APUSH Master Terms List

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Land Bridge

A strip of land connecting two continents. Specifically, Siberia and Alaska.

The Columbian Exchange

The biological and cultural "give and take" that developed between the people of North America and Europe after first contact in the late 1400s.

Encomienda System

An institution formed by the Spanish, which gave grants of land and natives to individual Spaniards.

Pueblo Revolt

Harsh efforts by the Spanish to Christianize the American Indians caused the Pueblo people to revolt in 1680. The Spanish were driven from the area until 1692.

Conquistadors

Spanish soldiers and explorers who led military expeditions in the Americas and captured land for Spain. They were the main reason of expanding power for Spain in the Americas.

Mayas, Incas, Aztecs

Cultures of Central and South America with advanced civilizations and powerful empires, whose specialized in highly organized societies, extensive trade, calendars that were based on accurate scientific observations, and agriculture.

Christopher Columbus

Italian navigator who mistakenly discovered the Americas in 1492. His voyages brought permanent interaction between people from all over the globe.

Treaty of Tordesillas

After the pope established the line of demarcation, this agreement between Spain and Portugal established Portugal's claim to Brazil and the Spanish claim to the rest of the Americas.

Line of Demarcation

Drawn by the Pope in 1493 on a world map, this mark created a vertical north-south boundary between Spain and Portugal in the New World

Slave Trade

A system began by the Portuguese with countries of West Africa to provide work in agricultural plantations.

Iroquois Confederation

The most famous group of American Indians in the Northeast Settlements who were a political union of five independent tribes. These tribes were the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk. From the 16th century through the American Revolution, the Iroquois were a powerful force, battling American Indians as well as Europeans.

Bartolome de Las Casas

Spanish priest who dissented from the views of most Europeans eventually becoming an advocate for Native American rights.

John Smith

Credited with saving the Virginia colony in 1608 with his mandate "He who shall not work shall not eat."

Powhatan Confederacy

A powerful alliance of Algonquian tribes in the Chesapeake, initially trading with Jamestown settlers, but soon clashing with them over land expansion and tobacco cultivation.

John Rolfe

He was one of the English settlers at Jamestown (and he married Pocahontas). He discovered how to successfully grow tobacco in Virginia and cure it for export, which made Virginia an economically successful colony.

Lord Baltimore

Catholic nobleman who received a proprietary grant from Charles I to found Maryland.

Walter Raleigh

Englishman who sponsored the failed attempt to establish an English colony at Roanoke.

James Oglethorpe

Founded Georgia's first settlement and acted as the colony's first governor.

Joint-stock company

A practical method for financing the costly and risky enterprise of founding colonies. This pooled the savings of many investors and attracted large numbers of English settlers on the North Atlantic Coast.

Virginia Company

A joint-stock company chartered by King James I founded the first permanent English colony in America at Jamestown in 1607.

Slavery - 1619

The first group of Black African indentured servants in America arrived in the Virginia colony.

House of Burgesses - 1619

Established in 1619, this was the first "miniature parliament" in the North American Colonies. This set the precedent as an early basis for representative government for what would become the United States.

Royal Colony

A colony under direct authority and rule of the king's government.

Proprietary Colony

A colony under the authority of individuals granted charters of ownership by the king.

Starving time

The brutal winter of 1609–1610 in Jamestown, Virginia, where many English colonists died from famine and disease. It was worsened by a drought, conflict with the Powhatan Confederacy cutting off food trade, and poor leadership after John Smith left

Maryland Toleration Act

The first colonial statute granting religious freedom to all Christians. The statute also called for the death of anyone who denied the divinity of Jesus.

John Winthrop

Puritan governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony. Speaker of "City upon a hill"

Massachusetts Bay

A colony founded in 1630 that served as a refuge during a civil war in England. It was founded by Puritans for religious freedom.

"City upon a hill"

A sermon coined by Winthrop for Massachusetts Bay Colony to describe how their "Puritan" colony should serve as a model of excellence for future generations

Roger Williams

Person who founded the aforementioned "sewer" colony, Rhode Island, on the basis of religious freedom and toleration of Natives.

Anne Hutchinson

A dissident who questioned the doctrines of the Puritan authorities and believed in antinomianism. This person was banished from the Bay colony.

"The Sewer" Colony

Rhode Island Colony known as this due to its penchant for attracting the religious misfits of Massachusetts.

New Amsterdam

a Dutch colonial settlement that was known for its religious tolerance and diverse population also known as New York.

William Penn

A Quaker that was granted the Pennsylvania colony.

The "elect"

Visible Saints

Puritans who could demonstrate a conversion experience — a personal testimony of God's grace — to gain full church membership. This belief also thought of faith through works.

Mayflower Compact

Created and signed by the Pilgrims before disembarking their seagoing vessel, this document was not an official constitution; rather, it set the precedent to submit to majority rule in the North American Colonies.

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

Drafted by settlers in Hartford, this legal document was effectively known as the first constitution in North America, which established a representative government democratically controlled by the legislature of the Connecticut Colony.

Chesapeake Bay

Virginia and Maryland. Its fertile land and navigable waters made it ideal for tobacco cultivation and trade, shaping the economic and social development of the region.

Nathaniel Bacon

An impoverished gentleman farmer who seized upon the grievances of the western farmers to lead a rebellion against Berkeley, the governor of Virginia. He raised an army of volunteers and conducted a series of raids and massacres against American Indian villages.

Tobacco

Cash crop that made a profit and saved Jamestown. Developed by John Rolfe.

Headright System

Land grant program in Virginia offering 50 acres to anyone who paid for another person's passage to the colony.

Indentured System

A person under contract to work for another person for a definite period of time, usually without pay but in exchange for free passage to a new country.

Indentured Servants

Immigrants who received passage to America in exchange for a fixed term of labor

Triangle Trade

the three-way trade route between Europe, Africa, and the Americas where Europeans traded manufactured goods for enslaved Africans, who were then transported to the Americas to produce raw materials sent back to Europe.

Middle passage

The part of the Triangle Trade in which Africans were transported to North America or the West Indies

Bacon's Rebellion

A rebellion with backcountry farmers in Virginia to attack Native Americans in an attempt to gain more land and spite Berkeley's government.

Slave Codes

Series of hereditary colonial laws which define people from West Africa as property while denying them freedom

Stono Rebellion

"Grandparents"

This aspect of the multigenerational family was "invented" by New England Puritans because of their close knit communities and long-life spans.

Jeremiads

series of sermons or writings by Puritan ministers lamenting the moral decline of New England society and calling people back to their religious roots. Named after the biblical prophet Jeremiah.

Half-Way Covenant

To maintain the Puritan church's influence and membership in New England, this was offered by some clergy so that people could become partial church members even if they had not felt a conversion.

Salem Witch Hunt

wave of mass hysteria led to the accusation and execution of over 200 people (mostly women) of witchcraft. It spread rapidly due to Puritan religious anxiety, fear of the devil, and social tensions.

New England Confederation

Under constant attack by the American Indians, Dutch, and the French, four colonies formed a military alliance. This group defeated the Native American tribes in King Philip's War.

Scots-Irish, Germans

European immigrants who settled in the Americas to escape religious persecution and wars or seek economic opportunity. They showed little interest and respect for the British government.

Whiskey

Michel-Guillaume de Crévecoeur

French-American writer and farmer who wrote Letters from an American Farmer, which described Americans as a "new race of men" (melting pot) shaped by land ownership, religious tolerance, and the absence of European aristocracy

Triangle Trade

a trade route that exchanged goods between the West Indies, the American colonies, and West Africa

Great Awakening

Early 18th century movement that was a movement characterized by fervent expressions of religious feeling among masses of people.

Johnathan Edwards

Massachusetts reverend who expressed the Great Awakening ideas in a series of sermons, notably one called “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”

George Whitefield

English clergyman who was known for spreading the Great Awakening throughout the colonies.

Benjamin Franklin

Most popular and successful American writer of the 18th century. Wrote Poor Richard's Almanack. Wrote the Declaration of Independence.

John Peter Zenger

A New York editor and publisher who was brought to trial on a charge of libelously criticizing New York's royal governor.

Seven Years War/French & Indian War

The fourth and final decisive war in the series of wars between Britain and France. The war lasted from 1754-1763.

New France

French colony in North America. Samuel de Champlain founds the capital Quebec, the first permanent settlement in North America.

Jesuits

French Catholic priests, missionary work, not int. in permanent settlements. Main economic: fur trade, comparatively good with North Americans

Salutary Neglect

An English policy of not strictly enforcing laws in its colonies. Ended by British debt from the French and Indian War.

The "first three wars"

Wars that were named after the British king or queen under whose reign they occurred. These wars led to the French and Indian War.

War of Jenkins's Ear

Triggered when a British captain had his ear sliced off by Spanish authorities. The king then declared war on Spain.

Ohio Country

Territory that Britain and France wanted control over.

George Washington

A 22 year old colonel that surrendered to a superior force of Frenchmen and their American Indian allies that led to the start of the French and Indian War. Appointed commander-in-chief by the Second Continental Congress. First president of the United States.

Albany Congress/ Albany Plan

Group of representatives from several colonies to meet in New York at the beginning of the French and Indian War. The outcome of this plan was devised by Benjamin Franklin. It provided for an intercolonial government and a system for recruiting troops and collecting taxes from the various colonies for their common defense. This never took effect, however, it was significant because it set a precedent for later, more revolutionary congresses in the 1770s.

William Pitt

The British prime minister who concentrated the government's military strategy on conquering Canada. This objective was accomplished and led to Britain winning the war.

Pontiac's Rebellion

The first major test of the new British imperial policy that came in 1763 when American Indians led a major attack against colonial settlements on the western frontier. Rather than using colonial forces to retaliate, the British sent regular British troops.

Proclamation of 1763

Banned westward expansion into the Ohio River Valley, but the British could not enforce this ban because of the ocean barrier. The British hoped that this would prevent future altercations between colonists and American Indians, but the colonists reacted to it with anger and defiance.

Republicanism

A philosophy based on Enlightenment that the stability of society and government authority depend on the virtue of the citizenry.

Whigs (Parliament)

Political group in English parliament that feared threats to liberty. They wanted the American Colonies to bear more of the cost of maintaining the British empire.

Mercantilism

British enforced this economic policy, which looked upon trade, colonies, and the accumulation of wealth as a basis for a country's military and political strength. Colonies existed for one purpose only: to enrich the parent country.

Sugar Act of 1764

Also known as the Revenue Act of 1764, placed duties on foreign sugar and certain luxuries. Its chief purpose was to raise money for the crown.

"No taxation without representation"

Colonist demand that the king's government recognize the rights of all citizens-including the right not to be taxed without representation. Later on used to justify revolutionary sentiment.

"Virtual representation"

British point of view that members of Parliament represented all British subjects, not just those from the specific region that had elected them.

Stamp Act Congress of 1765

As a result of the first direct tax paid by the people in the colonies, representatives from nine colonies met in New York in 1765 to resolve that only their own elected representatives had the legal authority to approve taxes.

Navigation Acts

Based on the theory of mercantilism, this set of Parliamentary laws was first passed in 1650 (though not strictly enforced for over 100 years), which restricted colonial trade through various methods while directly benefiting Great Britain.

Sons of Liberty/Samuel Adams

As a result of the biased stamp act imposed on colonial society, Boston artisans, laborers, and shopkeepers organized a secret, violent, and illegal resistance group

-Known for planning of Boston tea party

-One of the head founders was the Founding Father and Harvard graduate

Townshend Acts

New duties to be collected on colonial imports of tea, glass, and paper. The law required that the revenues raised be used to pay crown officials in the colonies. End of salutary neglect.

Nonimportation Agreements

Revived as a result of the Townshend Acts.

Boston Massacre

Violent confrontation between British soldiers and a Boston mob on March 5, 1770, in which five colonists were killed.

John Adams

Colonial lawyer who defended British soldiers after the Boston massacre and acquitted. Delegate in the First Continental Congress.

Boston Tea Party

Colonist revolt against the Tea Act of 1773, in which a group of Bostonians disguised themselves as American Indians, boarded the British ships, and dumped tea into the harbor.

Committees of Correspondence

Nonviolent organization in Massachusetts founded by Sameul Adams that organized committees that would regularly exchange letters about suspicious or potentially threatening British activities. Led to intercolonial committee.

Intolerable Acts

Also known as the Coercive Acts, this series of British measures was enacted by the British government after the Boston Tea Party.

First Continental Congress

Delegates from each colony except Georgia meet to discuss how they will respond to the Intolerable Acts & the Quebec Act. The convention formed the Declaration of Rights and Grievances, boycotts on all British goods, and the Association.

Lexington & Concord

First battles of the Revolutionary war. Americans cannot go back from this because it is large scale treason to engage British military in open warfare.

Second Continental Congress

Delegates from all of the colonies meet in 1775 to discuss what measures they will take now that they are engaged in open warfare with Britain. They adopt a Declaration of the Causes and Necessities for Taking Up Arms, appointed George Washington commander-in-chief, and sent an "Olive Branch Petition" as a last-ditch effort for piece.

Marquis de Lafayette

Nineteen-year-old French aristocrat who joined the colonists during the American Revolution. His participation would later help the Colonists secure valuable assistance from the French government.

George Washington

Olive Branch Petition

last-ditch effort of Second Continental Congress to make peace with England, rejected by King George III after the Battle of Bunker Hill

Common Sense

Written by Thomas Paine. A pamphlet that had a profound impact on public opinion because it argued for the independence of the colonies, said that British controlling the colonies was not common sense, and that the British government was corrupt with unreasonable laws