Barron's AP US History Flashcards (1491-1607)

Christopher Columbus

1451-1506

*Italian-born navigator who found fame when he landed in the Americas(Oct. 12, 1492)

*Set sail on behalf of Spain with three ships: the Nina, the Pinta, and his flagship, the Santa Maria

*Originally, he sailed west across the Atlantic Ocean to find a water route to Asia

*Columbus was convinced that he had found the waterway that he sought and that the Americas were actually an extension of China

*Returned from his expedition with gold, encouraging further exploration

Amerigo Vespucci

1454-1512

*Italian member of a Portuguese expedition

*Explored South America

*Discovery suggested that the expedition had found a "New World"

*After an account of Vespucci's 1497 expedition was published, a cartographer mistakenly thought that Vespucci had led the expedition and had landed in the New World before Christopher Columbus; the cartographer named the continent America

Treaty of Tordesillas

1493

*Commitment between Spain and Portugal

*Created a Papal Line of Demarcation, which divided the New World: east of the line for Portugal and west of it for Spain

*Portugal also received the easternmost part of what is currently Brazil, when it "discovered" the land in 1500

*Later, the Papal Line affected colonization in Africa and Asia

New Spain

1400s and 1500s

*Spain tightly controlled empire in the New World

*Mainly located in North and Central America, including the Caribbean and Spanish East Indies

*To deal with labor shortages, the Spaniards developed a system of large manors (ecomiendas) using Native American slaves under conquistadors

*With the death of Native American slaves, Spaniards began importing African slaves to supply their labor needs

Mercantilism

1500s-1700s

*Prevailing economic philosophy of the 1600s that held colonies existed to serve the mother country

*Founded on the belief that the world's wealth was sharply limited and, therefore, one nation's gain was another nation's loss

*Each nation's goal was to export more than it imported in a favorable balance of trade; the difference would be made up in their possession of gold and silver, which would make the nation strong both economically and militarily

*Mercantilists believed economic activity should be regulated by the government

Queen Elizabeth 1

1533-1603 (ruled 1558-death)

*Protestant successor to Queen Mary (England)

*Popular leader and the first woman to successfully hold the throne

*Invested in English raids on the Spanish New World; Spain responded with the Spanish Armada

*Established Protestantism in England and encouraged English business

The Spanish Armada

1588

*Fleet assembled by King Phillip II of Spain to invade England

*The Armada was defeated by the skill of British military leaders and by rough seas during the assault

*England's victory over Spanish forces was one of the great achievements of Queen Elizabeth I, as it established England as an emerging sea power

*Its defeat helped bring about the decline of the Spanish empire

Types of Colonies in the New World

1600s

*In a charter colony, colonists were essentially members of a corporation, and electors among the colonists controlled the government based on an agreed-upon charter

*A royal colony had a governor selected by England's king; the governor served in the leadership role and chose additional, lower-ranking officers

*Proprietary colonies were owned by individuals with direct responsibility to the king; each proprietor selected a governor, who served as the authority figure for the colony

English Puritanism

1500s and 1600s

*Movement by those who wished to reform the Church of England to be more in line with their ideology

*Though King Henry VIII had set out to separate his own Church of England from papal authority, many Roman Catholic traditions and practices remained

*Puritans rejected these roman Catholic holdovers and sought to make the English Church "pure"

*Puritans held Calvinist beliefs, such as predestination and the authority of Scripture over papal authority

*Puritanism echoes throughout American culture in the ideas of self-reliance, moral fortitude, and an emphasis on intellectualism

Joint-Stock Company

Popularized in 1600s

*A type of business structure used by some colonial explorers to raise money for their expeditions

*These private trading companies sold shares to investors who provided start-up funding

*In return for taking on the risk of the investment, investors were paid based on the profits of the expedition

*Many modern business structures, such as the American corporation, are founded on principles of the joint-stock company

Dutch West India Company

1500s and 1600s

*The joint-stock company that ran the colonies in Fort Orange and in New Amsterdam, which later became New York

*Carried on a profitable fur trade with the Native American Iroquois

*Instituted the patroon system, in which large estates were given to wealthy men who transported at least fifty families to New Netherland to tend the land (few seized the opportunity)

Sir Walter Raleigh

1587

*Selected Roanoke Island as a site for the first English settlement

*Returned to England to secure additional supplies, but he found the colony deserted upon his return; it is not known what became of the Roanoke settlers

*Raleigh abandoned his attempts to colonize Virginia after the failure at Roanoke

*Held back by a lack of financial resources and the war with Spain, English colonization in America was impeded for fifteen years

St. Augustine, Florida

1598

*French Protestants (Huguenots) went to the New World to freely practice their religion, and they formed a colony near modern-day St. Augustine, Florida

*Spain, which oversaw Florida reacted violently to the Huguenots because they were trespassers and because they were viewed as heretics by the Catholic Church

*Spain sent a force to the settlement and massacred the fort's inhabitants

*The settlement at St. Augustine, Florida, is considered to be the first permanent European settlement in what would become the United States

Jamestown

Established 1607

*Named for James I (1566-1625), Queen Elizabeth's successor in England

*James I granted charters for charter colonies in the New World

*In 1607, the Virginia Company of London settled Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement

*Swampy location led to disease and contaminated water sources

*Despite its location and hostile relations with Native Americans, John Smith's harsh, charismatic leadership of the colony helped keep it from collapsing

*In 1619, African slaves arrived at Jamestown, becoming the first group of slaves to reach a British settlement

“Starving Time”

Jamestown colonists

*The colonists depended upon trade with the local Native Americans for their food supplies

*A series of conflicts between the colonists and the Native Americans limited the colonists' ability to trade for supplies and to farm their own food

*A large number of colonists died and others tried to flee to England; however, boats arrived with supplies from England intercepted the colonists and forced them to return to Jamestown

*Additional support from England, the development of new industries, and the creation of new trade partnerships helped ensure the settlement's long-term survival

Indentured Servitude

1600s

*Poor workers, convicted criminals, and debtors received immigration passage and fees in return for a number of years at labor on behalf of a planter or company

*Servants entered into their contracts voluntarily and kept some legal rights

*However, servants had little control over the conditions of their work and living arrangements, and the system led to harsh and brutal treatment

*It remained the predominant system of labor until the 1670s; Bacon's Rebellion made the practice seem more risky to planters and owners, and improving economic conditions in England decreased the supply of servants

*Many owners relied on slave labor instead

John Rolfe

1585-1622

*English colonist in Jamestown, Virginia

*Married Pocahontas

*Created process for curing tobacco, ensuring economic success for Jamestown