AP U.S. History Notes – Key Terms (Ch. 1–5)

Vocabulary flashcards covering major terms, people, events, and concepts from the notes.

Pangaea

A supercontinent that existed about 225 million years ago; all landmasses were joined and later split into present-day continents.

Bering Land Bridge

A land connection between Siberia and Alaska during the Ice Age that enabled human migration to North America.

Ice Age Effects

Glacial retreat formed features like the Great Lakes and Great Salt Lake and reshaped North American landscapes.

Nomadic Asians

Early peoples who crossed the land bridge to North America and subsisted as hunter-gatherers.

Maize (Corn)

A staple crop that supported population growth and settled farming in the Americas.

Three Sisters Farming

Intercropping of corn, beans, and squash that supported complementary nutrients and soil health.

Pueblos

Ancestral southwestern Native American culture known for its pueblos and multiroom dwellings.

Iroquois Confederacy

A powerful defensive alliance of Iroquoian (only natives no colinists)

Matrilineal Societies

Societies in which lineage and inheritance were traced through the mother’s line, often granting women significant authority.

Land Ownership Beliefs (Native Americans)

Many Native cultures viewed land as a shared resource rather than privately owned or dominion-based.

Polytheistic Beliefs

Religious systems in many Native cultures that worshipped multiple deities and natural forces.

Vikings/Norse in North America

Norse exploration of Newfoundland (Vinland) around 1000 CE; settlement was short-lived.

Crusaders’ Trade Impact

Crusades exposed Europeans to Asian goods (silk, spices), fueling demand and exploration.

Caravel

A fast, maneuverable Portuguese ship enabling longer ocean voyages and exploration.

Bartholomeu Dias

Portuguese explorer who first rounded the Cape of Good Hope (1488).

Vasco da Gama

Portuguese explorer who reached India by 1498, opening sea-based trade with Asia.

Ferdinand and Isabella

Spanish monarchs who unified Spain and supported overseas exploration after unifying the crowns.

Columbus (1492)

European contact with the Americas beginning with Columbus’ voyage to the Bahamas.

Columbian Exchange

The widespread transfer of plants, animals, and diseases between the Old and New Worlds.

Smallpox

A deadly Old World disease introduced to the New World with devastating Native populations.

Francisco Pizarro

Conqueror of the Inca empire in Peru (1532).

Bartolomé de Las Casas

Spanish missionary who criticized the encomienda system as a ‘moral pestilence.’

Hernán Cortés

Spanish conqueror of the Aztec Empire; allied with locals and took Tenochtitlán.

Montezuma

Aztec emperor who faced Cortés during the conquest of the empire.

Junípero Serra

Spanish missionary who established 21 missions in California (1769–1833).

Conquistadores

Spanish conquerors who claimed vast territories in the Americas.

Encomienda

A labor system that granted colonists authority over indigenous people in exchange for Christianization.

Día de la Raza

Spanish term for Columbus Day; symbolized the race or heritage of Spanish-speaking Americas.

Treaty of Tordesillas

1494 agreement dividing newly discovered lands between Spain and Portugal (Brazil to Portugal; rest to Spain).

Jamestown

First permanent English settlement in North America, founded in 1607 by the Virginia Company.

Virginia Company

Joint-stock company that funded Jamestown and sought profit from the New World.

Rights as Englishmen

Charter promise that settlers would enjoy the same rights as English subjects.

“He that shall not work shall not eat”

John Smith’s policy in Jamestown emphasizing discipline and labor.

Captain John Smith

Leader who helped stabilize Jamestown in 1608 with military discipline.

Lord De La Warr

Governor who arrived in 1610 and used harsh, Irish-tactics-style measures to restore order in Jamestown.

Powhatan

Powhatan Confederacy leader and father of Pocahontas; key Native power in Virginia.

Pocahontas

Powhatan’s daughter who helped temporarily ease tensions with the colonists and married John Rolfe.

John Rolfe

Colonist who perfected tobacco cultivation in Virginia and married Pocahontas.

First Anglo-Powhatan War

Conflict ending in 1614 with a peace settlement and Pocahontas-Rolfe marriage.

Second Anglo-Powhatan War

1644–1646 campaign that effectively banished Indians from their ancestral lands.

Headright System

Land grant of 50 acres per settler or per colonist’s passage paid; encouraged settlement.

1619 House of Burgesses

Virginia’s representative assembly, a formative step toward self-government.

Tobacco Economy

Virginia’s staple crop (tobacco) that spurred settlement, land expansion, and labor demand.

Maryland Act of Toleration (1649)

Granted toleration to all Christians in Maryland but imposed penalties on Jews and others denying Jesus’ divinity.

Barbados Slave Codes (1661)

Laws that defined enslaved status and the rights of masters in Caribbean slave societies.

West Indies Sugar Plantations

Labor-intensive plantations that relied on enslaved Africans; shaped colonial economy.

Rice in the Carolinas

Rice cultivation in South Carolina and Georgia, aided by African enslaved labor due to malaria resistance.

James Oglethorpe

Founder of Georgia; repelled Spanish attacks and established the “charity colony.”

Georgia as a Buffer Colony

Last of the English colonies (1733); created to protect Carolina and other colonies from Spanish Florida.

Plantation Colonies

Southern colonies with large-scale agriculture (tobacco, rice) and slavery; slower urbanization.

Puritan Reformation

Religious reform movement in England influenced by Calvinism and led to Puritan settlements in America.

Calvinism / Predestination

Doctrine that God has predetermined who will be saved; inspired Puritan religious discipline.

Visible Saints

Puritan belief that only those with clear spiritual conversion could join the church.

Separatists

Puritans who wanted to separate entirely from the Church of England.

Mayflower Compact

1620 agreement among Pilgrims to govern themselves; early step toward self-government.

Plymouth Colony (1620)

Settlement founded by Separatists; later merged with Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691.

William Bradford

Leader and later governor of Plymouth; helped Plymouth survive and prosper.

Massachusetts Bay Colony (1629)

Puritan colony that grew rapidly during the Great Migration and pursued religious reform.

John Winthrop

First governor of MA Bay; envisioned a “city upon a hill” as a model society.

Freemen (2/5)

In MA, about two-fifths of adult male residents who could vote, typically church members.

Blue Laws

Religious laws restricting certain activities; enforced morality in Puritan towns.

Anne Hutchinson

Critic of Puritan authority; exiled for antinomian views; fled to Rhode Island.

Roger Williams

Banished Puritan minister who founded Rhode Island and advocated church–state separation.

Rhode Island

Colony founded by dissenters; known for religious freedom and separation from state church.

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639)

Early colonial constitution establishing a representative government in Connecticut.

New Haven / Connecticut merging

New Haven founded (1638); later merged with Connecticut Colony; part of the Connecticut system.

Pequot War (1637)

Conflict between English settlers and the Pequot tribe; English victory weakened Native power.

King Philip’s War (1675–76)

Metacom (King Philip) united tribes against English settlers; slowed westward expansion.

New England Confederation (1643)

Puritan colonies formed a weak alliance for defense and unity against enemies.

Dominion of New England (1686)

England wants to control some of colonies to have some power in the new world

Andros

Royal governor of the Dominion of New England; unpopular and ousted after Glorious Revolution.

Glorious Revolution (1688)

Overthrow of James II; William and Mary took the throne and collapsed the Dominion.

New Netherland

Dutch colony developed by the Dutch West India Company; later taken by England in 1664.

Peter Stuyvesant

Dutch director-general who surrendered New Netherland to the English in 1664.

Wall Street

Origin of the street name from the Dutch wall protecting New Amsterdam.

Dutch Legacy

Dutch influence in place names, culture, and inventions (e.g., Harlem, Brooklyn).

Quakers (Religious Society of Friends)

Religious group led by William Penn; pacifists who promoted religious tolerance.

William Penn

Founder of Pennsylvania; received a royal land grant (1681) and established the Holy Experiment.

Holy Experiment (Pennsylvania)**

Penn’s plan for a tolerant, prosperous colony with fair treatment of Native Americans.

Philadelphia

Planed and well-organized city in Pennsylvania; major colonial center for trade and ideas.

Toleration in Pennsylvania

Religious freedom in PA for many groups, with limited restrictions and eventual antislavery sentiment.

Middle Colonies (NY, PA, NJ, DE)

Fertile, grain-producing colonies known as the “Bread Colonies”; ethnically diverse and commercially active.

Bread Colonies

Middle colonies focused on grain production and export; contrasted with tobacco-focused South.

Ethnic Mix in Middle Colonies

Diverse population including Germans, Scots-Irish, Dutch, Swedes, and other Europeans.

1700 Population Growth

Population around 2.5 million by 1775; life expectancy and demographics shifting toward rural life.

Africans in America (Slave Population)

By 1775, about 20% of the population; slavery embedded in many colonies; revolts occurred.

Triangular Trade

Trade network linking the Americas, Europe, and Africa; included enslaved Africans and sugar exports.

Molasses Act (1733)

British statute taxing sugar from non-British sources; encouraged smuggling by colonists.

The Great Awakening

Religious revival in the 1730s–1740s led by preachers like Edwards and Whitefield; increased church participation and new colleges.

Jonathan Edwards

Prominent Great Awakening preacher known for fiery sermons on hell and salvation.

George Whitefield

Influential evangelist in the Great Awakening; helped spread revival across colonies.

New Great Awakening Colleges (Princeton, Brown, Rutgers, Dartmouth)

Colleges founded as a result of revivalist movement and religious expansion.

Zenger Trial (1734–35)

John Peter Zenger’s trial helped establish freedom of the press in America.

Two-House Legislatures

Colonial legislatures with an appointed upper house and an elected lower house; representation debates.

Self-Taxation with Representation

Colonial belief that taxation required representation; key political principle.

Voting Rights in Colonies

Typically limited to white male landowners; universal suffrage was not yet present.

Taverns as Political Centers

Social hubs where news, ideas, and political discussion circulated; often described as a cradle of democracy.

Established Churches in 1775

Anglican (Church of England) and Congregational churches held official status in some colonies.

Presbyterianism

Church favored in frontier areas; not officially established in most colonies.

A Provincial Culture

Distinct colonial culture emphasizing religion, education, and local self-government.