Apush Period 1&2 - All terms

Maize (Corn) & Potato

Staple American crops spread after 1492 that increased global population growth (Columbian Exchange)

Rice & Indigo

Carolina cash crops (late 1600s) grown on plantations using enslaved African labor

Tobacco

First major Chesapeake cash crop (early 1600s) that drove land expansion and labor demand

Smallpox, Typhus & Epidemics

Old World diseases introduced after 1492 that killed over 90% of Native Americans

Columbian Exchange (1492–)

Transfer of people, crops, animals, and diseases between the Old and New Worlds

Indentured Servants

Europeans who worked 4–7 years for passage to the colonies (1600s)

Chattel Slavery & Atlantic Slave Trade

System of permanent, hereditary enslavement of Africans expanded after 1670

Middle Passage

Deadly Atlantic voyage enslaved Africans endured with high mortality

Encomienda System

Spanish labor system granting colonists Native labor in exchange for protection and conversion (1500s)

Headright System

Virginia land-grant system encouraging immigration and labor importation

Chesapeake

Virginia and Maryland region based on tobacco and plantation slavery

South Atlantic System / West Indies

Caribbean plantation economy centered on sugar and slavery (mid-1600s)

Neo-Europes

Colonies with European-like climates allowing permanent settlement

Joint Stock Companies

Corporations that shared risk to fund colonization (early 1600s)

House of Burgesses (1619)

First representative government in English America

Proprietary Colonies

Colonies owned by individuals (Maryland, Carolinas, Pennsylvania)

Royal Colonies

Colonies directly controlled by the English crown

Salutary Neglect

British policy of weak enforcement that allowed colonial self-government

Pequot War (1636–38)

New England conflict resulting in Pequot defeat

Metacom’s War / King Philip’s War (1675–76)

Major Native resistance in New England that weakened Native power

Bacon’s Rebellion (1676)

Frontier farmers rebelled against Virginia elites over land and Native policy

Pueblo Revolt (1680)

Successful Native uprising against Spanish rule in New Mexico

Beaver Wars (1600s)

Conflicts over fur trade dominance involving the Iroquois

Algonquin, Huron, Narragansett, Mohegan

Native groups often allied with French or English

Iroquois / Haudenosaunee Confederacy

Powerful Native alliance controlling Great Lakes trade routes

Covenant Chain

Diplomatic alliance between Iroquois and English colonies

Tribalization

Native groups merging for survival after population loss

New France (Quebec, Mississippi, Louisiana)

French colonies focused on fur trade and missionaries

New Netherland / New Amsterdam

Dutch trading colony that became New York

Christianity & Missionaries

Used to justify colonization and convert Native peoples

Great Awakening (1730s–40s)

Religious revival emphasizing emotional faith and equality

Evangelicalism

Movement stressing personal salvation and conversion

Enlightenment

18th-century movement emphasizing reason and natural rights

Deism

Belief that God created the world but does not intervene

Social Compact

Government exists to protect natural rights

John Locke

Philosopher who argued for natural rights and limited government

Two Treatises of Government (1689)

Locke’s work supporting the right to overthrow unjust rulers

Benjamin Franklin

Enlightenment thinker promoting reason and self-improvement

Poor Richard’s Almanack

Franklin’s publication spreading Enlightenment ideas

Jonathan Edwards & George Whitefield

Great Awakening preachers who inspired mass revivals

John Wesley

Founder of Methodism emphasizing disciplined faith

College of New Jersey (Princeton) & King’s College (Columbia)

Colonial colleges founded to train leaders and clergy

Print Revolution

Expansion of printing that spread ideas rapidly