APUSH units 1-3

Pacific northwest culture

Fishing, agriculture, mostly stayed in settlements very dense. Haida tribe hunted the ocean for sea otters and seals

Southwest culture

hot, agriculture, collected water. the pueblo had settlements near rio grande and the hopi lived near cliffs. lived in adobe houses and grew maize, beans, melons, and squash

great plains

nomadic life styles, hunting buffalos, portable shelters (tepees) among the natives in the area. hot summers, snowy winters. specifically the pawnee.

eastern woodlands

settlements mixed with local hunting and agriculture. built villages (powhatan tribe). grw maize, squash, and beans

christopher columbus

1492 sailed the ocean blue, meant to find passage to asia but didnt, landed in the caribbean and found america. Sent by spanish crown. when met with natives, wanted to convert them, take their mineral wealth, and exploit for labor

Hernan cortes

Spanish conquistador, conquered the complex society of the Aztecs through disease and warfare even though they were outnumbered. 1521

Francisco Pizarro

Spanish conquistador who conquered the Inca empire 1533

columbian exchange (food)

new world introduced maize and potatoes, tomatoes
old world introduce wheat, sugars, rice, coffee

columbian exchange (animals)

old world: horses, pigs, cows, chickens

Columbian exhange diseases

small pox, measles

Comlumbian exhange impact

diversified diet of europe, switched them from feudal system to capitalism, but killed many natives. Natives started using horses fro hunting and warfare.

encomidena system/encomenderos

spanish crown gives rights/land to encomenderos (conquistadors) to use to force natives to labor on and in turn the encomenderos give them protection and spread their religion.

bartolome de las casas

advocated against the treatment of native americans saying it was inhumane.

caste system

racial hierarchy created by the spaniards bc of new interracial couples. mestizos (Spanish-indian) and mulattos (spanish-african)

pueblo revolt

led by pope, revolt of the spaniards that were taking over the pubelo people with encomiendas and trying to convert them. Were successful at first but then the spaniards came back but they gave them more cultural accomodation to keep their religion.

Pope

led the pueblo revolt, pueblo leader. killed hundreds of spaniards and destroyed their buildings/fields

bering land bridge

what the earliest people crossed on to populate america. 15,000-30,000 years ago.

Algonquians — Period 1 (1491-1607)

A broad group of Native peoples in eastern North America; in APUSH, they illustrate the diversity of Indigenous societies Europeans encountered, including mixed agriculture, hunting, diplomacy, and trade.

Astrolabe — Period 1 (1491-1607)

A navigation instrument used to estimate latitude; significant because improved maritime technology helped make European transatlantic exploration and colonization possible.

Aztecs — Period 1 (1491-1607)

A powerful Mesoamerican empire centered in Tenochtitlan; conquered by Spain in the early 1500s, showing how conquest, disease, and alliances reshaped the Americas.

Bartolome de Las Casas — Period 1 (1491-1607)

Spanish priest who criticized the brutal treatment of Native peoples; important evidence of debates over colonization, forced labor, and Indigenous rights in Spanish America.

capitalism — Period 1 (1491-1607)

An economic system based on private investment, markets, and profit; in APUSH, it helps explain European expansion, joint-stock companies, plantation agriculture, and Atlantic trade.

Columbian Exchange — Period 1 (1491-1607)

The transatlantic transfer of plants, animals, diseases, people, and cultures after 1492; a core APUSH concept because it transformed American, European, and African societies.

Crusades — Period 1 (1491-1607)

Medieval religious wars that increased European contact with the wider world; in APUSH background, they helped stimulate trade, exploration, and demand for Asian goods.

cultural autonomy — Period 1 (1491-1607)

The ability of a group to maintain its own customs, religion, language, and social practices; used in APUSH to analyze Native resistance and adaptation under European colonization.

Encomienda — Period 1 (1491-1607)

A Spanish labor system granting colonists control over Native labor and tribute; significant as a form of coercive labor and racial hierarchy in Spanish colonial America.

feudalism — Period 1 (1491-1607)

A medieval European social and economic order based on landholding and obligations; relevant as a contrast to the emerging market capitalism that encouraged overseas expansion.

Great Basin — Period 1 (1491-1607)

Arid region between the Rockies and Sierra Nevada where many Native groups relied on hunting, gathering, and seasonal movement; illustrates environmental adaptation.

Hunter-gatherers — Period 1 (1491-1607)

Societies that relied mainly on hunting animals and gathering wild plants; in APUSH, they show the diversity of Native economies before European contact.

Incas — Period 1 (1491-1607)

A large Andean empire conquered by Spain in the 1530s; important for understanding Spanish conquest, mineral wealth, and imperial administration in the Americas.

Indentured servant — Period 1 (1491-1607); Period 2 (1607-1754)

A laborer who agreed to work for a fixed term in exchange for passage or debt repayment; central to early English colonies before racial slavery became dominant.

Iroquois — Period 1 (1491-1607)

A confederacy of Haudenosaunee nations in the Northeast; important for diplomacy, trade, warfare, and balance-of-power politics among Native nations and European empires.

Jesuits — Period 1 (1491-1607)

Catholic missionaries active in New France and Spanish America; significant for missionary efforts, cultural exchange, and attempts to convert Native peoples.

Joint-stock companies — Period 1 (1491-1607)

Investor-owned companies that pooled capital and risk; the Virginia Company shows how private investment financed English colonization.

Juan de Onate — Period 1 (1491-1607)

Spanish conquistador and colonial governor in New Mexico; remembered for violent conquest and colonization, including abuses against Pueblo peoples.

maize cultivation — Period 1 (1491-1607)

The farming of corn, which supported settled agricultural societies in the Americas; an APUSH example of how crops shaped Native population density and social organization.

Mayans — Period 1 (1491-1607)

Mesoamerican civilization known for cities, agriculture, writing, and astronomy; included to show complex societies existed in the Americas before European contact.

Mestizo — Period 1 (1491-1607)

A person of mixed Spanish and Indigenous ancestry; important to APUSH for Spanish colonial racial hierarchy and cultural blending.

plantation-based agriculture — Period 1 (1491-1607)

Large-scale commercial farming of cash crops using coerced labor; became central to Atlantic slavery and colonial wealth.

political autonomy — Period 1 (1491-1607)

The ability of a group to govern itself; used to analyze how Native peoples resisted, negotiated, or lost power under European colonial expansion.

Powhatan Confederacy — Period 1 (1491-1607); Period 2 (1607-1754)

An alliance of Algonquian-speaking peoples in Virginia led by Powhatan; central to early conflict and exchange with Jamestown colonists.

Pueblo — Period 1 (1491-1607)

Native peoples of the Southwest known for settled villages and agriculture; important for Spanish mission efforts and the Pueblo Revolt.

Roanoke — Period 1 (1491-1607); Period 2 (1607-1754)

Failed English colony founded in the 1580s off present-day North Carolina; shows early English colonial failure before Jamestown.

Samuel de Champlain — Period 1 (1491-1607); Period 2 (1607-1754)

French explorer who founded Quebec in 1608; associated with New France, fur trade networks, and alliances with Native peoples.

Spanish mission — Period 1 (1491-1607)

A religious settlement intended to convert Native peoples and extend Spanish control; significant for cultural change, coercion, and empire-building.

Teotihuacan — Period 1 (1491-1607)

Major ancient city in central Mexico; included as evidence of complex urban societies in pre-Columbian America.

Treaty of Tordesillas — Period 1 (1491-1607)

1494 agreement dividing Atlantic claims between Spain and Portugal; important for explaining Spanish and Portuguese imperial spheres.

Virginia Company — Period 1 (1491-1607); Period 2 (1607-1754)

Joint-stock company that founded Jamestown; significant for private investment, tobacco expansion, and representative government in Virginia.

white superiority — Period 1 (1491-1607)

The ideology that Europeans or whites were inherently superior; in APUSH, it justified conquest, slavery, racial caste systems, and colonial domination.

New Lights — Period 2 (1607-1754)

Supporters of the emotional revivalism of the First Great Awakening; they challenged older religious authorities and helped democratize Protestant religion.

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God — Period 2 (1607-1754)

Jonathan Edwards's famous 1741 sermon; an APUSH example of Great Awakening theology emphasizing human sinfulness and the need for conversion.

Albany Plan of Union — Period 2 (1607-1754); Period 3 (1754-1800)

Benjamin Franklin's 1754 proposal for intercolonial cooperation during the French and Indian War; important as an early but failed model of colonial unity.

Anne Hutchinson — Period 2 (1607-1754)

Puritan dissenter in Massachusetts who challenged male clergy and emphasized individual spiritual insight; banished and associated with religious conflict in New England.

Bacon's Rebellion — Period 2 (1607-1754)

1676 uprising of frontier settlers in Virginia against Governor Berkeley; important for class tensions, frontier conflict, and the later shift toward racial slavery.

Calvinism — Period 2 (1607-1754)

Protestant theology emphasizing predestination and a disciplined godly community; shaped Puritan society in New England.

Church of England — Period 2 (1607-1754)

England's established Protestant church; important because some colonists supported it while Puritans and Separatists sought reforms or separation.

Connecticut — Period 2 (1607-1754)

New England colony associated with Puritan settlement and the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, an early written framework of self-government.

Dominion of New England — Period 2 (1607-1754)

A consolidated royal government imposed by James II in the 1680s; angered colonists by limiting self-rule and enforcing trade laws.

French and Indian War — Period 2 (1607-1754); Period 3 (1754-1800)

North American theater of the Seven Years' War between Britain and France; its costs and consequences helped trigger imperial reform and colonial resistance.

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut — Period 2 (1607-1754)

1639 written plan of government for Connecticut; often cited as an early example of colonial self-government and written constitutionalism.

George Whitefield — Period 2 (1607-1754)

Itinerant preacher of the First Great Awakening; his emotional preaching helped spread evangelical revivalism across the colonies.

Glorious Revolution — Period 2 (1607-1754)

1688 overthrow of James II in England; led to the fall of the Dominion of New England and reinforced ideas about rights and representative government.

Great Awakening — Period 2 (1607-1754)

Religious revival movement of the 1730s-1740s; challenged established authority, encouraged individual faith, and contributed to a shared colonial culture.

Halfway Covenant — Period 2 (1607-1754)

1662 Puritan policy allowing partial church membership for the children of baptized but unconverted members; shows declining religious intensity in New England.

Headright system — Period 2 (1607-1754)

Virginia system granting land to settlers who paid for passage, including servants; encouraged immigration and plantation expansion.

Holy Experiment — Period 2 (1607-1754)

William Penn's Quaker colony of Pennsylvania, designed around religious tolerance, pacifism, and fairer relations with Native peoples.

John Rolfe — Period 2 (1607-1754)

Jamestown settler who developed profitable tobacco cultivation; tobacco made Virginia economically viable and increased labor demand.

John Winthrop — Period 2 (1607-1754)

Puritan governor of Massachusetts Bay who described the colony as a 'city upon a hill'; represents Puritan communal ideals.

Jonathan Edwards — Period 2 (1607-1754)

Great Awakening preacher and theologian; emphasized human dependence on divine grace and helped spark evangelical revival.

King William's War — Period 2 (1607-1754)

Late-1600s imperial conflict between England and France in North America; part of recurring Anglo-French wars involving colonists and Native allies.

London Company — Period 2 (1607-1754)

Another name for the Virginia Company; the joint-stock company that established Jamestown.

Lord Baltimore — Period 2 (1607-1754)

Founder of Maryland as a haven for English Catholics; associated with religious toleration and proprietary colonies.

Mayflower Compact — Period 2 (1607-1754)

1620 agreement by Pilgrims to form a civil government; significant as an early example of self-government and consent of the governed.

mercantilism — Period 2 (1607-1754)

Economic theory that colonies existed to enrich the mother country through regulated trade; explains Navigation Acts and imperial control.

Middle Passage — Period 2 (1607-1754)

Forced transatlantic voyage of enslaved Africans to the Americas; central to the growth of racial slavery and the Atlantic economy.

Molasses Act — Period 2 (1607-1754)

1733 British tax on foreign molasses imported by colonists; often evaded under salutary neglect, showing tensions over trade regulation.

Nathaniel Bacon — Period 2 (1607-1754)

Leader of Bacon's Rebellion; symbolized frontier resentment against colonial elites and government failure to protect settlers.

Navigation Acts — Period 2 (1607-1754)

British laws regulating colonial trade to benefit the empire; central to mercantilism and later colonial resentment.

Proprietary colony — Period 2 (1607-1754)

A colony granted by the Crown to an individual or group; Maryland and Pennsylvania are major examples.

Pueblo Revolt — Period 2 (1607-1754)

1680 uprising by Pueblo peoples against Spanish rule in New Mexico; one of the most successful Native revolts against European colonization.

Puritans — Period 2 (1607-1754)

English Protestants who sought to purify the Church of England; founded Massachusetts Bay and shaped New England religious and political culture.

Quakers — Period 2 (1607-1754)

Religious group emphasizing inner light, pacifism, and equality before God; strongly associated with Pennsylvania and religious tolerance.

Queen Anne's War — Period 2 (1607-1754)

Early-1700s Anglo-French imperial war in North America; continued competition over territory, trade, and Native alliances.

Restoration colonies — Period 2 (1607-1754)

Colonies founded after the 1660 restoration of the English monarchy, including Carolina, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Roger Williams — Period 2 (1607-1754)

Puritan dissenter who founded Rhode Island; advocated religious toleration and separation of church and state.

Salem Witch Trials — Period 2 (1607-1754)

1692 witchcraft crisis in Massachusetts; illustrates social tensions, religious anxiety, and gendered accusations in Puritan New England.

Salutary neglect — Period 2 (1607-1754); Period 3 (1754-1800)

British policy of loose enforcement of colonial trade laws; its end after 1763 contributed to colonial anger and resistance.

Separatists — Period 2 (1607-1754)

English Protestants who wanted to separate from the Church of England; Pilgrims at Plymouth are the key APUSH example.

Sir William Berkeley — Period 2 (1607-1754)

Royal governor of Virginia during Bacon's Rebellion; represented colonial elite authority and policies resented by frontier settlers.

Slave codes — Period 2 (1607-1754)

Laws defining enslaved people as property and restricting Black freedom; institutionalized racial slavery in colonial society.

Stono Rebellion — Period 2 (1607-1754)

1739 slave uprising in South Carolina; led to harsher slave codes and shows resistance to slavery.

Stratification — Period 2 (1607-1754)

The development of social hierarchy; in colonial APUSH, it refers to growing inequalities by race, class, gender, and legal status.

Toleration Act — Period 2 (1607-1754)

Maryland's 1649 law granting limited religious toleration to Christians; important but limited example of colonial religious pluralism.

Triangular Trade — Period 2 (1607-1754)

Atlantic trade network linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas through goods, enslaved people, and raw materials; connected to mercantilism and slavery.

Virginia House of Burgesses — Period 2 (1607-1754)

Established in 1619, the first representative assembly in English North America; important for colonial self-government.

Aaron Burr — Period 3 (1754-1800)

Democratic-Republican politician who tied Jefferson in the election of 1800 and later killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel; connected to early party politics.

Abigail Adams — Period 3 (1754-1800)

Wife of John Adams who urged him to 'remember the ladies'; significant for Republican Motherhood and early arguments for women's rights.

Alexander Hamilton — Period 3 (1754-1800)

Federalist leader and first Treasury secretary; promoted assumption of state debts, a national bank, manufacturing, and a strong central government.

Alien and Sedition Acts — Period 3 (1754-1800)

1798 Federalist laws restricting immigrants and criminalizing criticism of the government; sparked constitutional debates over civil liberties and states' rights.

Articles of Confederation — Period 3 (1754-1800)

First U.S. national government; created a weak central authority, and its limits were exposed by debt, diplomacy, and Shays' Rebellion.