AP US History Unit 2 Review Flashcards

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts from AP US History Unit 2 (1607-1754).

European Colonial Motives

European powers sought to establish colonies in the Americas, each with distinct goals and methods, including Spain, France, the Dutch, and the British.

Spanish Colonization

Focused on extracting wealth, converting natives to Christianity, and establishing a racial caste system.

French Colonization

Primary interest in trade (fur and fish), establishment of trading settlements, and forging alliances through intermarriage with American Indians.

Dutch Colonization

Established fur trading center on the Hudson River, prioritizing economic goals with little interest in converting natives to Christianity.

British Colonization

Driven by economic opportunities, religious freedom, and improved living conditions, leading to various types of colonies along the eastern coast of North America.

Jamestown (1607)

The first permanent English settlement in North America, financed by a joint-stock company for profit-seeking ventures.

Joint-Stock Company

An economic model where investors pool money to finance ventures and share profits, exemplified by the financing of Jamestown.

Indentured Servitude

The primary labor system in early Jamestown, where individuals worked for a set period to pay for their passage to the New World.

Bacon's Rebellion

An uprising led by Nathaniel Bacon against Governor William Berkeley due to the governor's refusal to protect settlers from Indian attacks. It highlighted tensions between poor farmers/indentured servants and the planter elite.

New England Colonies

Settled by pilgrims seeking religious freedom and aiming to create a family-based society focused on agriculture and commerce.

British West Indies Colonies

British colonies in the Caribbean that produced cash crops like sugar cane, leading to a high demand for enslaved African labor and the implementation of strict slave codes.

Middle Colonies

Colonies like New York and New Jersey were characterized by diverse populations, thriving export economies based on cereal crops, and growing class inequality.

Pennsylvania

Founded by William Penn, this colony recognized religious freedom for all and obtained land through negotiation with American Indians.

Colonial Governance

Self-governing structures established in the colonies due to British distance, including the Mayflower Compact and the House of Burgesses.

Triangular Trade

Trade system involving the exchange of goods (rum, enslaved people, sugar cane) between New England, West Africa, and the West Indies.

Mercantilism

Economic system where nations sought to accumulate wealth through a favorable balance of trade (more exports than imports) and the establishment of colonies for raw materials.

Navigation Acts

Acts requiring merchants to trade with English colonies using English ships and to pass certain valuable items through British ports for taxation.

Middle Passage

The transportation of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas, characterized by inhumane conditions and high mortality rates.

Slave Codes

Defined slaves as property and made slavery a perpetual, hereditary institution, particularly in the Chesapeake and Southern colonies.

Slave Resistance

Forms of resistance among enslaved people, including covert actions like maintaining cultural customs and overt acts like the Stono Rebellion.

Stono Rebellion (1739)

A slave rebellion in South Carolina in 1739 where slaves stole weapons, killed owners, and marched towards freedom before being suppressed by the militia.

Metacom's War (King Philip's War)

Armed conflict between Metacom (King Philip) and English colonists in New England over encroachment on native lands and threats to their way of life.

The Enlightenment

European intellectual movement that emphasized rational thinking over tradition and religious revelation, influencing colonial ideas about natural rights, government, and the social contract.

Natural Rights

The idea that individuals are born with rights that cannot be taken away by governments, such as the rights to life, liberty, and property.

Social Contract

The concept that people give up some power to a government in exchange for the protection of their natural rights, and if the government violates that contract, the people have the right to overthrow it.

New Light Clergy

Colonial ministers who emphasized the democratic principles of the Bible and lamented the loss of faith engendered by the Enlightenment, laying the groundwork for the Great Awakening.

The Great Awakening

A massive religious revival that swept through the colonies, generating intense Christian enthusiasm and binding the colonists together.

Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield

Key figures in the Great Awakening who preached messages of religious revivalism and contributed to the growing sense of American identity.

Anglicanization

The process by which the colonies were becoming more like England in their political and social structures, even as they developed a rising frustration with the British government.

Impressment

The practice of seizing colonial men and forcing them to serve in the Royal Navy, contributing to growing mistrust between the colonists and England.