APUSH Period 1/2 Study Guide, 2025-26

A comprehensive set of Q&A flashcards covering key people, events, terms, and themes from APUSH Period 1/2 notes (Native-European relations, colonization, labor systems, religion, and colonial society).

What was the Columbian Exchange?

The widespread transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and culture between the Old World and the New World following Columbus's voyages.

Who was Christopher Columbus?

A Genoese navigator whose 1492 voyage opened sustained European contact with the Americas.

What was the role of the Conquistadors?

Spanish soldiers who conquered large indigenous empires in the Americas, such as the Aztec and Inca.

Who was Cabeza de Vaca?

A 16th‑century Spanish explorer who traveled through the Gulf Coast and Southwest and documented Native cultures.

Who was Hernán Cortés?

The Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztec Empire in Mexico.

Who was Francisco Pizarro?

The Spanish conquistador who toppled the Inca Empire in Peru.

What was Bartolomé de Las Casas' position?

Advocate for better treatment of Native Americans and critic of the encomienda system.

What was the Valladolid debate about?

A debate over whether Indians were 'naturally' inferior and could be enslaved or conquered (Sepúlveda) versus their humanity and rights (Las Casas).

What is the African diaspora?

The forced dispersal of African peoples across the Atlantic world, especially via slavery.

What is the African slave trade in the context of the Americas?

The transatlantic system that forcibly transported Africans to the Americas for enslaved labor.

Who was John White?

English colonist and artist who led the Roanoke Colony; the fate of the colony is the fate of the 'Lost Colony'.

What were the Encomienda and Repartimiento systems?

Spanish labor systems: encomienda granted land and Indigenous labor; repartimiento required Indigenous labor assignments.

Who was Queen Elizabeth I?

English monarch who supported exploration and privateering and helped establish Protestant England.

What is a joint‑stock company?

A business entity where many investors pooled capital to fund colonization (e.g., Virginia Company).

What was Jamestown?

The first permanent English settlement in North America, established in 1607 in Virginia.

Who was Captain John Smith?

Jamestown leader who imposed discipline and secured food; famous for ‘he who does not work, shall not eat.’

Who was Pocahontas?

A Powhatan woman who helped establish a temporary peace with the Jamestown settlers and later married John Rolfe.

Who was John Rolfe?

Colonist who perfected tobacco cultivation in Virginia and married Pocahontas, aiding economic stability.

Who were the Powhatan?

A Native Confederacy led by Wahunsonacock near the Jamestown settlement.

Why was tobacco significant in Virginia?

It became a profitable cash crop that sustained the colony’s economy and increased demand for labor.

What were slave codes?

Laws that defined the status of enslaved people and restricted their rights and mobility.

What was the House of Burgesses?

Virginia’s first representative colonial assembly, established in 1619.

What did the Maryland Act of Toleration do?

A 1649 law granting religious tolerance to Trinitarian Christians while restricting others (later repealed).

Who were the Iroquois?

A powerful Native American confederacy in the Northeast (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca).

Who was Sir Francis Drake?

English privateer who raided Spanish ships and circumnavigated the globe.

Who was Sir Walter Raleigh?

Sponsor of the Roanoke Colony; established attempts at English settlement in Virginia that failed.

Who were the Puritans?

Religious reformers seeking to purify the Church of England; many settled in Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Who were the Pilgrims/Separatists?

Religious dissenters who left England for Plymouth in 1620 seeking freedom of worship.

What was the Great English Migration?

Mass migration of Puritans to New England during the 1630s–1640s.

What are royal colonies?

Colonies under direct crown control and governance.

What are proprietary colonies?

Colonies granted to individuals or groups with governing rights (e.g., Maryland, Pennsylvania).

What was the Great Awakening?

A series of religious revivals in the 1730s–1740s emphasizing personal conversion and piety.

What was the Pequot War?

A 1636–1638 conflict between Connecticut settlers and the Pequot; resulted in decimation of the Pequots.

What was King Philip’s War?

A 1675–1676 conflict between New England colonists and Native American alliance led by Metacom (King Philip).

What was the Dominion of New England?

A 1686 administrative union of northern colonies under royal authority to tighten control.

Who was Sir Edmund Andros?

Governor of the Dominion of New England; unpopular for autocratic rule and enforcement of Navigation Acts.

Who were the Quakers?

Religious group advocating pacifism and religious tolerance; founded Pennsylvania under William Penn.

Who was William Penn?

Quaker founder of Pennsylvania; proprietor who promoted religious freedom and fair dealings with Native Americans.

What is colonial slavery?

The institutionalized practice of enslaving Africans in the American colonies and its legal framework.

What was the Pueblo Revolt?

1680 uprising of Pueblo peoples in present-day New Mexico against Spanish rule.

Who was Mary Rowlandson?

Colonial woman whose captivity narrative during King Philip’s War became famous.

Who was John Calvin?

French theologian whose Calvinism influenced Puritan beliefs about predestination and discipline.

Who was William Bradford?

Governor of Plymouth Colony and author of Of Plymouth Plantation.

Who was John Winthrop?

Leader of the Great Migration and first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Who was Massasoit?

Wampanoag leader who allied with the Pilgrims at Plymouth.

Who was Metacom (King Philip)?

Wampanoag leader who led a major resistance against English colonists in King Philip’s War.

Who was Henry Hudson?

Dutch explorer who navigated the Hudson River and explored the region for fur trade opportunities.

Who was Anne Hutchinson?

Puritan dissenter banished from Massachusetts Bay for challenging church authority; helped found Rhode Island.

What is the head-right system?

Granting 50 acres of land to settlers or those who financed the voyage to America.

What is indentured servitude?

Labor system where people sign a contract to work for a set number of years in exchange for passage and eventual freedom.

What was Bacon’s Rebellion?

1676 uprising led by Nathaniel Bacon against Governor William Berkeley’s policies and frontier governance.

Who was Nathaniel Bacon?

Frontier leader who led Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia in 1676.

Who was William Berkeley?

Governor of Virginia during Bacon’s Rebellion; conflicted with frontier settlers.

What was the Middle Passage?

The brutal transatlantic voyage that brought enslaved Africans to the Americas.

What was the Half‑Way Covenant?

1662 agreement allowing grandchildren of church members to join the church, broadening participation.

What were the Salem Witch Trials?

1692–1693 series of accusations and executions of supposed witches in Massachusetts Bay.

Who were Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield?

Leaders of the Great Awakening; Edwards emphasized fiery preaching, Whitefield toured the colonies as an evangelist.

What was the triangle trade?

Trade network linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas exchanging goods, slaves, and commodities like sugar and tobacco.