Full APUSH Period 1-6 Review

Native American Societies

Before European contact, North America contained hundreds of diverse Native societies with different political systems, economies, religions, and cultures adapted to their environments.

Mississippian Societies

Complex Native societies centered on agriculture, especially maize, with large settlements, social hierarchies, and ceremonial centers.

Cahokia

Large Mississippian city near present-day St. Louis that demonstrated the complexity and population of pre-Columbian Native societies.

Maize

Corn; the most important crop introduced to and spread throughout many Native American societies, supporting population growth and settled agriculture.

Three Sisters

Native agricultural system combining corn, beans, and squash; the crops supported each other and provided a balanced diet.

Pueblo Peoples

Southwestern Native peoples who developed sedentary agricultural societies using irrigation and adobe/stone structures.

Ancestral Puebloans

Southwestern Native peoples known for complex settlements such as Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon.

Iroquois Confederacy

Political alliance of several northeastern Native nations, especially the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca, created partly to maintain peace and collective defense.

Haudenosaunee

Indigenous name for the Iroquois Confederacy.

Algonquian Peoples

Large language family including many Native societies in the Northeast and Atlantic regions.

Eastern Woodlands

Region containing forests, rivers, and fertile land where many Native societies practiced agriculture, hunting, fishing, and trade.

Great Plains

Region where many Native peoples relied heavily on hunting and later developed horse-based cultures after European contact.

Pacific Northwest

Region with abundant fish, especially salmon, allowing some Native societies to develop large permanent settlements without intensive agriculture.

Great Basin

Arid western region where many Native peoples relied heavily on hunting and gathering.

Columbian Exchange

Transfer of plants, animals, diseases, people, and ideas between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres following European contact.

Christopher Columbus

Italian explorer sailing for Spain who reached the Caribbean in 1492, initiating sustained European contact with the Americas.

1492

Year Columbus reached the Caribbean, beginning sustained European exploration and colonization of the Americas.

Treaty of Tordesillas

1494 agreement between Spain and Portugal dividing much of the non-European world into separate spheres of exploration and colonization.

Encomienda System

Spanish colonial labor system granting colonists the right to demand labor and tribute from Native peoples.

Bartolomé de las Casas

Spanish priest who criticized Spanish mistreatment of Native Americans and advocated for their rights.

Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda

Spanish thinker who defended Spanish conquest and argued that Native peoples could legitimately be subjected to Spanish rule.

Conquistadors

Spanish explorers and soldiers who conquered Native empires and claimed territory for Spain.

Hernán Cortés

Spanish conquistador who conquered the Aztec Empire in 1519–1521.

Aztec Empire

Powerful Mesoamerican empire conquered by Cortés with the assistance of Native groups hostile to Aztec rule.

Moctezuma II

Aztec ruler who encountered Cortés during the Spanish conquest.

Francisco Pizarro

Spanish conquistador who conquered the Inca Empire in South America.

Inca Empire

Large Andean empire conquered by Spanish forces under Pizarro.

Smallpox

Old World disease that devastated Native American populations because Native peoples lacked immunity to many European diseases.

Virgin Soil Epidemics

Epidemics occurring when populations with no previous exposure to a disease encounter it, causing devastating mortality.

Atlantic World

Connected economic, political, cultural, and demographic system linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

African Slave Trade

Forced transportation of millions of Africans to the Americas to provide labor, especially on plantations.

Middle Passage

Brutal transatlantic voyage in which enslaved Africans were transported to the Americas.

Columbian Exchange Effects on Native Americans

European diseases caused enormous population losses while horses, weapons, Christianity, and new crops transformed Native societies.

Columbian Exchange Effects on Europeans

Europeans gained crops such as potatoes, tomatoes, and maize, contributing to population growth and changing diets.

Columbian Exchange Effects on Africa

European demand for enslaved labor intensified the African slave trade and altered African political and economic systems.

Spanish Colonization

Spain established colonies throughout the Caribbean, Mexico, Florida, and much of Central and South America, emphasizing wealth, Christianity, and imperial control.

St. Augustine

Spanish settlement founded in Florida in 1565; generally recognized as the oldest continuously inhabited European-established city in the present-day United States.

Juan Ponce de León

Spanish explorer associated with early Spanish exploration of Florida.

Spanish Mission System

Network of Catholic missions designed to convert Native peoples and strengthen Spanish control.

Black Legend

European criticism portraying Spanish colonization as exceptionally cruel and exploitative.

Mercantilism

Economic theory emphasizing government regulation of trade to increase national wealth and power.

Gold, God, Glory

Common shorthand for European motivations for exploration

Joint-Stock Company

Business organization allowing investors to pool money and share risks and profits, helping finance English colonization.

Roanoke

Failed English colony established in present-day North Carolina; its disappearance became known as the “Lost Colony.”

Lost Colony

Roanoke settlement whose colonists disappeared before the English established a permanent colony at Jamestown.

John White

Governor associated with the Roanoke colony and the mysterious disappearance of its settlers.

Jamestown

First permanent English settlement in North America, founded in Virginia in 1607.

Period 1 Main Theme

European contact transformed the Americas through colonization, disease, forced labor, cultural exchange, and competition among European powers.

Jamestown

English settlement founded in Virginia in 1607 that survived partly through tobacco cultivation and became the first permanent English settlement.

Virginia Company

Joint-stock company that established Jamestown and promoted English colonization of Virginia.

John Smith

Jamestown leader who imposed strict discipline and encouraged the settlement to grow food and trade with Native peoples.

Pocahontas

Powhatan-associated Native woman who became connected to Jamestown's early history and later married English colonist John Rolfe.

Powhatan Confederacy

Alliance of Native communities led by Powhatan in the Chesapeake region.

John Rolfe

English colonist who helped make tobacco profitable in Virginia and married Pocahontas.

Tobacco

Cash crop that became the economic foundation of the Chesapeake colonies and increased demand for labor.

Headright System

Virginia land policy granting settlers land, often based on the number of people whose passage they financed.

Indentured Servants

Europeans who agreed to work for a fixed period in exchange for transportation, food, and eventual freedom.

Bacon's Rebellion

1676 uprising of Virginia colonists led by Nathaniel Bacon against Governor William Berkeley, fueled by frontier conflicts and economic grievances.

Nathaniel Bacon

Leader of Bacon's Rebellion against Virginia's colonial government.

William Berkeley

Virginia governor who opposed Bacon's frontier policies and represented established colonial elites.

Bacon's Rebellion Significance

Exposed tensions between wealthy planters, poorer settlers, and Native peoples and contributed to increased reliance on enslaved African labor.

Virginia House of Burgesses

First representative legislative assembly in British North America, established in Virginia in 1619.

Mayflower Compact

1620 agreement among Plymouth settlers establishing self-government and majority rule.

Plymouth Colony

New England colony founded by Pilgrims in 1620.

Pilgrims

English Separatists who established Plymouth Colony.

Puritans

English Protestants who sought to reform the Church of England and established Massachusetts Bay.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

Puritan colony established in 1630 that became a major center of New England settlement.

John Winthrop

Puritan leader and governor of Massachusetts Bay who described the colony as a “city upon a hill.”

City Upon a Hill

Winthrop's idea that Massachusetts should serve as a model Christian community for the world.

Great Migration

Migration of thousands of English Puritans to New England during the 1630s.

Roger Williams

Religious dissenter who founded Rhode Island and advocated separation of church and state and religious liberty.

Rhode Island

Colony founded by Roger Williams that emphasized religious toleration and separation of church and government.

Anne Hutchinson

Religious dissenter expelled from Massachusetts for challenging Puritan religious authorities and gender expectations; later settled in Rhode Island.

Antinomianism

Belief that faith rather than adherence to religious law determined salvation; associated with Anne Hutchinson.

Thomas Hooker

Puritan minister who helped establish Connecticut and supported broader political participation.

Connecticut

New England colony associated with representative government and the Fundamental Orders.

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

Early colonial governing document often considered an important example of representative self-government.

New England Town Meetings

Local democratic institutions where settlers discussed and voted on community matters.

Half-Way Covenant

1662 Puritan policy allowing partial church membership for children of baptized members.

Salem Witch Trials

1692–1693 Massachusetts trials in which people were accused of witchcraft, demonstrating social and religious tensions.

Quakers

Religious group emphasizing equality, personal religious experience, and pacifism.

William Penn

Quaker founder of Pennsylvania who promoted religious toleration and negotiated with Native peoples.

Pennsylvania

Middle Colony founded by William Penn with religious toleration and diverse immigration.

Maryland

Chesapeake colony founded partly as a refuge for English Catholics.

Act Concerning Religion

Maryland law providing religious toleration to Christians, particularly protecting Catholics.

Great Awakening

Religious revival movement of the 1730s–1740s emphasizing emotional conversion and challenging established religious authority.

Jonathan Edwards

Great Awakening preacher famous for “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”

George Whitefield

Extremely popular evangelical preacher who helped spread the Great Awakening throughout the colonies.

Old Lights

Colonists who opposed the emotional style of Great Awakening revivalism.

New Lights

Colonists who supported Great Awakening revivalism.

Enlightenment

Intellectual movement emphasizing reason, science, natural rights, and questioning traditional authority.

John Locke

Enlightenment thinker whose ideas about natural rights and government by consent influenced American political thought.

Natural Rights

Rights people possess inherently, especially life, liberty, and property.

Social Contract

Idea that governments derive authority from the consent of the governed.

Benjamin Franklin

Enlightenment-influenced colonial American who promoted science, printing, civic improvement, and colonial unity.

Poor Richard's Almanack

Franklin's publication containing practical advice and sayings reflecting Enlightenment values.

Salutary Neglect

Period when Britain loosely enforced colonial trade regulations, allowing colonies significant economic and political autonomy.

Navigation Acts

British laws regulating colonial trade and requiring certain goods to be transported through English-controlled markets and ships.

Enumerated Goods

Colonial products such as tobacco that could legally be exported only to England or English colonies.

Mercantilism in Colonies

British economic policy designed to benefit the empire by controlling colonial trade.