APUSH - Flashcards (Domain 1-5)

Mississippian Culture

Native American civilization that built large pyramid-like mounds and had a complex society in the Mississippi River Valley from approximately 800 CE to 1600 CE.

Columbian Exchange

The transfer of plants, animals, culture, people, technology, and ideas between the Americas and the Old World following Columbus's voyages.

Eastern Woodlands

Cultural region of Native Americans who lived in the eastern forests and practiced a mix of agriculture, hunting, and gathering.

Pueblo

Southwestern Native American groups known for their distinctive multi-story adobe dwellings and sophisticated irrigation systems.

Iroquois

Powerful confederation of Native American tribes in the Northeast/Great Lakes region, originally consisting of five nations: Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca.

Powhatan Confederacy

Alliance of approximately 30 Algonquian-speaking tribes in coastal Virginia led by Chief Powhatan; interacted with Jamestown settlers.

Wampanoag

Native American tribe in New England that helped the Pilgrims survive their first winter at Plymouth.

Timucua

Native American people who lived in present-day Florida and were among the first to encounter Spanish explorers.

Bacon's Rebellion

1676 uprising in Virginia led by Nathaniel Bacon against Governor William Berkeley; led to stricter racial codes and increased reliance on African slavery.

Salem Witch Trials

Series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts (1692-1693); revealed social tensions in Puritan society.

Great Awakening

Religious revival movement in the 1730s-1740s that promoted unity across colonies and challenged established church authority.

Navigation Acts

Series of British laws controlling colonial trade and manufacturing, requiring colonies to trade primarily with Britain.

Albany Plan of Union

1754 proposal by Benjamin Franklin to create a unified colonial government to coordinate defense against French and Native American threats.

Hurons

Native American confederacy in the Great Lakes region that allied with the French during the colonial period.

Middle Passage

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

Tecumseh

Shawnee leader who formed a pan-Indian alliance to resist American expansion in the early 1800s.

Indian Removal Act (1830)

Legislation signed by President Andrew Jackson that authorized the removal of Native American tribes from their lands east of the Mississippi River to territories west of the river.

Trail of Tears

Forced relocation of the Cherokee and other southeastern tribes to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) in 1838-1839 resulting in thousands of deaths.

Louisiana Purchase

1803 land deal between the United States and France that doubled the size of the U.S. and opened vast territories to American settlement, threatening tribal lands.

Sacagawea

Shoshone woman who served as an interpreter and guide for the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806).

Northwest Ordinance

1787 legislation that established a process for creating new states and addressing Indian lands in the Northwest Territory.

Treaty of Greenville

1795 agreement that ceded most of Ohio Territory to the United States and pushed tribes further west.

Battle of Tippecanoe

1811 conflict where U.S. forces led by William Henry Harrison defeated Tecumseh's confederation and weakened Native resistance.

Monroe Doctrine

1823 policy statement asserting U.S. dominance in the Western Hemisphere, affecting tribal diplomacy by limiting their ability to form alliances with European powers.

Manifest Destiny

19th-century belief that American settlers were destined to expand across North America, used to justify westward expansion at the expense of Native Americans.

Worcester v. Georgia

1832 Supreme Court case that affirmed tribal sovereignty and denied state jurisdiction over tribal lands; President Jackson reportedly ignored the ruling.

Cherokee Nation

Native American group that developed their own written language (created by Sequoyah) and constitution during the early 19th century.

California Gold Rush

1848-1855 migration of settlers to California that led to catastrophic population decline and displacement of Native Americans.

Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851)

Agreement that attempted to define territories for Plains tribes and allow safe passage for settlers through the Great Plains.

Gadsden Purchase

1853 acquisition of southern Arizona and New Mexico from Mexico, affecting Apache and other tribes in the region.

Kansas-Nebraska Act

1854 legislation that opened territories to settlement, disrupting tribal lands in the Great Plains.

Dred Scott Decision

1857 Supreme Court ruling that reinforced the idea that non-whites had no rights, indirectly affecting Native Americans.

Stand Watie

Cherokee Confederate general, the last Confederate general to surrender at the end of the Civil War.

Sand Creek Massacre

1864 attack by U.S. troops on peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho villages in Colorado Territory, killing primarily women and children.

Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868)

Agreement that granted the Black Hills to the Sioux "for as long as the grass shall grow" but was later violated after gold was discovered in the region.

Ely Parker

Seneca member of Grant's staff who later became Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the first Native American to hold this position.

Red Cloud

Sioux leader who successfully forced U.S. withdrawal from the Bozeman Trail in the only war named after a Native American leader (Red Cloud's War).

Buffalo Soldiers

African American cavalry units that fought in the Indian Wars following the Civil War.