APUSH Unit 2 Vocabulary

maize

crop a part of Columian exchange, came from Americas 

Columbian exchange

The exchange of ideas, plants, animals, and people between Europe and the Americas (and sometimes Africa)

encomienda system

forced labor of non-Christians, Spanish colonial economies used Native American labor to support plantation based agriculture and extract precious metals and other resources

mestizos

People of mixed Spanish and Native American ancestry

triangular trade

involved the exchange of people/goods between Africa, Europe, and the Caribbean/North America

middle passage

The journey from Africa to the Americas, estimates say 11-15 million Africans crossed the ocean

house of burgesses

In 1619, delegates from Jamestown and the surrounding area met as the House of Burgesses.  (1st meeting of a representative assembly in the Americas)

tobacco

crop that became extremely popular in England, kept Jamestown alive

John Rolfe

English planter, who started the cultivation of tobacco near Jamestown

Charter colony

a chartered company retain the rights of the state (King grants right to charter company, allowing them to create laws)

Proprietary colony

one or more landowners retain the rights of the state (King grants land to individual, who can decide rules, eg. William Penn)

royal colony

colony is controlled by the King (British govt.)

indentured servitude

attracted settlers to the colonies by having landowners in Americas offer passage to the colony for set period of servitude

Barbados slave code

First formal statute governing the treatment of slaves, which provided for harsh punishments against offending slaves but lacked penalties for the mistreatment of slaves by masters. Similar statutes were adopted by southern plantation societies on the North American mainland in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Lord Baltimore

Catholic proprietor, wanted Maryland to be a haven/safe place for Catholics

Act of Toleration

created in maryland to protect Catholics before they got outnumbered- stated that as long as you believe in Jesus, you have religious freedom in Maryland (not true religious tolerance, but a step closer to it)

Lord’s Proprietors

court favorites of King Charles II, proprietors of Carolina - Had lots of sugarcane plantations in Caribbean, so they also have lots of slaves

Charles town

important port city in South Carolina

Anglican

Church of England

Mayflower Compact

an agreement to set up a temporary govt which set the basis for self-government (framework for representative self govt)

William Bradford

was the most influential governor under mayflower compact, sailed on the Mayflower to establish the first English colony in Massachusetts

Great Puritan Migration

mass migration of Puritans to America in 1630s (in 1630, more Puritans arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, about 30 mi north of Plymouth. Over 20,00 Puritans came over the next 10 years)

Massachusetts Bay Company

did not want to turn a profit like Jamestown, but most Puritans saw this as a chance to build a religious haven. Viewed themselves as a "City upon a hill"

John Winthrop

chosen as the governor of Massachusetts Bay, and the capital of the colony was set up at Boston.

Anne Hutchinson

argued against predestination and the role of women in Puritan society. She was put on a trial, and while she fought back, she was ultimately banished and moved to Rhode Island

Roger Williams

a Puritan minister, was expelled from Massachusetts Bay in 1635. He moved to the Rhode Island area and began to build a new colony.

Pequot War

resulted in settlers defeating and almost eliminating the natives tribes presence in NE

King Philip's War

resulted in settlers defeating and almost eliminating the natives tribes presence in NE

Bacon's Rebellion

led by Nathaniel Bacon + indentured servants, not successful in toppling VA govt, but showed the divide between poor vs rich, frontier vs tidewater, east vs west, also led to shift from indentured servitude to slavery

Salem Witch Trials

The changing religious, economic, social and characteristics of the Puritan communities of New England led to the Salem Witch Trials in the 1690's. Several young girls accused older women of "bewitching" them(19 women hanged, 1 was pressed, 2 dogs hanged). Showed how unstable Puritan society could be, accusations could be made even with little evidence.

the great awakening

a religious revival that impacted the English colonies in America during the 1730-1740s. The movement came at a time when the Enlightenment was moving across Europe, which  emphasized religion, thus passion for religion had grown.

Johnathan Edwards

preacher, contributed to great awakening, gave sermons "sinners in the hand of an angry God"

salutary neglect

in general, London(British Government) left the colonies to be governed by the assemblies, furthering the importance of self reliance (and self government)

Christopher Columbus

Genoese explorer who stumbled upon the West Indies in 1492 while in search of a new water route to Asia.

Conquistadors

Sixteenth-century Spaniards who fanned out across the Americas, from Colorado to Argentina, eventually conquering the Aztec and Incan empires.

Aztecs

Native American empire that controlled present-day Mexico until 1521, when they were conquered by Spanish Hernán Cortés

Protestant reformation

Movement to reform the Catholic Church launched in Germany by Martin Luther.

Primogeniture

Legal principle that the oldest son inherits all family property or land. Landowners’ younger sons, forced to seek their fortunes elsewhere, pioneered early exploration and settlement of the Americas.

second Anglo-Powhatan War

Last-ditch effort by the Indians to dislodge Virginia settlements. The resulting peace treaty formally separated white and Indian areas of settlement

buffer

In politics, a territory between two antagonistic powers, intended to minimize the possibility of conflict between them. In British North America, Georgia was established as a buffer colony between British and Spanish territory.

Calvinism

Dominant theological credo of the New England Puritans based on the teachings of John Calvin. Calvinists believed in predestination—that only “the elect” were destined for salvation.

Predestination

Calvinist doctrine that God has foreordained some people to be saved and some to be damned. Though their fate was irreversible, Calvinists, particularly those who believed they were destined for salvation, sought to lead sanctified lives in order to demonstrate to others that they were in fact members of the “elect.”

Conversion

Intense religious experience that confirmed an individual’s place among the “elect,” or the “visible saints.” Calvinists who experienced conversion were then expected to lead sanctified lives to demonstrate their salvation

Puritans

English Protestant reformers who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic rituals and creeds. Some of the most devout Puritans believed that only “visible saints” should be admitted to church membership.

Separatists

Small group of Puritans who sought to break away entirely from the Church of England; after initially settling in Holland, a number of English Separatists made their way to Plymouth Bay, Massachusetts, in 1620.

Antinomianism

Belief that the elect need not obey the law of either God or man; most notably espoused in the colonies by Anne Hutchinson.

Blue Laws

 Also known as sumptuary laws, they are designed to restrict personal behavior in accord with a strict code of morality. Blue laws were passed across the colonies, particularly in Puritan New England and Quaker Pennsylvania.

Slave Codes

Set of laws beginning in 1662 defining racial slavery. They established the hereditary nature of slavery and limited the rights and education of slaves.

Paxton Boys

Armed march on Philadelphia by Scots-Irish frontiersmen in protest against the Quaker establishment’s lenient policies toward Native Americans.

Congregational Church

Self-governing Puritan congregations without the hierarchical establishment of the Anglican Church.

Arminianism

Belief that salvation is offered to all humans but is conditional on acceptance of God’s grace. Different from Calvinism, which emphasizes predestination and unconditional election.

Poor Richards Almanac

Widely read annual pamphlet edited by Benjamin Franklin. Best known for its proverbs and aphorisms emphasizing thrift, industry, morality, and common sense.

Captain John Smith

English adventurer who took control of Jamestown in 1608 and ensured the survival of the colony by directing gold-hungry colonists toward more productive tasks. Saved by Pocahontas in mock execution.

Powhatan

Chief of the Powhatan Indians and father of Pocahontas - led Powhatans in 1st Anglo-Powhatan War. 

Pocahontas

Daughter of Chief Powhatan, Pocahontas "saved" Captain John Smith in a dramatic mock execution and served as a mediator between Indians and the colonists - married John Rolfe.

Charles II

Assumed the throne with the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. Charles sought to establish firm control over the colonies, ending the period of relative independence on the American mainland.

Sir Francis Drake

English sea captain who completed his circumnavigation of the globe in 1580, plundering Spanish ships and settlements along the way.

Sir Walter Raleigh

English courtier and adventurer who sponsored the failed settlements of North Carolina’s Roanoke Island in 1585 and 1587

Dominion of New England

Administrative union created by royal authority, incorporating all of New England, New York, and East and West Jersey. Placed under the rule of Sir Edmund Andros, who curbed popular assemblies, taxed residents without their consent, and strictly enforced Navigation Laws. Its collapse after the Glorious Revolution in England demonstrated colonial opposition to strict royal control.

Duke of York

Who New York was named after 

Elizabeth I

Protestant queen of England whose forty-five-year reign from 1558 to 1603 firmly secured the Anglican Church and inaugurated a period of maritime exploration and conquest. 

English civil war

Armed conflict between royalists and parliamentarians, resulting in the victory of pro-Parliament forces and the execution of Charles I.

Fundamental orders

Drafted by settlers in the Connecticut River valley, this document was the first “modern constitution” establishing a democratically controlled government. Key features of the document were borrowed for Connecticut’s colonial charter and, later, its state constitution.

George Whitefield

Itinerant English preacher whose rousing sermons throughout the American colonies drew vast audiences and sparked a wave of religious conversion, the First Great Awakening.

Great (English) migration

Migration of seventy thousand refugees from England to the North American colonies, primarily New England and the Caribbean. The twenty thousand migrants who came to Massachusetts largely shared a common sense of purpose—to establish a model Christian settlement in the New World.

Halfway covenant

Agreement allowing unconverted offspring of church members to baptize their children. It signified a waning of religious zeal among second- and third-generation Puritans.

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.

Hiawatha

legendary founder of the Iroquois Confederacy that united the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca tribes

Iroquois Confederacy

Bound together five tribes—the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, and the Senecas—in the Mohawk Valley of what is now New York State.

Jacobus Arminius

 Dutch theologian who rejected predestination, preaching that salvation could be attained through the acceptance of God’s grace and was open to all, not just the elect

James I

became James I of England at the death of Elizabeth I. James I supported overseas colonization, granting a charter to the Virginia Company in 1606 for a settlement in the New World.He also cracked down on both Catholics and Puritan Separatists, prompting the latter to flee to Holland and, later, to North America.

James Oglethorpe

Soldier-statesman and leading founder of Georgia. 

Jamestown

First permanent English settlement in North America founded by the Virginia Company, saved by cultivation of tobacco

Jeremiad

Often-fiery sermons lamenting the waning piety of parishioners first delivered in New England in the mid-seventeenth century; named after the doom-saying Old Testament prophet Jeremiah.

John Peter Zenger

New York printer tried for seditious libel against the state’s corrupt royal governor. His acquittal set an important precedent for freedom of the press

John Singleton Copley

Often-fiery sermons lamenting the waning piety of parishioners first delivered in New England in the mid-seventeenth century; named after the doom-saying Old Testament prophet Jeremiah.

John Trumbull

Connecticut-born painter who, like many of his contemporaries, traveled to England to pursue his artistic ambitions.

Leisler's rebellion

Armed conflict between aspiring merchants led by Jacob Leisler and the ruling elite of New York. One of many uprisings that erupted across the colonies when wealthy colonists attempted to recreate European social structures in the New World.

Lord De La Warr

Colonial governor who imposed harsh military rule over Jamestown after taking over in 1610

John Calvin

French Protestant reformer whose religious teachings formed the theological basis for New England Puritans, Scottish Presbyterians, French Huguenots, and members of the Dutch Reformed Church

Mary II

William and Mary relaxed control over the American colonies, inaugurating a period of "salutary neglect" that lasted until the French and Indian War.

Massasoit

Wampanoag chieftain who signed a peace treaty with Plymouth Bay settlers in 1621 and helped them celebrate the first Thanksgiving.

Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur

French settler whose essays depicted life in the North American colonies and described what he saw as a new American identity—an amalgam of multiple ethnicities and cultures.

Molasses act

Tax on imported molasses passed by Parliament in an effort to squelch the North American trade with the French West Indies. It proved largely ineffective due to widespread smuggling

Nathanial Bacon

Young Virginia planter who led a rebellion against Governor William Berkeley in 1676 to protest Berkeley’s refusal to protect frontier settlers from Indian attacks.

Navigation laws

Series of laws passed, beginning in 1651, to regulate colonial shipping; the acts provided that only English ships would be allowed to trade in English and colonial ports and that all goods destined for the colonies would first pass through England.

New England confederation

Weak union of the colonies in Massachusetts and Connecticut led by Puritans for the purposes of defense and organization; an early attempt at self-government during the benign neglect of the English Civil War.

New lights

Ministers who took part in the revivalist, emotive religious tradition pioneered by George Whitefield during the Great Awakening.

New York slave revolt

Uprising of approximately two dozen enslaved Africans that resulted in the deaths of nine whites and the brutal execution of twenty-one participating blacks.

Old lights

Orthodox clergymen who rejected the emotionalism of the Great Awakening in favor of a more rational spirituality.

Oliver Cromwell

Puritan general who helped lead parliamentary forces during the English Civil War and ruled England as Lord Protector from 1653 until his death in 1658.

Phillis Wheatly

African American poet who overcame the barriers of slavery to publish two collections of her poems. As a young girl, Wheatley lived in Boston; she was later taken to England, where she found a publisher willing to distribute her work.

Quakers

Religious group known for their tolerance, emphasis on peace, and idealistic Indian policy, who settled heavily in Pennsylvania in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Regulator movement

Eventually violent uprising of backcountry settlers in North Carolina against unfair taxation and the control of colonial affairs by the seaboard elite.

Roanoke island

Sir Walter Raleigh’s failed colonial settlement off the coast of North Carolina.

Royal African company

English joint-stock company that enjoyed a state-granted monopoly on the colonial slave trade from 1672 until 1698. The supply of slaves to the North American colonies rose sharply once the company lost its monopoly privileges.

Sir Edmunds Andros

Much loathed administrator of the Dominion of New England, which was created in 1686 to strengthen imperial control over the New England colonies. 

South Carolina slave revolt

Uprising, also known as the Stono Rebellion, of more than fifty South Carolina blacks along the Stono River. They attempted to reach Spanish Florida but were stopped by the South Carolina militia.

Spanish armada

Spanish fleet defeated in the English Channel in 1588. The defeat of the Armada marked the beginning of the decline of the Spanish Empire.

Squatters

Frontier farmers who illegally occupied land owned by others or not yet officially opened for settlement. Many of North Carolina’s early settlers were squatters, who contributed to the colony’s reputation as being more independent-minded and egalitarian than its neighbors.