of landless former servants in Virginia; Exposed the weakness of the indentured servant system to the ruling planter oligarchy, who thereafter relied more and more on African slaves.

Pueblo Revolt

1680, revolt of indigenous laborers led by Pope'; killed colonists and priests and got Spanish out of modern-day New Mexico for 12 years

Southern Colonies

Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia; colonies with rich soil and long growing seasons; relied heavily on cash crops and slavery

Chesapeake Colonies

Virginia and Maryland; subgroup of the Southern Colonies where tobacco was the main cash crop

New England Colonies

Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire; strong Puritan ties; diversified economies; centers of education and revolutionary ideals

Pilgrims

Group of English Protestant separatists who established Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts in 1620 to seek religious freedom

Mayflower Compact

1620 - The first agreement for self-government in America. It was signed by the 41 men on the Mayflower and set up a government for the Plymouth colony.

"City on a Hill"

Biblical ideal, invoked by John Winthrop, of a society governed by civil liberty (where people did only that which was just and good) that would be an example to the world

John Winthrop

Puritan leader of the Great Puritan Migration who became the long-serving governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony

Puritans

Protestant sect in England hoping to "purify" the Anglican church of Roman Catholic traces in practice and organization; founded Massachusetts Bay colony in 1630

Anne Hutchinson

American colonist (born in England) who was banished from Boston for her religious views (1591-1643) and practice of preaching

Roger Williams

A dissenter who clashed with the Massachusetts Puritans over separation of church and state and was banished in 1636, after which he founded the colony of Rhode Island

Salem Witch Trials

1629 outbreak of witchcraft accusations in a Massachussetts Bay Puritan village marked by an atmosphere of fear and hysteria

Middle Colonies

New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware; grew wheat as a cash crop; most religiously tolerant and ethnically diverse region in the colonies; most big cities were located here

William Penn

A Quaker that founded Pennsylvania to establish a place where his people and others could live in peace and be free from persecution.

Quakers

English dissenters who broke from Church of England, preached a doctrine of pacifism, inner divinity, and social equity; under William Penn they founded Pennsylvania

King Philip's War

1675 conflict between English colonists and Native Americans in the New England colonies over expansion into western territories

Enlightenment

A movement that emphasized science and reason as guides to help see the world more clearly

The First Great Awakening

Religious revival in the colonies in 1730s and 1740s; led by George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards; The movement attempted to combat the growing secularism and rationalism of mid-eighteenth century America. Religious splits in the colonies became deeper.

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

Jonathan Edwards' sermon denouncing humans as sinners saved only by the grace of God

Predestination

The Puritan belief that God had determined if a person would be saved (go to heaven) before birth.

Christopher Columbus

An Italian navigator who was funded by the Spanish Government to find a passage to the Far East. He is given credit for discovering the "New World" in 1492, even though at his death he believed he had made it to the Indies. He made four voyages to the "New World."

Bartolome de Las Casas

First bishop of Chiapas, in southern Mexico. He devoted most of his life to protecting Amerindian peoples from exploitation. His major achievement was the New Laws of 1542, which limited the ability of Spanish settlers to compel Amerindians to labor.

Triangular Trade

A three way system of trade during 1600-1800s: Africa sent slaves to America, America sent Raw Materials to Europe, and Europe sent Guns and Rum to Africa

Middle Passage

A voyage that brought enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to North America and the West Indies

Chattel Slavery

A system of bondage in which a slave has the legal status of property and so can be bought and sold.

Charter

A document that gives the holder the right to organize settlements in an area

Jonathan Edwards

American preacher during the First Great Awakening who authored "Sinners in the Hands of Angry God"

French and Indian War

(1754-1763) War fought in the colonies for possession of the Ohio Valley area; led to the end of Salutary Neglect.

Pontiac's Rebellion

1763 - An Indian uprising after the French and Indian War, opposing British expansion into the western Ohio Valley; led to the Proclamation of 1763

Intolerable Acts

A series of laws passed in 1774 to punish Boston for the Tea Party

Common Sense

A pamphlet written by Thomas Paine that claimed the colonies had a right to be an independent nation, and placed blame on the king

Loyalists

Colonists who supported the British government during the American Revolution

Articles of Confederation

1st Constitution of the U.S. 1781-1788 (weaknesses-no executive, no judicial, no power to tax, no power to regulate trade)

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

A law that established a procedure for the admission of new states to the Union

Federalism

A system in which power is divided between the national and state governments

Bill of Rights

First 10 amendments to the Constitution; added to placate the anti-federalists

Federalists (political party)

Political Party led by Hamilton - pro-British; supported by the wealthy; pro-merchants and trade; Favored the National Bank; loose interpretation

Washington's Farewell Address

Warned against permanent foreign alliances and political parties, called for unity of the country, established precedent of two-term presidency

Alien and Sedition Acts

Series of four laws enacted by President Adams and the Federalist Congress in 1798 to reduce the political power of recent immigrants, and silence critics.

National Bank

Hamilton's big idea; fiercely opposed by Jefferson and Democratic-Rep. It would regulate money and draw investors; but allowed the Federalists to stretch the Constitution.

Whiskey Rebellion

1794 protest against the government's tax on whiskey by backcountry Pennsylvania farmers

Stamp Act

1765; law that taxed printed goods, including: playing cards, documents, newspapers, etc.

Salutary Neglect

An English policy of not strictly enforcing laws in its colonies

Battle of Bunker Hill

First major battle of the Revolutions. It showed that the Americans could hold their own, but the British were also not easy to defeat. Considered a moral victory

Battle of Saratoga

American victory over British troops in 1777 that was a turning point in the American Revolution because it led to French assistance.

Albany Plan of Union

plan proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1754 that aimed to unite the 13 colonies for trade, military, and other purposes; the plan was turned down by the colonies and the Crown

Benjamin Franklin

American intellectual, inventor, and statesman. He helped to negotiate French support for the American Revolution.

Treaty of Paris, 1763

Ended French and Indian War, France lost Canada, land east of the Mississippi, to British, New Orleans and west of Mississippi to Spain

George III

King of England during the American Revolution

Proclamation of 1763

A proclamation from the British government which forbade British colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains, and which required any settlers already living west of the mountains to move back east.

Virtual Representation

British governmental theory that Parliament spoke for all British subjects, including Americans, even if they did not vote for its members

Virginia Resolves

Patrick Henry's response to the Stamp Act that denied Parliament's right to tax the colonies.

Samuel Adams

American Revolutionary leader and patriot, Founder of the Sons of Liberty and one of the most vocal patriots for independence

Sons of Liberty

A radical organization for colonial independence formed to protest the Stamp Act; formed the Committees of Correspondence which spread information and promotted opposition to British policies; leaders included Samuel Adams and Paul Revere.

Stamp Act Congress

Held in New York; agreed to not import British goods until Stamp Act was repealed

Declaratory Act

Act passed in 1766 after the repeal of the stamp act; stated that Parliament had authority over the the colonies and the right to tax and pass legislation "in all cases whatsoever."

Townshend Duties/Acts

Popular name for the Revenue Act of 1767 which taxed glass, lead, paint, paper and tea entering the colonies

Boston Massacre

The first bloodshed of the American Revolution (1770), as British guards at the Boston Customs House opened fire on a crowd killing five Americans

Tea Act

Law passed by parliament allowing the British East India Company to sell its low-cost tea directly to the colonies - undermining colonial tea merchants; led to the Boston Tea Party

Boston Tea Party

A 1773 protest against British taxes in which Boston colonists disguised as Mohawks dumped valuable tea into Boston Harbor.

First Continental Congress

Meeting of 12 colonies in 1774 to protest the Intolerable Acts; sent a petition to King George III, conceding to Parliament the power to regulate commerce but objecting to arbitrary taxation and the unfair judicial system.

Lexington and Concord

The first battle of the American Revolution (April 19, 1775)

Second Continental Congress

Convened in the wake of the bloodshed at Lexington and Concord; issued both the Olive Branch Petition and the Declaration of Independence

John Adams

Revolutionary leader in Boston who became America's first Vice-President and second President

Olive Branch Petition

An offer of peace sent by the Second Continental Congress to King George lll

Thomas Jefferson

Revolutionary leader from Virginia who authored the Declaration of Independence; and won the presidency in 1800

Declaration of Independence

The document recording the proclamation of the second Continental Congress (4 July 1776) asserting the independence of the colonies from Great Britain

Abigail Adams

Revolutionary activist who appealed to her husband to "remember the ladies" when seeking independence

Patriots

American colonists who fought for independence from Great Britain during the Revolutionary War

Battle of Yorktown

1781 American victory in Virginia that forced the British to surrender

Critical Period

Era following the end of the American Revolution and the ratification of the Constitution when the United States struggled under the Articles of Confederation.

Shays' Rebellion

A 1787 rebellion in which ex-Revolutionary War soldiers attempted to prevent foreclosures of farms in Massachusetts as a result of high interest rates and taxes; highlighted the weakness of the Articles of Confederation

Philadelphia Convention

The1787 meeting called by Congress to amend the Articles of the Confederation; led to the writing of the Constitution

Great Compromise

Compromise between the large and small states creating a bicameral Congress with proportional representation in the House of Representatives and equal representation in the Senate

3/5 Compromise

The decision at the Constitutional convention to count slaves as fraction of a person for the purposes of representation in Congress and taxation

Republic

A form of indirect democracy in which citizens choose their leaders through frequent elections

James Madison

"Father of the Constitution," Federalist leader, and fourth President of the United States.

Ratification

official approval

Federalists (not political party)

A term used to describe supporters of the Constitution during ratification debates in state legislatures.