APUSH- Chapter 1-4 Vocab

Archaic period

Period in early American history (8000-2000 BCE) when Native peoples shifted from nomadic big-game hunting to more diverse food sources like fishing, farming, and gathering, laying the foundation for settled communities.

Black Death

Bubonic plague outbreak in Europe (1347-1351) that killed nearly one-third of the population. It weakened feudal society, reshaped economies, and fueled European interest in exploration and trade abroad.

Cahokia

A major Mississippian city (near present-day St. Louis) that thrived around 1200 CE, known for monumental earthen mounds, extensive trade routes, and complex social-political systems.

Christopher Columbus

Italian explorer sailing for Spain who completed four voyages (1492-1504). His expeditions opened the Americas to European colonization and exchange, though they also led to conquest and devastation of Indigenous peoples.

Clovis people

Some of the earliest inhabitants of North America (around 11,000 BCE), identified by their distinctive spear points. They were skilled hunters and are believed to have contributed to megafauna extinctions.

Conquistadores

Spanish conquerors in the Americas during the 16th century, including Hernán Cortés (who defeated the Aztecs) and Francisco Pizarro (who defeated the Incas). Motivated by wealth, power, and spreading Christianity.

Coureurs de bois

French fur traders ("runners of the woods") who lived among Native tribes, intermarried, and built economic and cultural alliances that shaped New France.

Encomienda

Spanish colonial labor system granting settlers control over Native labor in return for supposed protection and Christianization. It often led to severe exploitation.

Henry Hudson

English explorer hired by the Dutch who in 1609 explored the Hudson River region, laying the foundation for Dutch claims in New York.

Jamestown

Founded in 1607 in Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in North America. Despite famine, disease, and conflict, it survived with help from tobacco cultivation.

Matrilineal

A kinship system where inheritance and family ties pass through the mother's line. Common in some Native societies like the Iroquois.

Mercantilism

Economic theory emphasizing a nation's wealth as measured by gold and silver reserves. Colonies existed to provide raw materials, ensure favorable trade balances, and prevent reliance on foreign powers.

Meso-Americans

Indigenous peoples of Mexico and Central America (e.g., Maya, Aztec, Olmec), known for agriculture, urban centers, and advanced culture prior to European contact.

Mestizos

People of mixed European and Native ancestry, often forming a social class between Europeans and Indigenous peoples in Spanish America.

Protestant Reformation

Religious movement beginning in 1517 with Martin Luther's 95 Theses, challenging Catholic authority and spreading Protestantism across Europe, intensifying rivalries that influenced colonization.

Puritans

English Protestants who wanted to reform ("purify") the Church of England of Catholic elements. Many migrated to New England to build a religious "city on a hill."

Roanoke

England's first attempt at a colony (1585, reattempted 1587) on Roanoke Island. By 1590 it was abandoned, earning the name "Lost Colony."

Samuel de Champlain

French explorer who founded Quebec in 1608 and allied with Native groups, establishing New France as a permanent foothold.

Separatists

Radical Puritans who wanted to completely break from the Church of England. A group of Separatists, known as Pilgrims, established Plymouth in 1620.

Seigneuries

French feudal-style land grants along the St. Lawrence River, given to lords (seigneurs) to encourage settlement in New France.

Sir Humphrey Gilbert

English promoter of colonization who attempted to settle Newfoundland in 1583, marking an early English venture in the New World.

Sir Walter Raleigh

English adventurer who sponsored the Roanoke colonies. His failure discouraged English settlement temporarily but set the stage for future attempts.

Tenochtitlán

Capital of the Aztec Empire, built on an island in Lake Texcoco (modern Mexico City). Known for its advanced architecture, canals, and large population (200,000+).

Anne Hutchinson

Religious dissenter in Massachusetts Bay who challenged clerical authority and gender roles, promoting 'antinomian' ideas. Banished in 1638, she later helped found Rhode Island.

Antinomianism

Belief that faith alone, not obedience to moral law, ensures salvation. Hutchinson's teachings were labeled antinomian by Puritan leaders.

Bacon's Rebellion

1676 uprising led by Nathaniel Bacon against Virginia Governor William Berkeley over Native relations and elite control. It revealed tensions between frontier settlers and colonial elites.

Dominion of New England

1686-1689 attempt by King James II to consolidate several colonies under one royal governor (Edmund Andros). Hated by colonists, it collapsed after the Glorious Revolution.

George and Cecilius Calvert

The Calverts (Lord Baltimore family) founded Maryland as a haven for English Catholics and a proprietary colony.

Glorious Revolution

1688 overthrow of King James II, replacing him with William and Mary. It established parliamentary supremacy and inspired colonial resistance to royal control.

Headright

Land grant system in Virginia giving settlers 50 acres for each person (including servants) they transported, encouraging migration and labor recruitment.

Jacob Leisler

German-born merchant who led a 1689 revolt in New York against royal officials. His brief government collapsed, and he was executed.

James Oglethorpe

Founder of Georgia in 1733, designed as a buffer colony against Spanish Florida and a refuge for debtors.

John Smith

Leader at Jamestown who imposed discipline and organized relations with Powhatan, helping the colony survive its early struggles.

John Winthrop

Puritan leader who served as governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony and promoted the vision of a 'city upon a hill.'

King Philip's War

1675-1676 conflict between New England colonists and Native forces led by Metacom (King Philip). It was one of the bloodiest wars in U.S. history proportionally.

Massachusetts Bay Company

Joint-stock company of Puritan merchants that established Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630.

Mayflower Compact

Agreement signed by Pilgrims in 1620 to form a 'civil body politic.' It was an early example of self-government.

Metacom (King Philip)

Wampanoag leader who united tribes to resist colonial expansion in New England, leading King Philip's War.

Middle ground

Frontier regions where Europeans and Native Americans interacted, often negotiating and blending cultures.

Navigation Acts

English laws (1651-1673) requiring colonial trade to go through England on English ships. They strengthened mercantilism but encouraged smuggling.

Pequot War

1636-1637 conflict between New England colonists and the Pequot tribe. It ended in brutal destruction of the Pequots.

Plymouth Plantation

Colony founded in 1620 by Pilgrims, notable for early self-government and the first Thanksgiving.

Powhatan

Chief of a powerful Native confederacy near Jamestown who initially allied with English settlers before conflict arose.

Quakers

Religious group (Society of Friends) emphasizing equality, pacifism, and inner light. William Penn established Pennsylvania as their refuge.

Quitrent

A small annual fee paid by landowners to colonial proprietors or government.

Roger Williams

Founder of Rhode Island who promoted religious freedom, separation of church and state, and fair treatment of Natives.

Sir William Berkeley

Governor of Virginia (1641-1677) whose favoritism toward elites and Native policy fueled Bacon's Rebellion.

Theocracy

Government based on religious principles, as in Puritan Massachusetts.

Virginia House of Burgesses

Established in 1619, it was the first elected representative assembly in English America.

William Bradford

Governor of Plymouth Colony who documented its history and guided its survival.

William Penn

Quaker founder of Pennsylvania, known for religious tolerance, fair treatment of Natives, and democratic principles.

Cotton Mather

Puritan minister known for promoting science (smallpox inoculation) and supporting the Salem witch trials.

Covenant

Binding religious/social agreement in Puritan communities, emphasizing collective responsibility to God.

George Whitefield

English preacher who traveled the colonies during the Great Awakening, drawing large crowds with emotional sermons.

Great Awakening

Religious revival of the 1730s-1740s emphasizing emotional conversions and challenging established clergy.

Gullah

Creole language and culture developed by enslaved Africans in South Carolina and Georgia, blending African and English elements.

Huguenots

French Protestants who fled persecution after the Edict of Nantes was revoked in 1685, some settling in America.

Indentured servitude

System where migrants worked 4-7 years in exchange for passage to the colonies, common before slavery became dominant.

Indigo

Plant producing valuable blue dye, cultivated in South Carolina as a major cash crop.

Jeremiad

A sermon style warning of moral decline, urging repentance and return to faith.

John and Charles Wesley

Founders of Methodism, part of broader evangelical revival movements.

John Peter Zenger

New York printer tried for libel in 1735. His acquittal expanded ideas of press freedom.

Jonathan Edwards

Puritan preacher of the Great Awakening, famous for his sermon 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.'

Middle passage

The brutal transatlantic voyage of enslaved Africans to the Americas, characterized by overcrowding, disease, and death.

Primogeniture

English inheritance system where the eldest son inherited all land, pushing younger sons to seek fortune in the colonies.

Saugus Ironworks

First significant iron production site in colonies (1640s, Massachusetts), marking early industrial activity.

Scots-Irish

Protestant immigrants from northern Ireland, often poor farmers settling the frontier.

Slave codes

Laws in colonies defining enslaved people as property and restricting their rights, institutionalizing racial slavery.

Stono Rebellion

1739 slave revolt in South Carolina where enslaved Africans tried to flee to Spanish Florida. Suppressed brutally.

Triangular trade

Atlantic trade network linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas with goods, slaves, and raw materials.

The Enlightenment

18th-century intellectual movement stressing reason, science, and human progress, influencing American political thought.

Albany Plan

Benjamin Franklin's 1754 proposal to unite colonies for defense and trade. Rejected but foreshadowed later union.

Benjamin Franklin

Enlightenment thinker, inventor, diplomat, and colonial leader who played a major role in uniting colonies and negotiating with Britain/France.

Boston Massacre

1770 incident where British soldiers killed five colonists during a protest, fueling anti-British sentiment.

Boston Tea Party

1773 protest against the Tea Act in which colonists dumped tea into Boston Harbor, provoking harsh British retaliation.

Charles Townshend

British finance minister behind the Townshend Duties, which taxed imports and provoked colonial resistance.

Coercive Acts

1774 British laws (Intolerable Acts) punishing Massachusetts for the Tea Party by closing Boston Harbor and curbing self-government.

Committees of Correspondence

Colonial networks of communication that coordinated resistance against Britain.

Creoles

People of European descent born in the colonies, often distinct culturally from Europeans.

Currency Act

1764 law restricting colonial paper money, worsening economic tensions.

Daughters of Liberty

Women's groups that organized boycotts of British goods, spun cloth, and promoted independence.

First Continental Congress

1774 meeting of colonial delegates in Philadelphia to coordinate resistance and issue declarations.

George Grenville

British Prime Minister who pushed for enforcement of Navigation Acts and new taxes (Sugar, Stamp Acts).

Impressment

Forcing men into military or naval service, a grievance against Britain.

Iroquois Confederacy

Powerful alliance of six Native nations (Mohawk, Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Tuscarora) that played a key role in colonial diplomacy.

Lord North

British Prime Minister during the Revolution, responsible for coercive policies.

Mutiny Act

Required colonists to house and supply British soldiers.

Patrick Henry

Virginia leader, orator, and member of House of Burgesses known for "Give me liberty, or give me death!"

Proclamation of 1763

British law forbidding colonial settlement west of the Appalachians to avoid conflict with Natives. Angered colonists eager for land.

Quebec Act

1774 law allowing Catholicism in Quebec and expanding its territory, angering Protestant colonists.

Samuel Adams

Massachusetts radical leader, founder of Sons of Liberty, and organizer of resistance.

Sons of Liberty

Colonial group that organized protests, boycotts, and sometimes violent resistance to British taxation.

Stamp Act

1765 law taxing printed materials, provoking widespread colonial protest.

Stamp Act Congress

1765 colonial meeting in New York where delegates petitioned against taxation without representation.

Sugar Act

1764 law lowering tax on molasses but enforcing collection strictly. Colonists resisted increased enforcement.

Tea Act

1773 law granting East India Company monopoly on colonial tea sales. Colonists resisted as a principle of taxation without consent.

Townshend Duties

1767 taxes on imported goods like glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea. Protests and boycotts followed.

Virginia Resolves

Series of resolutions by Patrick Henry declaring only colonial assemblies could tax colonists.

William Pitt

British leader during the French and Indian War who helped secure British victory through strategic planning.