AP US History Unit 1 Anchor List - Key Terms & Figures (VOCAB)

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering key people, events, concepts, and dates from Unit 1 anchor notes.

Columbus

Sponsored by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492 to find a westward route to Asia; landed in the West Indies and began the Columbian Exchange.

Columbian Exchange

The widespread transfer of crops, animals, diseases, and people between the Old World and the New World after 1492.

Bartolomé de Las Casas

Spanish priest who opposed the encomienda system and argued Native Americans were fully human; later suggested Africans as slaves and regretted it.

John Smith

Military leader of Jamestown who helped save the colony through leadership and discipline.

John Winthrop

Puritan leader who guided the Massachusetts Bay Colony and articulated the idea of a 'city upon a hill'.

Roger Williams

Banished from Massachusetts for dissent; founded Rhode Island with a policy of religious freedom.

Anne Hutchinson

Puritan dissenter who advocated Antinomianism and was exiled to Rhode Island.

Benjamin Franklin

Founding Father; proponent of independence; authored the Albany Plan and Join or Die; helped repeal the Stamp Act; ambassador to France; Enlightenment figure; inventor.

George Washington

Led the Continental Army in the American Revolution; president of the Constitutional Convention; first U.S. president.

Thomas Paine

Author of Common Sense (1776) advocating independence and republican government.

John Adams

Founding Father; helped shape the Declaration of Independence; Washington’s Vice President; 2nd U.S. president; faced XYZ Affair and other controversies.

1492

Year Columbus set sail, beginning sustained contact between the Old and New Worlds and sparking the Columbian Exchange.

1607

Founding of Jamestown, the first successful English colony in North America; tobacco helped its survival.

1763 Peace of Paris

Treaty ending the French and Indian War; Britain gained Western lands; reshaped North American boundaries.

1763 Proclamation Line

Prohibition on colonial westward expansion past the Appalachian Mountains; fueled colonial resentment.

1776 Declaration of Independence

Document declaring independence from Britain; grounded in natural rights and grievance listing.

1783 Peace of Paris

Treaty recognizing American independence and setting colonial boundaries from the Mississippi to the Atlantic.

Maize Cultivation

Cultivation of maize (corn); a staple crop in the Americas and a driver of agricultural economies.

Joint-Stock Companies

Investment groups that pooled capital to fund colonial ventures with shared risk and reward.

Encomienda System

Spanish labor system that exploited Native Americans for labor; associated with brutal treatment.

God, Gold, Glory

Main motivations for European exploration: religious mission, wealth, and national prestige.

Spanish Caste System

Racial and social hierarchy in Spanish colonies based on ancestry and birthplace.

Dutch colonization

Dutch presence in the Atlantic world, including New Netherland, with trade networks and later English takeovers.

English colonization

Settlement by English settlers along the Atlantic seaboard, driven by religious and economic motives.

French colonization

French colonization focused on fur trade and alliances with Native Americans (e.g., Quebec, Louisiana).

Pueblo Revolt

1680 uprising of Pueblo peoples against Spanish rule and Christianization efforts in Santa Fe.

The Chesapeake

Region including Jamestown (VA) and Maryland; tobacco economy; increasing reliance on enslaved labor.

The New England Colonies

Settled by Pilgrims and Puritans; religiously intolerant by some measures; subsistence farming and maritime economy.

The Middle Colonies

New York and Pennsylvania; diverse, tolerant, breadbasket region; Dutch and Quaker influences.

The Southern Colonies

Carolina and Georgia; plantation economy with rice and slave labor.

The West Indies

Caribbean islands (e.g., Barbados) focused on sugar plantations and enslaved labor.

House of Burgesses

First elected representative assembly in English colonies (Jamestown, 1619).

Indentured Servants

Europeans who exchanged years of labor (about 7) for passage to the Americas; later replaced by slavery.

Mayflower Compact

Early self-government agreement signed by the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower (1620).

Mercantilism

Economic theory prioritizing a favorable balance of trade and accumulation of gold; colonies serve the mother country.

Bacon’s Rebellion

1676 rebellion led by Nathaniel Bacon against Virginia governor Berkeley; highlighted frontier tensions and accelerated shift from indentured servitude to African slavery.

King Philip’s War

Metacom’s War (1675–1676), a major Native uprising in New England that devastated settlements and reshaped colonial-native relations.

The Middle Passage

Segment of the transatlantic slave trade transporting Africans to the Americas; ~12.5 million aboard; ~2 million died.

Chattel Slavery

System in which enslaved people are treated as personal property and held for life.

The Great Awakening

Religious revival (1730s–1740s) emphasizing emotion and individual faith; fostered broader equality and a sense of American identity.

The Seven Years War

Global conflict (1756–1763) known in America as the French and Indian War; reshaped colonial empires and set stage for imperial policy.

Stamp Act

1765 direct tax on printed papers; prompted colonial protests under No Taxation Without Representation.

No Taxation Without Representation

Colonial slogan opposing taxes without colonial legislative consent; helped fuel revolutionary sentiment.

Enlightenment

Intellectual movement emphasizing reason, rights, and social contract theory influencing colonial thought.

Sons of Liberty

Secret/organized group opposing British policies; led protests and boycotts; notable members included Samuel Adams and Paul Revere.

The Boston Massacre

1770 clash in Boston where five colonists were killed by British troops, used in patriot propaganda.

Intolerable Acts

Coercive acts punished Massachusetts after the Boston Tea Party; closed Boston Harbor and curtailed self-government.

Lexington and Concord

April 1775: The first shots of the American Revolution; ‘the shot heard round the world.’

Battle of Saratoga

Turning point of the American Revolution (1777) that helped secure French support for the American cause.

Loyalists

Colonists who remained loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolution.

Patriots

Colonists who supported independence from Britain.

The Declaration of Independence

1776 document outlining reasons for independence and asserting inherent rights and equality under a social contract.