AP African American Studies - Units 1 & 2 Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, historical figures, legal codes, and concepts from AP African American Studies Units 1 and 2.

Nzinga a Nkuwu (João I)

Ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo who voluntarily converted to Christianity.

Nzinga Mbemba (Afonso I)

Christian king of Kongo who corresponded with Portugal and became concerned about the negative effects of the slave trade.

Kingdom of Kongo

A powerful Central African kingdom rich in resources such as ivory, salt, copper, and textiles that voluntarily converted to Christianity and later became the largest source of enslaved Africans in the Atlantic slave trade.

Iyoba

The title for the queen mother in Benin, demonstrating the importance of women and kinship in political leadership.

Queen Idia of Benin

A powerful female political figure associated with the Kingdom of Benin who serves as an example of women participating in political leadership and defending their kingdom.

Queen Njinga of Ndongo-Matamba

Queen of Ndongo and Matamba who used diplomacy and warfare to resist Portuguese expansion and the slave trade for approximately 30 years.

FESTAC 1977 Ivory Mask

An ivory mask connected to Queen Idia that became an important symbol of African cultural heritage.

Trans-Saharan routes

Trade routes that connected West Africa with North Africa and the Mediterranean.

Atlantic routes

Trade routes connecting Africa with Europe and eventually the Americas that grew in importance with European maritime expansion.

Chafariz d'El-Rey

Important visual evidence used for studying African life in Lisbon.

Ladino

An African who had been exposed to Spanish language and culture, often through Iberian society.

Atlantic Creole

People with cultural identities shaped by interaction between African, European, and Atlantic societies.

Chattel slavery

A system in which enslaved people were legally treated as property.

Juan Garrido

An African explorer associated with Spanish exploration whose free status demonstrates direct African participation in exploration and colonization.

Estevanico

An enslaved African who participated in Spanish exploration in North America, demonstrating enslaved Africans' participation in exploration.

Juan Garrido and Estevanico Comparison

A visual comparison detailing how Juan Garrido and Estevanico were both African explorers associated with Spanish exploration, but differed in status because Estevanico was enslaved.

Charleston

The main port city that received about 48% of enslaved Africans brought to the British mainland colonies/United States.

Middle Passage

The forced Atlantic voyage from Africa to the Americas, characterized by extreme overcrowding, disease, violence, and approximately 15% mortality.

"Final" Passage

The final leg of the three-part journey involving movement from arrival points in the Americas to the places where enslaved people were sold and forced to work.

Olaudah Equiano

An African writer whose firsthand written account provides evidence about the experiences of Africans in the slave trade.

Phillis Wheatley

An enslaved African-born poet whose writings provide evidence of African American intellectual and cultural life.

Slave Narratives

First-person accounts providing evidence about enslavement, resistance, family separation, daily life, and the struggle for freedom.

Amistad (1839)

An 1839 revolt aboard a slave ship led centrally by Sengbe Pieh, where enslaved Africans rebelled against their captors.

Brookes Diagram

A famous diagram depicting how enslaved Africans were packed onto a slave ship, which served as powerful evidence for abolitionists exposing the trade's brutality.

Willie Cole

A modern Black artist whose work connects to the history and visual memory of the slave trade.

1808 Importation Ban

The legal termination of overseas importation of enslaved people into the United States in 1808, which expanded the domestic slave trade rather than ending slavery.

Second Middle Passage

The forced domestic movement of over 1 million enslaved people within the United States from the Upper South to the Lower South to support expanding plantation agriculture.

Solomon Northup

Author of Twelve Years a Slave whose testimony provides evidence about kidnapping, enslavement, and the domestic slave trade.

Charleston Broadside

A primary-source advertisement providing evidence related to the sale of enslaved people.

Gang System

A labor system common in plantation agriculture where enslaved workers worked in groups under close supervision.

Task System

A labor system where enslaved workers were assigned specific tasks to complete, allowing them control over their remaining time once finished.

Gullah

An African American culture and language tradition especially associated with the coastal South that reflects the survival and development of African cultural traditions in the Americas.

Three-Fifths Clause

A clause in the U.S. Constitution that counted enslaved people as three-fifths of a person for representation and taxation purposes.

Fugitive Slave Clause

A clause in the U.S. Constitution requiring that enslaved people who escaped to another state could be returned.

Slave Codes

Laws designed to control enslaved people and restrict their movement, education, assembly, rights, and resistance.

Code Noir

French colonial laws regulating slavery.

1740 South Carolina Slave Code

Law passed after the Stono Rebellion that placed severe legal restrictions on enslaved people.

Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

A landmark Supreme Court case ruling that Dred Scott was not a U.S. citizen and reinforcing the legal structure of slavery.

Partus Sequitur Ventrem

A Latin legal principle meaning "the status of the child follows the status of the mother," codified in Virginia in 1662 to make slavery hereditary.