APUSH Unit I Anchors

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Columbus

Spanish-sponsored explorer (1492) whose voyages led to contact with the Americas and began the Columbian Exchange.

Columbian Exchange

Transfer of crops, animals, people, and diseases between the Old World and the Americas beginning with Columbus’s voyages.

Encomienda System

Spanish labor system exploiting Native Americans; contributed to harsh conditions and later criticisms (Black Legend).

De las Casas

Spanish priest who opposed encomienda, argued Natives were fully human; early advocate for African slavery (later regretted).

John Smith

Jamestown leader who enforced discipline; famous for the saying “he who does not work, shall not eat.”

Jamestown

First permanent English settlement in North America (1607), sustained by tobacco.

John Winthrop

Puritan leader and governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; envisioned it as a “city upon a hill.”

Roger Williams

Banished from Massachusetts; founded Rhode Island with separation of church and state and religious toleration.

Anne Hutchinson

Religious dissenter in Massachusetts; promoted Antinomianism; banished to Rhode Island.

Benjamin Franklin

Founding Father and Enlightenment figure; involved in Albany Plan, ‘Join or Die,’ Stamp Act repeal, diplomacy, Declaration signer, Treaty of Paris, and Constitution.

George Washington

Commander of the Continental Army; president of the Constitutional Convention; 1st U.S. president; cited as “First in war, first in peace.”

Thomas Paine

Author of Common Sense (1776), advocating independence and republican government over monarchy.

John Adams

Advocate for independence; Washington’s vice president; 2nd U.S. president; involved in XYZ Affair and Alien & Sedition Acts.

1492

Year of Columbus’s voyages; beginning of the Columbian Exchange.

1607

Founding of Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in North America; sustained by tobacco.

1763

(Treaty of Paris ends F&I War) Treaty ending the French and Indian War; Britain victorious and empire expanded.

1763

(Proclamation Line) Proclamation restricting colonial expansion beyond the Appalachians; intended to stabilize frontier relations with Native Americans but caused colonial discontent.

July 4th, 1776

Declaration of Independence adopted by the Continental Congress, asserting natural rights and independence from Britain.

1783

Treaty of Paris ends the American Revolutionary War; Britain recognizes U.S. independence and defines borders.

Maize Cultivation

Corn farming that supported permanent villages and complex societies, especially in the Southwest.

Joint-Stock Companies

Investor-funded colonial ventures (e.g., Virginia Company) enabling large-scale colonization.

Encomienda System

Spanish labor system exploiting Native Americans; contributed to the “Black Legend.”

God, Gold, Glory

Motivations for European exploration: religious aims, wealth, and national prestige.

Spanish Caste System

Racial hierarchy in Spanish colonies; Spaniards on top, Africans and Natives at bottom.

Dutch Colonization

Focus on fur trade and commerce; founded New Netherland (later New York).

English Colonization

Permanent settlements across the Atlantic seaboard driven by religion, land, and profit.

French Colonization

Fur trading emphasis; alliances with Native Americans; settlements along the St. Lawrence and Mississippi.

Pueblo Revolt

1680 uprising in Santa Fe by Pueblo people against Spanish colonization and missions.

The Chesapeake

Region of Virginia and Maryland; tobacco as cash crop; heavy use of enslaved labor.

New England Colonies

Massachusetts, Rhode Island; Puritan roots; subsistence farming, fishing, shipbuilding, trade; religious intolerance at times.

Transatlantic Trade / Triangular Trade

Europe to Africa (goods), Africa to the Americas (slaves), Americas to Europe (raw materials).

Middle Colonies

New York and Pennsylvania; ethnically and religiously diverse; tolerant; “Bread Basket.”

Southern Colonies

Carolina and Georgia; rice and indigo plantations; reliant on enslaved labor.

West Indies

Islands like Barbados; sugar as dominant cash crop; heavy reliance on enslaved Africans.

House of Burgesses

First representative assembly in English colonies (Virginia, 1619).

Indentured Servants

Poor Europeans who worked 5–7 years for passage to the Americas in exchange for labor.

Mayflower Compact

1620 agreement by Pilgrims for self-government; precursor to constitutional government.

Mercantilism

Economic policy to enrich the mother country via colonies and a favorable trade balance.

Bacon’s Rebellion

1676 Virginia rebellion showing frontier-elites tensions and accelerating shift from indentured servitude to slavery.

King Philip’s War

1675–76 Metacom’s war; deadliest per capita colonial war; ended Native resistance in New England.

Middle Passage

Transatlantic voyage transporting enslaved Africans to the Americas; millions moved; high death toll.

Chattel Slavery

Enslaved people treated as property; lifelong, hereditary status.

Great Awakening

Religious revival (1730s–40s) led by Edwards and Whitefield; emphasized personal faith and unity.

Seven Years’ War

Global conflict (1754–63); in North America called the French and Indian War; debt led to taxation.

Stamp Act

1765 tax on printed materials; provoked boycott and protests; repealed 1766.

No Taxation Without Representation

Colonial slogan against taxation without colonial input in Parliament.

Enlightenment

Intellectual movement emphasizing reason, science, and natural rights; influenced revolution.

Sons of Liberty

Radical protest group organizing boycotts; associated with Liberty Tree and sometimes violence.

Boston Massacre

1770 confrontation; five colonists killed; used to fuel revolutionary sentiment.

Intolerable Acts

Coercive acts (1774) in response to Boston Tea Party; closed Boston Harbor and restricted meetings.

Lexington and Concord

First battles of the Revolutionary War; “the shot heard ’round the world.”

Battle of Saratoga

1777 turning point; American victory that secured French alliance.

Loyalists

Colonists loyal to Britain who opposed independence.

Patriots

Colonists who supported independence from Britain.

Declaration of Independence

Document drafted by Thomas Jefferson declaring independence; based on natural rights and Enlightenment ideas.