APUSH Periods 1-2 Content Terms

Colonization

The process of establishing control over another territory and settling people there.

Rigid Racial Hierarchy

A strict social system that ranked people according to race, with Europeans/whites generally placed at the top and enslaved Africans and Native Americans placed lower.

Indentured Servants

People who agreed to work for a set number of years in exchange for transportation, housing, or other benefits, often in colonial America.

New England

The northern English colonies, especially Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode ISland, and New Hampshire; characterized by Puritan influence, small farms, commerce, and town-based communities.

Puritans

English Protestants who wanted to reform the Church of England; many settled New England, especially Massachusetts.

Mixed Economy

An economy based on several different types of economic activity rather than one main industry.

Commerce/Commercial

The buying, selling, and trading of goods./Related to trade or business.

Chesapeake Colonies

Mainly Virginia and Maryland; colonies heavily dependent on tobacco farming, plantation agriculture, and initially indentured labor.

Chattel

property that can be owner and bought or sold; in the context of slavery, enslaved people were legally treated as property.

Southern Colonies

english colonies in the South, including Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia; relied heavily on plantation agriculture and enslaved labor.

West Indies

Caribbean islands controlled by European powers; important centers of sugar production and the Atlantic slave trade.

Staple Crops

Major crops produced for sale and export, such as tobacco, rice, sugar, and later cotton.

Pueblo Revolt

(1680) A successful Native American uprising against Spanish rule in New Mexico led by Pueblo religious leader Pope; temporarily drove the Spanish out of the region.

Atlantic World

The interconnected societies, economies, and cultures surrounding the Atlantic Ocean, especially Europe, Africa, and the Americas, connected through trade, migration, and colonization.

Anglicization

The process by which people in the American colonies adopted English culture, language, customs, and political ideas.

Protestant Evangelism

Efforts to spread Protestant Christianity and encourage people to develop or renew their religious faith.

Enlightenment

An intellectual movement emphasizing reason, science, individual rights, and questioning traditional authority; influenced American colonial political ideas.

Mercantilism

An economic system in which colonies supplied raw materials to the mother country and bought finished goods from it, benefiting the home country’s economy.

Self-government

The ability of people to govern themselves through their own elected representatives and institutions.

Great Awakening

A series of religious revivals in the 1730s=1740s that emphasized personal faith and challenged traditional religious authority in the colonies.

King Philip’s War/Metacom’s War

(1675-1676) A major conflict between New England colonies and Native Americans led by Metacom (King Philip); resulted in heavy losses for Natives and increased English control of New England.

Columbian Exchange

the widespread exchange of plants, animals, diseases, people, and goods between the Americas, Europe, and Africa following Columbus’s voyages.

Maize

Corn, a major crop originally domesticated by Native Americans that became an important food source throughout the Americas.

Great Basin

A dry region between the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains where Native groups often lived in small, mobile communities and relied on hunting and gathering.

Great Plains

A large grassland region east of the Rocky Mountains where many Native American groups lived and relied heavily on buffalo for food and materials.

Mississippi River Valley

The fertile region surrounding the Mississippi River where complex Native American societies developed, including the Mississippian culture and Cahokia.

God, Gold, Glory

the three major motivations often associated with European exploration.

Feudalism

A medieval European social and economic system based on land ownership, loyalty, and a hierarchy of lords, vassals, and peasants.

Capitalism

An economic system based on private ownership, competition, investment, and the pursuit of profit.

Joint-Stock Companies

Businesses in which investors pooled their money to fund ventures; investors shared profits and risks. They helped finance English colonization of North America.

Encomienda System

A Spanish colonial system in which Spanish settlers were given the rights to demand labor and tribute from Native Americans in exchange for supposedly protecting and Christianizing them.

Caste System

A rigid social hierarchy in Spanish colonies that ranked people largely according to race and ancestry, with Europeans at the top and Indigenous and African people generally lower.