AP US History Study Guide: Key Terms & Concise Definitions (Chapters 1–5)

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards generated from Chapters 1 through 5 of the AP US History Study Guide.

Canadian Shield

The massive, rocky core of North America surrounding Hudson Bay that anchors the continent above sea level.

Incas

A South American civilization in Peru that built a vast empire in the Andes Mountains before being conquered by Francisco Pizarro in 1532.

Aztecs

A powerful empire in Mexico known for advanced cities like Tenochtitlán, overthrown by Hernán Cortés in 1521.

nation-states

Independent countries where a centralized government rules over a population sharing a unified culture and identity.

Cahokia

A large ancient Native American settlement near modern-day St. Louis, famous for its massive earthen ceremonial mounds.

three-sister farming

An agricultural technique where corn, beans, and squash are grown together so each plant supports the others' growth.

caravel

A fast, maneuverable Portuguese sailing ship with triangular sails that allowed long-ocean exploration into the wind.

plantation

A large-scale farm producing cash crops (like sugar or tobacco) using forced labor, mainly enslaved Africans.

Columbian exchange

The historic transfer of plants, animals, diseases, cultures, and populations between the Americas and the Eastern Hemisphere after 1492.

Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)

An papal-brokered agreement dividing newly discovered lands outside Europe between Spain and Portugal.

encomienda

A Spanish colonial system granting settlers control over Native Americans to force labor in exchange for promising to Christianize them.

noche triste

"Sad night" (June 30, 1520), when the Aztecs attacked and forced Hernán Cortés and his Spanish troops to flee Tenochtitlán.

capitalism

An economic system based on private ownership and profit, which grew rapidly in Europe due to the influx of New World wealth.

mestizos

People of mixed European (Spanish) and Native American ancestry.

conquistadores

16th-century Spanish explorers and soldiers who conquered native territories across the Americas for Spain.

Battle of Acoma (1599)

A violent clash in New Mexico where Spanish forces defeated Pueblo villagers and brutally mutilated surviving men.

Pueblo Revolt (1680)

A successful Native American uprising that drove Spanish settlers out of New Mexico for over a decade.

Black Legend

The belief that Spanish conquerors only brought destruction, disease, and torture to the Americas, ignoring their long-term cultural contributions.

Huguenots

French Protestant dissenters who faced severe religious persecution in Catholic France during the 16th and 17th centuries.

Edict of Nantes (1598)

A decree issued by the French crown granting limited religious tolerance to French Protestants, ending religious wars and fueling French colonial expansion.

coureurs de bois

"Runners of the woods" — French fur-trappers who established trading networks with Native Americans across North America.

voyageurs

French-Canadian voyageurs and boatmen who transported furs across waterways during the North American fur trade.

Protestant Reformation

A 16th-century religious movement to reform the Catholic Church, leading to the creation of Protestant churches and intense imperial rivalries.

Roanoke Island

The "Lost Colony" established off the coast of North Carolina by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1585 that mysteriously disappeared.

Spanish Armada

The massive Spanish naval fleet defeated by England in 1588, marking the decline of Spanish naval dominance and the rise of British empire-building.

primogeniture

A legal doctrine stating that only the eldest son inherits all family land and property, driving younger sons to seek fortunes in the New World.

joint-stock company

A short-term partnership between multiple investors to pool capital and fund expensive commercial ventures, such as colonial settlement.

Virginia Company

An English joint-stock company that received a royal charter from King James I to establish the Jamestown colony in 1607.

charter

A legal document granted by a government giving specific rights, privileges, and guarantees to a company or group of settlers.

Jamestown

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

First Anglo-Powhatan War (1614)

A violent conflict between English settlers in Virginia and the Powhatan Confederacy, ended by the marriage of Pocahontas and John Rolfe.

Second Anglo-Powhatan War (1644–1646)

A final unsuccessful effort by Native Americans to dislodge Virginia settlers, resulting in the banishment of the Powhatan people from their lands.

New Netherland

A 17th-century Dutch colony established along the Hudson River (modern-day New York) centered around fur trading, later seized by England.

Iroquois Confederacy

A powerful military alliance of five (later six) Native American tribes in upstate New York that dominated trade and warfare in the region.

House of Burgesses

The first representative assembly in English North America, established in Virginia in 1619.

Act of Toleration (1649)

A Maryland law guaranteeing religious freedom to all Christians, though declaring the death penalty for those denying the divinity of Jesus.

Barbados slave code (1661)

Harsh legal codes defining slaves as property and denying them basic rights, which became the model for slavery in English North America.

English Civil War

An armed conflict (1642–1651) between Royalists and Parliamentarians that temporarily halted English colonization in America.

squatters

Frontier farmers who settled on land without legal deeds or government permission, common in early North Carolina.

Tuscarora War (1611–1613)

A conflict in North Carolina where colonists defeated the Tuscarora Indians, selling many into slavery and driving the rest north to join the Iroquois.

Yamasee Indians

A Native American tribe defeated and dispersed by South Carolina colonists in a war between 1715 and 1717.

buffer

A territory created to separate hostile powers; the colony of Georgia was created as a buffer between English Carolina and Spanish Florida.

Calvinism

A Protestant theological system developed by John Calvin emphasizing God's absolute sovereignty and the doctrine of predestination.

predestination

The Calvinist belief that God determined at the beginning of time who would be saved ("the elect") and who would be damned.

conversion

An intense spiritual experience in Puritan belief where God revealed an individual's status as one of "the elect."

Puritans

English religious reformers who wanted to fully "purify" the Church of England of Catholic rituals and hierarchy.

Separatists

A radical faction of Puritans who broke away entirely from the Church of England; a group of them sailed on the Mayflower (Pilgrims).

Mayflower Compact (1620)

An agreement signed by the Pilgrims establishing self-government based on majority rule in Plymouth Colony.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

A major English Puritan settlement founded in 1630 around Boston that became a dominant political and religious power in New England.

Great English Migration (1630–1642)

The wave of over 70,000 refugees who left England for the Americas, including 20,000 Puritans who settled in Massachusetts.

antinomianism

The radical belief, championed by Anne Hutchinson, that holy living was no sign of salvation and that the truly saved need not obey human or divine laws.

Fundamental Orders (1639)

The first written constitution in American history, drafted by settlers in the Connecticut River valley to establish a democratic state.

Pequot War (1637)

A brutal war between English puritan settlers and Pequot Indians in New England, resulting in the near destruction of the Pequot tribe.

King Philip's War (1675–1676)

A devastating conflict between New England colonists and a coalition of tribes led by Metacom (King Philip), ending native resistance in the region.

New England Confederation (1643)

A defense alliance formed by four New England colonies to protect against Native Americans, the French, and the Dutch.

Navigation Laws

A series of strict trade acts passed by Parliament enforcing mercantilism by forcing colonies to trade exclusively with England.

Dominion of New England (1686–1689)

An administrative union created by London to enforce imperial control and the Navigation Laws, led by Governor Sir Edmund Andros.

Glorious Revolution (1688–1689)

The peaceful overthrow of Catholic King James II in England, which led to the collapse of the Dominion of New England in the colonies.

salutary neglect

An unofficial British policy of relaxed enforcement of trade regulations in the colonies, fostering colonial self-governance and independence.

Quakers

A pacifist Protestant group (Society of Friends) known for religious tolerance, social equality, and founding Pennsylvania under William Penn.

blue laws

Strict colonial laws designed to restrict personal behavior, enforce religious observance, and ban ungodly conduct on Sundays.

indentured servants

European migrants who contracted to work for a master for a set period (usually 4 to 7 years) in exchange for passage to America.

headright system

A system used in Virginia and Maryland to encourage immigration by granting 50 acres of land to whoever paid for an indentured servant's passage.

Bacon's Rebellion (1676)

An uprising of impoverished landless frontiersmen and former indentured servants led by Nathaniel Bacon against Virginia's Governor Berkeley.

Royal African Company

A British chartered company that held a crown-granted monopoly on the Atlantic slave trade until 1698.

middle passage

The brutal transatlantic voyage undertaken by slave ships carrying captive Africans from West Africa to the Americas.

slave codes

Strict laws defining enslaved Africans as property (chattel) and stripping them of basic civil and political rights.

Congregational Church

Self-governing Puritan churches in New England run by local congregations without a hierarchy.

jeremiad

A fiery Puritan sermon lamenting the decline in religious devotion and morality among younger church members.

Half-Way Covenant (1662)

A policy allowing partial church membership to the children of baptized believers who had not yet experienced full conversion.

Salem witch trials (1692)

A outbreak of mass hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts, resulting in the trial and execution of 20 people accused of witchcraft.

Leisler's Rebellion (1689–1691)

An armed uprising in New York led by Jacob Leisler reflecting resentment against landowning elites and British royal authority.

borderlands

Border regions where multiple cultures, empires, and native groups overlapped and competed for control without a clear sovereign power.

Paxton Boys (1764)

An armed group of Scots-Irish frontiersmen in Pennsylvania who protested Quaker leniency toward Native Americans.

Regulator movement

A violent protest in North Carolina (1768–1771) by backcountry settlers against corrupt eastern colonial officials and taxes.

New York slave revolt (1712)

A rebellion of enslaved Africans in New York City that resulted in the deaths of nine white colonists and severe executions of slaves.

South Carolina slave revolt (Stono River, 1739)

The largest slave uprising in the British mainland colonies, where over 50 slaves tried to march to Spanish Florida.

triangular trade

A profitable three-way Atlantic trade route connecting North America (rum), Africa (slaves), and the West Indies (molasses/sugar).

Molasses Act (1733)

A British tax on imported foreign molasses intended to force colonists to trade only with the British West Indies, widely evaded through smuggling.

Arminianism

A theological doctrine named after Jacobus Arminius that rejected predestination, arguing individual free will determined salvation.

Great Awakening (1730s–1740s)

A massive religious revival across the colonies led by preachers like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield.

old lights

Conservative clergymen who rejected the emotional, dramatic preaching style of the Great Awakening.

new lights

Evangelical ministers who embraced the emotional revivals and direct spiritual connection of the Great Awakening.

Poor Richard's Almanack

A wildly popular publication written by Benjamin Franklin containing practical advice, weather forecasts, and memorable proverbs.

Zenger trial (1734–1735)

A landmark New York court decision that established the principle of freedom of the press by ruling that truthful statements about public officials were not libelous.

royal colonies

Colonies ruled directly by the British Crown through an appointed governor (e.g., Virginia, New York).

proprietary colonies

Colonies granted by the King to individual proprietors who possessed full governing rights (e.g., Maryland, Pennsylvania).