Period 1 and 2 APUSH VOCAB

APUSH

Maize

Corn, which was first domesticated by Indigenous peoples in Southern Mexico 9,000 years ago

• Originated in Central Mexico and spread throughout the Americas

• 7000Bce

• Stable crop which supported complex societies: the Mayans and Aztecs

  • Less movement in Native socities focoused on cultivating the crop

Pueblo

Indigenous people of the Southwest of the U.S. who lived in compact villages in 1200 CE

• New Mexico and Arizona

• Argicultural adaption influence other socities and resisten Spanish colinization mainting their culture

Chinook

Indigenous people of the Northwest are known for their river navigation, trade, and complex social systems

• Settle near Washington and Oregon

• Trade networks were adopted by the Europeans.

Great Basin ( Native People)

Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin region practiced nomadic hunting and gathering, with an ancestry dating back thousands of years.

• The Great Basin between the Rocky Mountains

• Though harsh climate adaptive strategies allowed them to survive in an arid environment.

Great Plains Native Peoples

Indigenous tribes like the Cheyenne and many other tribes that lived in the grassland between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains

• The arrival of horses and bison hunting shaped their societies.

Roanoke

1. failed colony
2. founded 1585, people left Spring 1586
3. second try 1587- supplies delayed b/c of war in England- found Roanoke empty upon return 3 yrs. later
- no trace except "Croatoan" carved on a post
-never found

Inca

- major cities: Cuzco and Machu Pichu
- in Peru
- complex government; paved road system; bridges spanning HUGE gaps

Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)

created by the pope to give both catholic majority empire to give Spain all of the Americas and Brazil to the portugese

• Spanish empire strength and dominance

Herman Cortes

Spanish conquistador

• 1518- led a small military expedition against the Aztecs... lost, but exposed them to smallpox
  -won with the second attempt after defeat by the Aztecs, the Indigenous population declined.

• considered one of the most brutal conquistadors

Treaty of Tordesillas

1494 agreement between Spain and Portugal divided lands outside Europe along a meridian west of the Cape Verde island

• The treaty defined the sphere of exploration for Spain and Portugal and establishing their territories.

Conquistadores

Spanish soldiers and explorers who led military expeditions and conquered large parts of the Americas in the 16th century. They overthew major empires like the Aztec and Inca enabling Spanish colonial expansion in the New World

Asiento System

A Spanish license procedure allowing foreign merchants to supply enslaved Africans to colonial Spanish America. The Asiento System was central to the Atlantic slave trade and the development of transatlantic slavery

Spanish Caste System

a colonial hierachy, used against manyh groups to determine one social status, power and wealth.This system institutionalized racial and social divisions, shaping colonial society and influencing modern America

Iroquois

the Iroquois were a confederacy of tribes (now upstate New York and Ontario) famed for their sophisticated political alliance the Iroquois Confederacy formed around the 16th century. Their governance structure influenced American political ideas; they were powerful players in colonial power dynamics, maintained unity, and negotiated with European powers

• Conducted trade with both British and French

• Were in war during the French and Indian War allied with British

Small Pox

A deadly infectious disease brought to the Americas by Europeans beginning in the late 15th century. Smallpox devastated Indigenous populations, facilitating European conquest and altering the demographic and power balance throughout the Americas. Lead to Native Americans population to drastically decrease.

Europeans had immunties to Small Pox and would accidentaly or purposely infect many Natives with it.

Zambo

A term used in Spanish colonial America in the 16th century referring to people of mixed African and Indigenous descent. Zambos were part of the complex caste system and reveal how colonial societies classified and stratified different mixed-heritage groups.

Sextant

A navigational instrument developed in the 18th century allowing sailors to determine latitude by measuring the angle between the horizon and a celestial body. The sextant made transoceanic navigation more precise, enabling European exploration and the expansion of empires.

Joint-Stock Companies(1607)

Business organizations in which investors pooled resources to fund enterprises and shared profits according to investment risk. Joint-stock companies funded early colonial ventures like Jamestown, spreading risk and fostering transatlantic colonization.

Bartolomé de Las Casas

A Spanish priest and reformer (1484–1566) who advocated for the rights of Indigenous peoples in the Americas.Las Casas’ writings pushed for better treatment of Natives and exposed abuses of the encomienda system, influencing Spanish colonial policy.

Columbian Exchange

The transfer of plants, animals, people, diseases, and ideas between the Old World and the New World after 1492.The Columbian Exchange transformed diets, economies, and populations worldwide, but also spread deadly diseases to the Americas.

Nation-State Building

The historical process of forming centralized governments (nation-states) with defined borders and sovereignty. Nation-state building shifted global politics, enabled overseas colonial empires, and created modern national identities.

Spanish Mission System

:A network of religious outposts (missions) established by Spain in the Americas to convert Indigenous populations to Catholicim. Missions facilitated Spanish control and cultural change, but often disrupted Indigenous societies and autonomy. Many Native American were forecefully converted or killed.

Christo Columbo

Italian navigator who completed a voyage across the Atlantic for Spain in 1492, landing in the Caribbean. Columbus' voyage opened the Americas to European colonization, with profound impacts—both constructive and destructive—on global history. “Discovery of the Americas” and Bahamas.

Encomienda System

A Spanish labor system in the 16th century where ensaved Indigenous peoples wre used for labor. The encomienda led to exploitation and decline of Native populations, fueling debates on Indigenous rights.

Algonquain

A large Native American language family and cultural group stretching from the Atlantic coast to the Great Lakes, with prominent tribes such as Powhatan, Wampanoag, and Ojibwe. Early Algonquian peoples played crucial roles in the fur trade and colonial alliances, particularly during first encounters with English and French settlers.

Great Awakening

The First Great Awakening was a Protestant religious revival movement across the American colonies, especially between 1730s–1760s. It spread new ideas of spiritual equality, promoted direct emotional relationship with God, inspired the founding of new denominations, and fostered democratic thinking and shared identity among colonists—later influencing the ideology of the American Revolution

Enlightenment

: An intellectual movement originating in Europe during the late 17th–18th centuries, focusing on reason, science, and individual rights. Enlightenment ideas inspired colonial leaders (like Jefferson) to emphasize liberty, progress, and self-government, shaping both the Declaration of Independence and American political philosophy.

Anne Hutchinson

A Puritan spiritual leader in Massachusetts Bay Colony during the 1630s, known for challenging church authority and promoting religious discussions in her home. Her challenges to Puritan orthodoxy helped advance religious freedom and highlighted tensions over gender and dissent in early America.

Bacon’s Rebellion

A 1676 uprising in Virginia led by Nathaniel Bacon and frontier settlers against colonial authorities.The rebellion exposed divisions between rich planters and poor settlers, led to reforms, and hastened the turn from indentured servitude to African slavery in Virginia.

Chesapeake Region

Area around the Chesapeake Bay, mainly Virginia and Maryland, first settled by the English in the early 1600s.It became a center of tobacco agriculture, plantation slavery, and the early development of English America’s economy and politics.

Glorious Revolution

The 1688 overthrow of King James II of England and the peaceful installation of William and Mary as monarchs. It established Protestant rule, expanded constitutional rights in England, and inspired colonial resistances to arbitrary authority (such as in Massachusetts).

John Calvin

16th-century French theologian and reformer whose teachings, including predestination, became central to Puritan beliefs.Calvin’s ideas influenced the religious outlook of settlers in New England, shaping American culture and society.

John Smith

Early English explorer and leader at Jamestown, Virginia in the early 1600s. His leadership helped Jamestown survive its early years and established models for future English colonization.

John Winthrop

Founding governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630s) and Puritan leader famous for envisioning the “city upon a hill.”Illustrated the Puritans’ religious mission and set enduring examples for American religious and civic ideals.

King Philip’s War

A conflict between New England settlers and Native Americans, 1675–1678, led by King Philip. One of the deadliest conflicts in colonial America, it devastated Native communities and shifted power to the colonists.

Massachusetts Bay Company

A joint-stock company chartered in 1629 to establish a Puritan settlement in present-day Massachusetts.Its charter enabled self-government, and the colony became a model for later English colonization.

Mayflower Compact

The 1620 agreement by Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower to self-govern based on majority rule in their new colony. Set a precedent for democratic governance and written social contracts in America.

Navigation Acts

A series of English laws (1650s–1700s) that regulated colonial trade to benefit England and enforce mercantilist policy. Restricted colonial trade and fostered resentment, laying groundwork for American resistance and revolution.

Pequot War

Armed conflict (1636–1638) in New England between Pequot tribe and English settlers and Native allies. Resulted in the near destruction of the Pequot people and set the pattern for future settler-Native conflict.

Quakers

Members of the Religious Society of Friends, founded in England in the mid-1600s and notable for pacifism and religious tolerance. Quakers, under William Penn, founded Pennsylvania as a religious haven and championed social reforms and equality.

Roger Williams

Minister and founder of Rhode Island in the 1630s; advocate of religious freedom and separation of church and state.Pioneer of liberty in matters of conscience, influencing future American principles of religious tolerance.

Toleration Act

 A 1649 law in Maryland granting religious freedom to (Trinitarian) Christians. Early step toward broader religious liberty in the colonies, though limited.

William Penn

English Quaker and founder of Pennsylvania (1681), who promoted religious tolerance and democratic principles.Penn’s colony became an example of diversity and self-government in colonial America.

Virginia House of Burgesses

Formed in 1619, the first elected representative assembly in colonial America, located in Virginia. Set a precedent for self-government and legislative democracy in America.

Molasses Act

A 1733 British law imposing taxes on molasses imported to the colonies from non-British sources. Aimed to control colonial trade; led to widespread smuggling and resistance to British regulations, foreshadowing future colonial unrest and revolution.

Jamestown

Jamestown, founded in 1607 in present-day Virginia by the Virginia Company, was the first permanent English settlement in North America. Jamestown laid the foundation for English colonization, introduced representative government through the House of Burgesses, and set precedents in labor (indentured and enslaved) and agricultural economy.

Puritans

Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries seeking to "purify" the Church of England from Catholic influences, and many emigrated to New England for religious freedom. They established tight-knit religious communities (notably the Massachusetts Bay Colony), influencing American values, governance, and education

Mercantilism

Mercantilism is an economic theory practiced from the 16th to 18th centuries, holding that national power depended on maximizing exports and accumulating gold and silver, often by tightly regulating colonial trade. Mercantilist policy justified colonial expansion, competition for resources, and regulation such as the Navigation Acts, fueling colonial resentment that contributed to the American Revolution.

Fur Trade

The Fur Trade was the exchange of animal pelts, particularly beaver, between Native Americans and Europeans from the 16th through 19th centuries, especially in New France and British North America.