Unit 1 and 2 APUSH Vocab

Matrilineal

An identity of a clan or family formed through mothers and daughters as opposed through fathers and sons

many Native cultures viewed ancestry this way

Maize

Mesoamericans depended on this to feed populations. After being developed by Mesoamericans in around 1200 BC, it spread North. Was utilized by a plethora of different tribes from different locations, illustrating transfer of knowledge.

Encomienda

Large estates owned by Spaniards, where Native Americans were enslaved and entered into a forced labor system. Brutal, violent, and dehumanizing.

Peninsulares

(españoles) Iberian-born Spaniards. These were at the top of the caste system.

Criollos

Spaniards born in the New World. They were 2nd tier, below the Peninsulares.

Mestizos

3rd tier within the Caste system, who were mixed with Spanish and Indigenous heritage.

Puebloan groups (Pueblos)

Among the largest social groups of its time. Agricultural technological advances led to major growth of societies. Had sophisticated agricultural practices, complex and expensive trade routes, and domesticated animals. Composed of massive residential structures made of sandstone blocks and lumber. Had a hierarchical clan based system that gave power to the leaders.

Mississippians

Developed one of the largest civilizations North of modern-day Mexico. Population peaked between 10,000 and 30,000. City was 2,000 acres centered on Monks Mound.

Incas

Also known as the Quechuas, had a large mountain empire. Conquered others through conquest and negotiation. Terrace farmed. Unrest within the empire eventually led to vulnerability.

Maya

Massive temples, populations, accurate calendars, advanced math, and a written language. Demise likely caused by unsustainable agricultural practices and drought.

Aztec

Most powerful Native population in the Western Hemisphere. In valley of Mexico and conquered others. Dominated large part of southern and central Mesoamerica.

Caravel

A ship well suited for ocean exploration. Able to make long voyages while carrying large amounts of cargo.

Mercantilism

A state-assisted manufacturing and trading system that created and maintained markets, providing a steady supply of consumers and laborers, stimulating economic expansion, and increasing English wealth.

Joint-stock company

Ancestors of modern corporations, initial instruments of colonization, characterized by government monopolies, shared profits, and managed risks, attracting and managing vast capital necessary for colonization.

Privateer

A sailor engaged in state-sponsored piracy, plundering Spanish ships and towns in the Americas.

Northwest Passage

A mythical waterway believed by the French to cross through the Americas to Asia.

Columbian Exchange

The transfer of goods, livestock, food, ideas, people, and diseases between the Old World and the New World during the 16th and 16th centuries.

Roanoke

A British attempt at a permanent settlement in the Americas, located on Roanoke Island, North Carolina.

Métis

The offspring of Native American women and French men.

Jamestown

The first permanent English settlement in the present-day United States, upriver, away from Spanish patrols. Profit-seeking venture set by investors. The Powhatan Confederacy was already existing there. Bad soil and brackish tidal water.

"starving time"

Winter of 1609-1610. Supplies were lost at sea, relations with the Native people deteriorated, and the English were fighting a slow-burning guerilla war with the Powhatan people. People were eating leather, other people, and dead corpses.

John Rolfe

He married Pocahontas, which eased relations between the Powhatan people and the English. In 1616, he crossed tobacco strands from Trinidad and Guyana and planted Virginia's first-ever tobacco crop. Within years, Virginia was exporting mass amounts of tobacco

"headright policy"

As Virginia continued to attract more and more settlers, the headright policy was born in 1618. Any person that came to Virginia received 50 acres of land, if someone paid the passage of an immigrant, the buyer would receive 50 acres. This encouraged the use of indentured servants to settle Virginia.

indentured servants

Mostly young and mostly males who signed contracts that bonded them to employers for a certain period of time in return for passage across the ocean. This form of labor was popularized with the introduction of the headright system in Virginia.

House of Burgesses

Created in 1619 by the Virginia Company that was a limited representative body composed of white landowners in Jamestown.

Middle Passage

The journey of millions of Africans across the ocean by European slavers. It was the middle leg of three parts of the journey from Africa to the Americas.

Bacon's Rebellion

A conflict from 1676 - 1677 over tensions between Native Americans, English settlers, landowners, and poor settlers. The westward expansion of the settlers who continually pushed west created tension and conflict with the Native Americans. However, Governor Berkley prevented settlers too far west to prevent conflict, but the settlers saw this as a way of protecting the wealthy landowners and collaborating with the Native Americans. This led to the uprising of farmers, indentured servants, common people, and enslaved people against Governor Berkeley, which were eventually defeated by Berkley's forces. This uprising leads to a movement towards chattel slavery and shows the rising tensions between the landed gentry in the east and the poor west.

King Philip's War

An uprising from 1675 to 1676 against the encroachments of the New England colonies on the land of the Native Americans. This resulted in Native Americans in the hundreds being bound and shipped into slavery. This war brought a decisive end to the Native American power within the region of New England. Leads to a growing hatred of all indigenous people among the New England colonies.

Roger Williams

After he was exiled from Massachusetts, he created a settlement called Providence in 1636. The settlement was founded on egalitarianism and religious and political freedom within the colony. Anne Hutchinson and her followers settled near Providence. The colony became a safe haven for Quakers, Jews, and other persecuted religious groups.

Quaker

Society of Friends, are a Christian group founded in 17th-century England, known for their belief in the "Inner Light," which emphasizes direct, personal experience of God. They advocate for pacifism, simplicity, and equality, and are known for their silent worship and strong commitment to social justice and religious tolerance.

William Penn

An English Quaker (1644-1718) the founder of Pennsylvania, which he envisioned as a haven for religious freedom and peaceful coexistence. He promoted fair dealings with Native Americans, insisting on purchasing land rather than seizing it, and aimed to create a harmonious and diverse colony based on Quaker principles.

Navigation Acts

The Navigation Acts were a series of laws enacted by the English Parliament in the 17th and 18th centuries to regulate colonial trade and ensure that it benefited England. These acts required that goods imported to or exported from the colonies be transported on English ships, primarily to restrict colonial trade with other nations and to bolster England's maritime power and economic interests. The Navigation Acts played a significant role in the development of the British mercantile system and contributed to growing tensions between England and its American colonies.

Glorious Revolution

A political coup in 1688 in which the Catholic King James II of England was overthrown and replaced by his Protestant daughter Mary and her husband, William of Orange. This largely bloodless revolution marked the end of attempts to establish absolute monarchy in England and solidified Protestantism as the dominant religion, with significant impacts on political and religious freedoms both in England and its colonies.

Dominion of New England

An administrative union created in 1686 by King James II, consolidating the New England colonies, New York, and New Jersey into a single entity to strengthen English control and counter French threats. It was deeply unpopular among colonists who resented the loss of their individual provincial governments.

Sir Edmund Andros

The governor of the Dominion of New England, known for his authoritarian rule and unpopular policies, including forced military service. His governance contributed to colonial discontent and resistance leading up to the Glorious Revolution.

Great Awakening

A series of religious revivals that swept through the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, emphasized personal piety, emotional expression, and a direct relationship with God. The movement began in New England with preachers like Jonathan Edwards and spread to other denominations and regions. The Great Awakening challenged established religious practices, fostering a spirit of individualism and questioning traditional authority. It significantly impacted American religious life and contributed to the development of a more participatory and questioning attitude towards authority.

Slave Codes

Laws and regulations enacted in colonial America to control and restrict the lives of enslaved people.

Stono Rebellion

A slave uprising that occurred in September 1739 in South Carolina where enslaved people attempted to escape to Spanish Florida, burning plantations and killing at least twenty white settlers. These codes varied by colony but generally aimed to solidify the institution of slavery by defining the legal status of enslaved individuals, outlining their duties and punishments, and protecting the interests of enslavers. The rebellion was ultimately quelled by local militias, who captured, executed, or sold the rebels. Highlighted the enslaved people's resistance and the desire for freedom despite its failure.

Bread Basket Colonies

Chesapeake Colonies