APUSH Terms Ch. 1-5

Incas

 Located in Peru, this indigenous population was regarded for their large-scale nation states that emerged within their complex societies.

Mayans

Located in Central America, these indigenous Americans formulated complex societies, political, cultural, and agriculture processes. 

Aztecs

These indigenous Americans were located in present-day Mexico. With the cultivation of predominantly corn, a complex society flourished. These tribes were additionally noted for their routine search for godly approval, especially as they routinely sacrificed humans to do so, and routinely slaughtered prisoners to honor their appointed chieftains. They were also regarded for the complex city-states that they constructed over the course of time.

Iroquois

They were the confederation of tribes composed of the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas, located in the northeastern woodlands of North America. Through their military alliance, respect for women and each other, and their adherence to the legend of Hiawatha and Deganawidah, they created the most notable indigenous nation-state in North American history.

Iroquois Confederation

Located in the Mohawk Valley of present-day New York, this collection of five tribes lived in unified accord. Through their shared values and strong democratic system of matrilinear rule, they were able to coexist with colonists until alcohol and disease led to detrimental downfall. Despite their struggles, much of the culture was eventually revived by Handsome Lake. Additionally, their legacy lives on with their constitutional government inspiring that of the United States which exists in modern day.

Christian Crusaders

Though they failed to capture the Holy Land from Muslim control in the eleventh to fourteenth centuries, they still acquired tastes for delights originating from Asia. As a result, they sought to find an affordable and direct route to Asia, or an alternative source of supply, than the complex and expensive routes that were known at the time. 

Norse Seafarers/Scandinavians

Though legendarily regarded as blonde with beards, these explorers stumbled upon the northeastern tip of North America in 100 A.D. near L’Anse aux Meadows in modern day Newfoundland, Canada. As they lacked aspirations to expand or a strong-nation state, they eventually abandoned their haphazard settlements and only remarked upon their findings in legend.

Marco Polo

He was an Italian explorer, who upon return to Europe in 1295, told tales of his twenty-year stay in China. His tales of Asian finery inspired expeditions to find a shortened route to Asia, and contributed to the accidental landing in the Americas that was inspired by his tales.

Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile

 Upon the marriage of the two sovereigns, Spain was united in spirit and ambitions. Muslims were expelled from Spain, and the country sought westward expansion in order to accumulate power within their empire, especially over Portugal. They were persuaded by Christopher Columbus to fund an expedition to Asia with the provision of three ships and a crew. 

Christopher Columbus

He was an Italian sea explorer who convinced the Spanish to provide him with vessels and a crew to seek out a direct passage to Asia. On October 12, 1492, he and his crew accidentally stumbled upon an island within the Bahamas. Though incorrect in his certainty that he had landed in the “Indies” his findings irreversibly interconnected the continents of the new world as the new lands were enticing for European conquerings. He would eventually return to Hispaniola with numerous vessels containing animals, men, and intentions to return to amass wealth. 

Conquistadors

 After deeming themselves to be in the service of god, gold, and glory, Spanish conquerors boldly entered the New World and claimed the land, resources, and power for themselves. Riches were amassed, but native populations were obliterated by diseases and violence that the Spanish citizens had carried over with them. There were two main origins for routes of conquest: Cuba through Mexico into the southwest U.S. and Panama through Peru. They extinguished the Aztec and Incan empires, and claimed extensive territory through the Americas of modern Colorado to Argentina. 

Ferdinand Magellan

 He is a renowned explorer who, despite only possessing five small ships in 1519, was the first to circumnavigate the globe. Though he himself was murdered in the Philippines, one remaining vessel of his crew returned to Spain in 1522. 

Juan Ponce de Leon

In 1513 and 1521, this ambitious Spanish explorer ventured into Florida, initially believing it to be an island. Despite his initial intentions to seek gold, he ended up perishing at the hand of an arrow launched by a Native American.

Francisco Pizarro

 This conquistador is credited with the demolishing of the Incas in Peru in 1532. As a result of his brutality, the Spanish amassed a large quantity of wealth in the form of stolen treasures. 

Hernan Cortes

In 1519, he set sail from Cuba for Mexico with sixteen horses, eleven ships, and several hundred men. He landed at Vera Cruz, learned of Aztec unrest, and burned his ships to prevent any of his men from retreating. Aztec superstition believed him to be the god Quetzalcoatl, allowing him and his men to approach the capital, where he eventually laid siege to their city in 1521. 

Moctezuma

He was the Aztec chieftain, who after sending ambassadors to greet Spanish conquistadors with gifts and welcomes, superstitiously permitted their entrance into the Valley of Mexico where the capital of Tenochtitlán was located. Though they attacked the Spanish on what is known as noche trieste, his civilization was eventually conquered by the Spanish and his culture was forcefully merged to create mestizo heritage. 

John Cabot

 Under the guise of King Henry VII, he likely landed in Newfoundland in 1497. His mission, which claimed the land for the King of England, was likely the first major European expedition to North America after the Vikings. 

Jaques Cartier

He was a French mariner who explored the Canadian coast and along the St. Lawrence River. He is credited with laying the basis for the French claim to Canada, along with the name itself. Though his perception of Canada only aligns with the area of Quebec City, he is thought to have derived the term from the Iroquois-Hurons.

Robert de Las Salle

 He was a French explorer, who under Louis XIV, traveled from Illinois and down the Mississippi River. He claimed all the regions surrounding the river to belong to France, and created the topographic name of Louisiana in tribute to the king.

King Henry VIII

After breaking away from the Catholic Church, the English Protestant Reformation was launched. As a result of this separation he enacted, the Catholic Church and Protestants would tensely engage in conflict for years to come, including in the eventual establishment of the American colonies

Queen Elizabeth

After her ascension to the throne in 1558, she secured the dominance of Protestantism in England. Additionally, throughout her reign, she encouraged buccaneers to venture into shipping lanes in order to spread Protestantism and diminish Spanish influence over the seas and their territories. 

Sir Walter Raleigh

He was the explorer who organized an expedition to North Carolina island of Roanoke, which first landed in 1585. He named the territory Virginia in honor of Queen Elizabeth. 

Francis Drake

 He is the most famous Englishman who was tasked with raiding Spanish ships. After his return in 1580, accompanied by incredible profits, he was knighted on the deck of his ship by Queen Elizabeth, despite Spanish protest. 

Philip II of Spain

 In an attempt to maintain imperial superiority over England, he constructed an infamous collection of ships in an attempt to invade the opposing country. As he failed to account for swifter technology and unforeseen weather conditions during the accumulation of his battle, he was defeated and the beginning of the end of imperial rule in his country was ignited. 

Virginia Company

This was the joint stock company which received a charter from King James I to establish a settlement in the New World. Through the charter of this company, certain rights such as consistent rights for Englishmen with their overseas counterparts were secured. After setting sail in 1606, eventual permanent landfall was made in 1607 at the colony that would go on to become known as Jamestown. 

Captain John Smith

Through his leadership, the failing settlement of Jamestown was revived. He forced resilience into all settlers, was kidnapped by Powhatans, but then eventually set the precedent for peaceful relationships with the tribe through the intermediary presence of Pocahontas.

Powhatans

Led by Chieftain Powhatan, this tribe held power over indigenous peoples in the Chesapeake region. They were united by a loose confederacy, but initial peace between them and the English faded as tensions over English food raids arose. Following Lord De La Warr’s declaration, two Anglo-Powhatan wars ensued within the region. Eventually, the tribe was deemed extinct by 1685 as they could no longer compete with the English, nor recover from the harm they had inflicted.

John Rolfe

 In a peace settlement ending the first Anglo-Powhatan War, John Rolfe was married to Pocahontas in order to seal the resolution. He was killed eight years later, despite his marital status, in native attacks that were a response to a colonial declaration of perpetual war against natives. Despite his early death, he was known for fathering the tobacco industry by perfecting cultivation methods.

Plymouth Piligims

  In an attempt to escape religious persecution in England, a group of separatists negotiated to obtain a charter from the Virginia Company to settle in the New World. After surveying the lands which they landed on, the group, known as the Plymouth Pilgrims, settled in what is now known as Plymouth, Massachusetts. Though they were settlers as they settled outside the domain of the Virginia Company, they composed the Mayflower Pact as a form of self-government that would maintain order. After a brutal initial winter, the group learned to support themselves agriculturally and politically under the guidance of WIlliam  Bradford. 

House of Burgesses

This initial semblance of self-government was established in Virginia in 1619. With permission from the London Company, settlers were permitted to organize a formal assembly. The representatives were heavily distrusted by King James I, resulting in the revoking of the Virginia Company’s charter, and he converted it into a royal colony. 

Lord Baltimore

 The men with this title established the second plantation colony of Maryland in 1634: partially to make profits and partially to create a place of refuge for Catholics. Though religious toleration was permitted, the Act of Toleration which was later passed only permitted any form of Christian Worship. As the colony of Maryland thrived due to tobacco production, it took on an aristocratic feel, especially as relatives of the lord were granted large estates. 

Charles II

After his father was decapitated, he was eventually restored to the throne in 1660. The period of his rule came to be known as the Restoration period as his country returned to its empirical pursuits with renewed fervor. In 1670, this was reflected as the Carolina colony was created and named for him.

James Oglethorpe

As one of the main founders of Georgia, he emphasized his beliefs in prison reform while constructing the colony. Through his imperialism and philanthropy, repelling Spanish attacks,and providing his personal funds to the colony, he was able to create a safe haven for many who were not accepted elsewhere in English North America.

Martin Luther

He is known for having ignited the main principles of the Protestant Reformation. As a German friar, he nailed his protests against the Catholic Church at Wittenberg’s Cathedral in 1517. He expressed that the Bible was the source of God’s war, and ignited a religious revolution in his wake.

John Winthrop

 After immigrating to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, he would proceed to become the first governor of the region. After his career as a successful attorney and manor lord in England, he believed leading the colony was his next calling from God. He served as governor for nineteen years, and helped to establish the Bay Colony as one of the most influential outposts in New England.

Anne Hutchinson

This mother of fourteen children was a challenger to the orthodoxy of Puritanism. She claimed that holy life was a certainty and did not need to obey the law of God or man as predestination was undeniable. In 1638, she was put to trial, where she argued for many days, and even revealed she had received her message through direct contact from God. She was eventually banished, relocated to Rhode Island, then New York, and was later killed alongside her family by Native Americans. 

Roger Williams

After his banishment from the Bay Colony where he worked as a minister in Salem, he fled to Rhode Island. It was there that he constructed a Baptist Church that was religiously tolerant for even Jews and Catholics. Eventually, the colony that had been built around him in Rhode Island was chartered by the British Parliament in 1644.

Massasoit

He was the Wampanoag chieftain who signed a peace treaty with the Plymouth Pilgrims in 1621, effectively enacting the first official Thanksgiving.

Squanto

As he had been previously captured by an English ship’s captain, he was able to facilitate conversation and relations between the Plymouth Pilgrims and the Wampanoags. 

Peter Stuyvesant

He was the leader of the group of Dutch settlers who launched a military campaign on the Swedish they believed had invaded their lands. He is additionally known for his failure to defend New Amsterdam from English squadrons, and as a result, was forced to surrender the settlement to them. 

William Penn

 After escaping persecution for his perusal of the Quaker faith, this man turned to the New World to establish an asylum for his people. In 1681, he secured a charter to do so, and advertised his new lands as a place of refuge, opportunity, and chance to obtain land holdings without a heightened hassle. 

Quakers

 Formally known as the Religious Society of Friends, this group refused to associate with the Church of England in any way. With the construction of simple meeting houses, absence of a clergy, and passive attitude in the face of conflict, they eventually diffused from the colony of Pennsylvania, to New Jersey, East and West Jersey, and even Delaware.  

Scots-Irish

They were a group of British who had been displaced from their homes and additionally outcast for their Protestant faith in Catholic Northern Ireland after relocation from the Scottish lowlands. After escaping Anglican persecution, many proceeded to settle in the colony of Pennsylvania within the New World where they were able to establish themselves within their Presbyterian faith. 

Congregationalists

This was the system of church governance that was adopted by the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Notably different from the Anglican church was the intertwinement of the government, politics, and religion.

Anglicans

These are members of the Church of England. They were subject to the British Crown, and notably in favor of a bishopric which Americans were not.

John Edwards

 He was the preacher from Northampton, Massachusetts who was credited with inspiring the religious revival that swept through the colonies from the 1730s onward. He emphasized a complete dependence on God and the idea of predestination.

John Zenger

After his newspaper was accused of seditious libel for criticizing the governor of New York at the time, he was put to trial. As he was defended by Andrew Hamilton, it was made clear that only the truth had been told. After pleading not guilty, the precedent of criticisms of officials not being libel was set, and the freedom of the press was protected. 

encomienda

This was one of the techniques employed by the Spanish to conquer the complex indigenous civilizations that provided resistance to Spanish rule. This institution gave the right to the Spanish to give people to the colonists in return for their promise to attempt to Christianize them. In its essence, it was slavery. Though it was widely accepted, the Spanish missionary of Bartolomé de Las Casas publicly denounced the system. 

Mayflower Compact

This was a written agreement between the Plymouth Pilgrims, drafted before they disembarked the Mayflower, that stated they would submit to the will of the majority and the regulations they were agreed upon. This step to self-government was signed by forty-one male passengers, and would serve as a precedent for later written constitutions to come. 

Indentured servant

Many early settlers of Virginia and Maryland were contractually obligated servants, obligated to complete work in the New World, to eventually obtain financial and social freedom. Though many were regarded as idle and never fulfilled their contracts, some eventually became “freemen,” though they would struggle to thrive under their new level of independence nonetheless. They were the foundation of labor in the Chesapeake in the early years of settlement, until conditions improved in England and they were able to find financially supportive labor elsewhere, and were replaced by slave laborers. 

Slave codes

 These were dehumanizing acts, inspired by the Barbados Slave Code of 1661, that prevented slaves from having human rights or liberties in the new world. They included but were not limited to lifelong indentured servitude, legal servitude of their offspring, inability to vote, forbidden from practicing literacy, and even inhibition to gather with other slaves in fear of uprising by their masters. 

Molasses Act

This was an act passed by the British Parliament in 1733. It set heavy taxes on imports of sugar, rum, and molasses to the colonies from non-British sources, and would unintentionally encourage the practices of smuggling and rebellion that would transpire into the American Revolution.

Poor Richard’s

This almanac was published by Benjamin Franklin who served as the editor for 26 years, and was highly regarded for the insight it provided. The publication was widely read throughout America, second only to the Bible, and even well-known throughout Europe for its witty adages. 

Columbian Exchange

This was the exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and culture, between the European Old War and the indigenous populations in the New World. Severe depopulation of Native Americans was caused due to a lack of disease resistance, but also population growth was permitted in the old world due to the cultivation of new crops and technology.

Triangular Trade

 This was the three-legged exchange of goods between the colonies, Europe, and Africa. African slaves were transported to the Americas, who then completed labor in harvesting raw materials such as sugar and tobacco, which were then shipped to Europe to manufacture goods such as rum, molasses, textiles, and other finished products. 

“Black Legend:

This is the false concept that Spanish conquistadors only tortured and killed Natives in the New World. While they did enact many measures of brutality towards the indigenous peoples, they also introduced an extensive empire, laws, religion, culture, and language onto native societies.

The Puritan “Great Migration”

This was the wide-scale movement of English Puritans to primarily New England from the 1620s to the 1640s. In their emigration, the Puritans sought to escape religious persecution by the Anglo-Protestants under the British Crown. As they sought to establish themselves with the freedom to practice their faith, they created a successful economy and culture, as seen with the flourishing of colonies such as the Massachusetts Bay Colony, where many ended up.

The Middle Colonies

 In England, as epidemic resistance caused population growth, economic disparity, and religious intolerance took place, many were incentivized to travel to the New World. Many settled within New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. It was there that they would find fertile soil for grain production, an abundance of trees for forestry, rivers to permit trading furs, easily available land, and ethnic and religious tolerance. 

Headright System

This was a system established by the Virginia Company which encouraged the importation of workers to the New World. If passage was paid for by a colonist for themself or another worker fifty acres of land were provided in exchange. In total, it led to the immigration of over 100,000 workers, many of which were indentured servants, and when they were granted freedom, often financial disparity.

The Middle Passage

This was the brutally horrific leg of the Triangular trade where slaves were packed into ships and forcefully carried over from their homes in Africa upon capture, into the New World where they would be indentured servants for the remainder of their lives. During this journey, many sustained violent injuries, fell ill, or starved, or died due to the abysmal conditions aboard.

Half-Way Covenant

After scornful warnings from Jeremiad preachers about their warning participation in faith, conversions for church elect declined. In order to mitigate the waning adherence, concerned ministers developed this precedent so that followers could be admitted to baptism without full communion. Eventually, admittance into church membership would be opened for all, as quantity was valued over religious purity. 

Salem Witch Hunt

 After a group of adolescent girls claimed to have been bewitched by older women, a hysterical search to find the culprits ensued in Salem, Massachusetts. Prejudice and unbalanced social and religious conditions resulted in the death of twenty innocents, and little apologetic action as reparations were made two decades later. 

The Great Awakening

This was a religious revival that was initially ignited by John Edwards of Northampton, Massachusetts. In the wake of preaching about predestination and the complete dominance of God, George Whitefield of England furthered the fervor through his highly-attended revivals. Sinners were scorned, Native Americans abused at the expense of missionaries, but Americans united under a single principle of religious participation. 

Pangea

This was the supercontinent that is hypothesized to have existed around 225 million years ago. It consisted of completely dry land, until chunks of terrain eventually began to drift, separate, and give way to distinct waterways and landforms.

Great Ice Age

This was the period of time, commencing about two million years ago, when two-mile-thick ice sheets spread from the polar regions, to Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Upon the retreat of the major glaciers around 10,000 years ago, the landscapes they had previously covered were transformed, along with isolating populations who had previously transported themselves along land bridges. 

Spanish Armada

Philip II used his gains from imperialism to establish an "invincible” collection of ships to invade England with. During the peak of conflict between the Spanish and the English in 1588, the armada was scattered after swifter English ships and an unpredicted storm inflicted irreversible damage. 

Protestant Reformation

After King Henry separated from the Roman Catholic Church in the 1530s, this movement was launched. The imitations of Christ were deemed to be the sole moral teacher, and indulgences were thwarted while maintaining the principles of redemption and grace. Two renowned leaders of this movement were John Calvin and Martin Luther. 

Jamestown

 Initially settled in 1607, this was the first successful and permanent English settlement in the New World. Though initial conditions such as severe weather, starvation, and disease were challenging, the settlement eventually found financial success with the cultivation of tobacco.

Chesapeake Bay

 After initially disembarking at the mouth of the Chesapeake, English settlements, beginning with Jamestown, diffused throughout the region. After initial conflict with the indigenous people of the region, English expansion only continued. Eventually, Maryland was established by Lord Baltimore within the region, becoming a haven for those of Catholic faith. The primary source of income for all within this region was tobacco, as high European demand led to immense profitability from it.

West Indies

After overtaking a handful of Caribbean islands from the Spanish, most notably Jamaica, the English established plantations including sugar plantations within the region. Extensive yields of sugar from these plantations led to economic success for the English, though monocropping caused reliance on external sources for food and raw materials. In order to fulfill the extensive yields, extensive labor was needed. As a result, the English turned to slave labor in order to guarantee that the volume of work before them was completed. 

King Philips War

 Metacom, the son of Massasoit, forged an alliance amongst indigenous tribes. His band of warriors assaulted numerous English villages, forcing them to retreat from their frontiers to the safety of Boston. In addition to the assault and decimation of many villages, though decapitation ended his conquest, “King Philip’s” efforts slowed expansion of English settlements and their infringement upon ancestral lands.

Bacon’s Rebellion

This was the first popular uprising in the colonies that took place from 1675-1676 in Virginia. Nathaniel Bacon protested against Governor William Berkeley as he and formally indentured servants felt despair at the widening wealth gap between landowners and freemen. Protests took place in the form of violence against the wealthy, as well as Native

Glorious Revolution

This was a bloodless transfer of power, beginning in 1688, that sparked outrage in the colonies. As the monarchy transitioned from a Catholic to a Protestant rule after the disposal of King James II, a constitutional monarchy was created which would limit the power of the crown. 

New Netherland

After rebelling against and obtaining freedom from Catholic Spain, the Dutch sought to extend their wealth and rule into the New World. After employing the explorer Henry Hudson, the colony was permanently established along the river that would be officiated with him as the namesake. A notable asset of the colony was the acquisition of Manhattan Island from Native Americans: named New Amsterdam.