APUSH Unit 1 Vocab

Important vocab from Unit 1 (chapters 1 & 2) of AP United States History!

The Columbian Exchange

The trade of disease, food, and animals between the Old and New Worlds.

Encomienda System

The social hierarchy of the Spanish colonies:

spain-born spainards

new-world born spainards

spanish/native (mestizo)

native

slave

Jamestown

A Virginia Company owned settlement, used for tobacco farming and settled by young, single men.

New England

A northern colony settled by full family units of puritans. They came for religious freedom.

House of Burgesses

An early form of democracy created by the Virginia Company that allowed some settlers (elite landowners only) to levy taxes & make laws.

Conquistadors

Spanish soldiers who explored & conquered the New World whilst converting Natives to Christianity.

Fur Trappers

People involved in the flourishing North American fur trade of beaver, mink, and otter. Many French were involved (peacefully).

Indentured Servants

Men and women who signed 4-5 year work contracts for merchants in hopes of earning enough to buy their own land. They were often exploited or died from new diseases.

Christian Conversion

Spain: using violence to force Natives into Christianity

France: sharing the gospel with the Natives and giving them the opportunity to convert

Bacon’s Rebellion

A revolt in Virginia against the elites by the ex-indentured servants and/or low class. Led by a wealthy man named Nathaniel Bacon. Caused by the poor’s desire to move West for land & fear of the natives there, leading to a want for police and a refusal to provide them.

Bacon’s Rebellion (End)

Bacon died of dysentery & the people lose the rebellion- but not before they burn down Jamestown!

Massachusetts Bay Colony

In the Boston & surrounding area, a large Puritan colony governed by John Winthrop.

Pequots

A tribe allied with the Dutch that resulted in a brutal war with the Enlglish, killing most & scattering the rest of the Pequots.

Iriquois

A native group that traded for guns and led multiple wars against the colonists, located in central NY.

Anne Hutchingson

A puritan woman who was excommunicated for privately teaching other women theology & criticizing the clergymen.

Roger Williams & Rhode Island

Originally the pastor of Salem, he spoke out against the Puritans lack of religious tolerance and was exiled. He made a new colony with tolerant religious policies.

Puritan Town Meeting

An early form of democracy found in Puritan settlements. Mostly wealthy, landowning men were involved in these meetings.

Carribean Sugar Island

Cash-crop islands where English and other colonists grew and exported massive amounts of sugar.

Puritans

Protestants who didn’t seperate from the Anglican church but rather sought to “purify” it. They had very strict rules, and early female preachers- although that stopped being allowed.

Pueblo Revolt

An uprising of many indigenous peoples against the Spanish colonizers, which succeeded in expelling them for about 12 years.

Mercantilism

Maximizing the exports and minimizing the imports in a country- lots of government involvement.