apush unit 2 1

Columbian Exchange

The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and people between the Americas, Europe, and Africa after 1492

Fur Trade

The trade of animal pelts, especially beaver fur, between European settlers and Native Americans

New Amsterdam / New Netherlands

Dutch colonial settlement and territory in North America, later taken over by the English and renamed New York

New France

French colonial territory in North America focused heavily on the fur trade and relationships with Native Americans

New Spain

Spanish colonial territory in the Americas focused on extracting wealth, spreading Catholicism, and expanding Spanish power

Dutch East India Company

A Dutch trading company that controlled trade and established colonies in Asia

Gold, God, Glory

The three main motivations for European exploration: wealth, spreading Christianity, and gaining power or prestige

Mercantilism

An economic system where colonies supplied raw materials and markets to increase the wealth of the mother country

Triangular Trade

A trade network connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas involving manufactured goods, enslaved Africans, and raw materials

Transatlantic Slave Trade

The forced transportation of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas

Molasses Act

A 1733 British tax on foreign molasses intended to protect British sugar producers in the West Indies

Navigation Acts

British laws restricting colonial trade to benefit Britain's economy

Salutary Neglect

Britain's unofficial policy of loosely enforcing colonial trade laws, allowing colonies greater self-government

Bacon's Rebellion

A 1676 uprising of Virginia settlers against the colonial government over land, Native American policies, and economic grievances

Indentured Servitude

A labor system in which people worked for a set number of years in exchange for passage, food, and shelter

Tobacco

A major cash crop in the Chesapeake colonies that increased demand for plantation labor

Rice

A major Southern cash crop grown on plantations using enslaved labor

Chattel Slavery

A system of bondage in which human beings are legally treated as personal property that can be bought, sold, traded, and inherited.

Middle Passage

The brutal, forced maritime voyage that transported millions of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas as the middle leg of the triangular trade system

First National Bank

A bank established in 1791 under Hamilton's financial plan to manage federal funds and strengthen the national economy

Tariffs

Taxes on imported goods, often used to protect domestic industries from foreign competition

Hamilton's Financial Plan

A plan to strengthen the national economy through federal assumption of state debts, a national bank, and tariffs

Whiskey Rebellion

A 1794 uprising by western farmers protesting a federal tax on whiskey, which the government successfully suppressed

Cottage Industry

A system in which goods were produced by individuals in their homes, often for merchants

Embargo Act (1807)

A law that banned American exports to pressure Britain and France, damaging the American economy

Non-Intercourse Act (1809)

A law that reopened trade with most countries but continued restricting trade with Britain and France

Hartford Convention (1814)

A meeting of New England Federalists who opposed the War of 1812 and discussed constitutional changes

Internal Improvements

Government-funded projects such as roads, canals, and bridges that improved transportation and trade

American System

Henry Clay's economic plan promoting a national bank, protective tariffs, and internal improvements

Henry Clay

A politician who promoted the American System to strengthen the national economy

Protective Tariffs

Atax levied on imported goods by a government to make them more expensive and shield domestic industries from foreign competition

Second National Bank

A federally chartered bank established in 1816 to stabilize the nation's currency and economy

Market Revolution

A period of economic transformation involving expanded markets, new technology, and improved transportation and communication

Erie Canal

A canal completed in 1825 connecting the Great Lakes to the Hudson River, making trade and transportation faster and cheaper

Cotton Gin

An invention by Eli Whitney that quickly separated cotton fibers from seeds, increasing cotton production and demand for enslaved labor

Waltham-Lowell System

A factory system that employed young women in textile mills, providing housing and wages

Telegraph

A communication device that transmitted messages over long distances using electrical signals

Railroads

A transportation system that connected regions, moved goods and people faster, and expanded national markets

Steam Engine

A machine powered by steam that drove transportation and industrial machinery

Steel Plow

A farming tool developed by John Deere that cut through tough Midwestern soil without clogging easily

Power Loom

A machine that mechanized weaving and increased textile production

Infrastructure

Basic systems such as roads, canals, bridges, and railroads that support transportation and economic activity

Sharecropping

A farming system in which tenants worked land in exchange for a share of the crops, often trapping them in debt

Debt Servitude

A system in which a person is forced to work off a loan or obligation through labor where the terms, duration, or value of the work are kept undefined, unfair, or intentionally impossible to pay off

Peonage

A coercive labor system in which workers are forced to pay off real or manufactured debts through continuous, involuntary labor from which they cannot legally or practically escape

Convict Leasing

A system in which prisoners were leased to private businesses for labor, disproportionately exploiting African Americans

Transcontinental Railroad (1869)

The first railroad connecting the eastern and western United States, completed in 1869

Morrill Land-Grant Acts (1862)

Laws granting federal land to states to fund colleges focused on agriculture and mechanical arts

Pacific Railway Act (1862)

A law providing federal land and support for construction of the transcontinental railroad

Homestead Act (1862)

A law granting settlers 160 acres of public land if they lived on and improved it