AP US History Chapter 1-3 Vocabulary

Cahokia

The largest pre-Columbian Native American city north of Mexico, located near present-day St. Louis. It was a major Mississippian cultural and trading center.

Christopher Columbus

Italian explorer who sailed for Spain in 1492, beginning sustained European contact with the Americas.

African Slave Trade

The forced transportation of millions of Africans to the Americas to provide labor on plantations and in colonies.

Biological and Cultural Changes

Changes caused by contact between Europe, Africa, and the Americas, including the spread of diseases, new crops, animals, technologies, and cultural practices.

Corn

A Native American crop (maize) that became a staple food in Europe, Africa, and North America after the Columbian Exchange.

Conquistadores

Spanish soldiers and explorers who conquered Native American empires in the Americas during the 1500s.

Encomienda

A Spanish labor system that granted colonists the right to demand labor and tribute from Native Americans in exchange for supposed protection and Christian instruction.

Henry Hudson

English explorer who sailed for the Dutch, explored the Hudson River, and helped establish Dutch claims in North America.

Fur Trade

The exchange of animal pelts between Europeans and Native Americans, especially important to French and Dutch colonies.

Tenochtitlan

The capital city of the Aztec Empire, conquered by Hernán Cortés in 1521; now modern-day Mexico City.

Iroquois

A powerful alliance of Native American nations in the Northeast that played a major role in colonial politics and trade.

Pueblo Revolt (1680)

A successful uprising by Pueblo peoples in present-day New Mexico that temporarily drove the Spanish from the region.

Atlantic World

The network of trade, migration, cultural exchange, and colonization connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

Samuel de Champlain

French explorer who founded Quebec in 1608 and strengthened France's fur trade alliances with Native Americans.

Agricultural & Colonial Development

Agricultural Technological Exchange

The transfer of crops, farming methods, and livestock between the Old and New Worlds during the Columbian Exchange.

Jamestown

Founded in 1607 in Virginia, it was the first permanent English settlement in North America.

Anne Hutchinson

Puritan woman banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony for challenging religious authorities and promoting religious freedom.

Bacon's Rebellion (1676)

An armed uprising by Virginia settlers led by Nathaniel Bacon against Governor Berkeley over Native American policy and political corruption.

Congregational Church

The dominant Puritan church in New England, where each congregation governed itself independently.

Dominion of New England

A British administrative union (1686–1689) that combined several New England colonies under one royal governor to strengthen royal control.

Headright System

A land-grant system that gave settlers 50 acres of land for each person whose passage to America they paid.

Glorious Revolution (1688)

The peaceful overthrow of King James II in England, leading to constitutional monarchy and inspiring colonial resistance to royal authority.

John Smith

Leader of Jamestown who enforced strict discipline and helped the struggling colony survive.

John Winthrop

Puritan governor of Massachusetts Bay who promoted the idea of creating a "city upon a hill."

King Philip's War (1675–1678)

A violent conflict between New England colonists and Native Americans led by Metacom (King Philip), resulting in heavy Native losses.

Massachusetts Bay Company

The joint-stock company that founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630.

Mayflower Compact (1620)

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

Mercantilism

An economic theory stating that colonies existed to benefit the mother country's economy by providing raw materials and markets.

Pequot War (1636–1638)

A conflict in which New England colonists and their Native allies defeated the Pequot tribe.

Quakers

Members of the Religious Society of Friends who believed in equality, religious tolerance, and pacifism.

Roger Williams

Founder of Rhode Island who promoted religious freedom and separation of church and state.

William Penn

Founder of Pennsylvania, established it as a haven for Quakers and religious tolerance.

House of Burgesses

The first representative legislative assembly in the English colonies, established in Virginia in 1619.

Colonial Society & the Road to Revolution

Enlightenment Ideals

Ideas emphasizing reason, natural rights, liberty, and government by consent, influencing the American Revolution.

Stono Rebellion (1739)

The largest slave rebellion in colonial South Carolina, leading to stricter slave laws.

George Whitefield

Influential preacher whose emotional sermons helped spark the First Great Awakening.

Jonathan Edwards

Puritan minister known for his sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, a key figure in the Great Awakening.

John Zenger

New York newspaper publisher whose 1735 trial established the principle that truthful criticism of government is not libel.

Jeremiad

A sermon warning that society had strayed from God's covenant and calling for repentance.

Great Awakening

A series of religious revivals in the 1730s and 1740s that emphasized personal faith over church authority.

Covenant

In Puritan belief, a sacred agreement between God and His people, or between members of a religious community.

Triangular Trade

A three-way trade network connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas through goods and enslaved people.

Middle Passage

The brutal ocean voyage that transported enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas.

Scots-Irish

Protestant immigrants from Northern Ireland who settled mainly on the American frontier.

Slave Codes

Laws restricting the rights and freedoms of enslaved Africans while protecting slave owners' power.

Cotton Mather

Influential Puritan minister associated with the Salem Witch Trials and later a supporter of smallpox inoculation.

Old Lights

Religious leaders who opposed the emotional revivals of the Great Awakening.

New Lights

Ministers and followers who supported the Great Awakening and emphasized personal religious experience.

Salem Witch Trials (1692)

A series of trials in Massachusetts in which people were accused of witchcraft; the trials demonstrated the dangers of mass hysteria and religious extremism.