AP US History ALL UNITS

Units 1-9

Characteristics of Native American societies of the Pacific Northwest

Lived by the sea, settled in fishing villages, fishing (especially salmon) was the main food source (ex: Chinook)

Characteristics of Native American societies of California

Hunters and gatherers, but lived in permanent settlements (ex: Chumash)

Characteristics of Native American societies of the Southwest US

Sedentary, farmers, adobe homes, highly organized

Characteristics of Native American societies of the Great Plains and Great Basin

Nomadic because hunter-gatherers need a lot of land, necessary because of the aridity of the Great Plains and grasslands of the Great Basin, small societies (ex: Ute)

Characteristics of Native American societies of the Northeast / Atlantic Seaboard

Permanent settlements like longhouses, Three Sisters farming (corn, beans, and squash) (ex: Iroquois)

Characteristics of Native American societies of the Mississippi River Valley

Large, complex societies because fertile soil meant societies could stay put and farm (ex: Hopewell, Cherokee)

Three Sisters Farming

Corn, beans, and squash

Spread of maize

The Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas cultivated maize, which spread northward into the Southwest US

The spread of maize cultivation supported…

• Economic development (trade networks)

• Permanent settlement

• Advanced irrigation (better = more food)

• Social diversification among societies (more complex, specialized labor, social hierarchies, etc)

Characteristics of the Aztecs

Written language, complex systems of irrigation, human sacrifice

Tenochitlan

The capital of the Aztec society

Characteristics of the Mayans

Large cities, complex irrigation, water storage, built temples

Characteristics of the Incas

Massive (in size and land), cultivated fertile mountain valleys, located along Andes

Europe’s population increased in the late 1400s because…

• Recovered from the plague

• Improved agricultural productivity

Why did Europeans need sea routes for Asian goods?

Land routes to Asia (ex: Silk Roads) were mostly controlled by Muslims, so Europeans didn’t have much control over them

How did Europeans address their desire for sea routes to Asia?

Portugal’s Prince Henry the Navigator sailed around Africa with new navigational technology

Important navigational technology used by Europeans in the 1400s and 1500s

• Caravel

• Compass

• Astrolabe

Caravel

A fast new ship that could sail into the wind

Astrolabe

A device which gave accurate readings of lines of latitude

Effect of Portugal’s success creating a trading post empire

Spain wanted to find a route to Asia, find luxury goods, and also spread Christianity

Treaty of Tordesillas

Negotiated by the Pope, this treaty established a line dividing the world into Spain’s and Portugal’s territory

European motives for exploration

• Desire to spread Christianity

• New sources of wealth and new routes for Eastern goods

• Glory and desire for global dominance (economic and military competition)

Explain the beginning of Christopher Columbus’ journey

• Columbus came to Isabella and Ferdinand, the monarchs of Spain, to ask them for a sponsorship to look for a route to Asia by sailing west

• Set sail in 1492

• Columbus believed he landed in India, but it was actually San Salvador (in the Bahamas)

• The natives were hospitable and wore lots of gold jewelry, which Columbus told Spain about

Effect of colonization on Europe

• Gold was an incentive to return

• Spain got lots of gold and silver from the Americas, which made it wealthy

• Europe as a whole experienced unprecedented economic growth because of the influx of goods

• Europe began to transition from feudalism to capitalism

Feudalism

Peasants lived and worked on the land of a noble in exchange for armed protection

Capitalism (Europe in the 1500s)

Private ownership and the free and open exchange of goods

Who was exploration of the Americas funded by?

• Mercantilism promoted government regulation of the economy, meaning exploration was funded by the state

  • Exploration would later be privatized with joint-stock companies

Conquistadores

Spanish explorers with hopes of conquest in the New World

Columbian Exchange

The transfer of food, animals, minerals, people, and diseases between Africa, Europe, and the Americas

In the Columbian Exchange, what were the foods/crops transferred from the New World to the OId World?

Maize, potatoes, cacao, tobacco

What were the effects of the food and crops transferred from the New World to the Old World in the Columbian Exchange?

Stimulated population growth in Europe

In the Columbian Exchange, what were the minerals transferred from the New World to the Old World?

Gold, silver

In the Columbian Exchange, what were the slaves transferred from the New World to the OId World?

A relatively small amount of Native Americans were taken back to Spain

In the Columbian Exchange, what were the foods/crops transferred from the Old World to the New World?

Rice, wheat, soybeans, rye, oats, lemons, oranges

In the Columbian Exchange, what were the slaves transferred from the Old World to the New World?

Enslaved Africans were brought to the Americas

In the Columbian Exchange, what were the diseases transferred from the Old World to the New World?

Smallpox, influenza, malaria, whooping cough

What were the effects of the diseases transferred from the Old World to the New World in the Columbian Exchange?

Native Americans had no immunity to diseases like smallpox, so it drastically reduced population sizes and toppled cities like Tenochitlan

Great Dying

The introduction of European diseases to Native Americans

In the Columbian Exchange, what were the animals transferred from the Old World to the New World?

Horses, pigs, cows, chickens

What were the effects of the animals transferred from the Old World to the New World in the Columbian Exchange?

Horses revolutionized farming and warfare

Hernán Cortés

The conquistador who toppled the Aztec Empire by 1521 and claimed it for Spain

Cortés’ advantages when conquering the Aztecs

• Spanish diseases like smallpox weakened Aztecs and made them vulnerable to attack

• Cortés allied with indigenous groups who had been under the authority of the Aztecs and fought alongside the Spanish to secure their own liberation

Cortés’ disadvantages when conquering the Aztecs

• Had relatively few Spaniards with him

• Aztecs eventually resisted the attack

Francisco Pizarro

The conquistador who used similar tactics to Cortés to defeat and conquer the Inca Empire in South America

Effect of the fall of the Aztec and Incan empires

Spain gained tremendous amounts of gold and silver from these two empires, causing them to ramp up colonization

Encomienda System

A system of coerced labor in which the Spanish crown granted tracts of land to Spanish encomenderos who forced the indigenous people within its borders into mining (gold and silver) and plantation-based agriculture (cash crops)

Encomenderos

The leading men in the Encomienda System

Justification for the Encomienda System

• Requerimiento

• Spanish thought it was a mutual agreement because natives received “protection” and Christianization

Requerimiento

A document where the Pope granted Spanish monarchs the authority to claim lands in the Americas and to convert whomever they found to Christianity.

• Those who refused conversion could be enslaved

Why didn’t the Encomienda System work?

• Many Native Americans died from disease

• Many Native Americans knew the land well, so they often escaped

New Laws

1542 laws attempting to curb the encomenderos’ power and mitigate harsh treatment of natives (passed due to people like de las Casas)

Hacienda

A new system becoming the main Spanish labor system in the Americans where encomenderos DID own the land and indigenous laborers were not technically enslaved, but were tied to the land in a debt repayment system

How did Europeans get enslaved Africans and bring them to the Americas?

• Europeans partnered with some West African groups who practiced slavery and traded goods like guns to the powerful groups for slaves

• Slaves were crammed into boats and sent to the Americas across the Middle Passage

• Slaves worked in plantation agriculture and mining

Spanish Caste System / Casta System

A hierarchy created that placed those with the most European blood at the top

Why was the Casta System created?

• After converting many Indigenous people to Catholicism, mixed-race marriages started to occur

  • Spain established a social order because the Spanish government needed to impose taxes in an orderly way

Order of the Casta System

1. Peninsulares

2. Criollos

3. Mestizos

4. Mulattoes

5. Africans

6. Native Americans

In the Casta System, who were the Peninsulares?

People who were born in Spain, on the Iberian peninsula

In the Casta System, who were the Criollos?

People who were Spanish, but born in the Americas

In the Casta System, who were the Mestizos?

People of Spanish and Native American ancestry

In the Casta System, who were the Mulattoes?

People of Spanish and African ancestry

Compare Native Americans’ and Europeans’ worldviews regarding land

Native Americans

• Land is not a commodity

• Everything is communal

• Land contained a spiritual quality

Europeans

• Land is individually owned

• Private ownership

Compare Native Americans’ and Europeans’ worldviews regarding property and trade

Native Americans

• Trade was ceremonial

Europeans

• Trade was a business transaction

Compare Native Americans’ and Europeans’ worldviews regarding gender roles

Native Americans

• Men hunted, fished, and fought

• Women farmed and had greater freedom and influence

Europeans

• Men led the household, farmed, and fought

• Women had few rights and did household labor

Compare Native Americans’ and Europeans’ worldviews regarding religion

Native Americans

• Natural spirits

• Non-exclusive (multiple gods acceptable)

Europeans

• Christian God

• Saints

• Exclusive (one god only)

Compare Native Americans’ and Europeans’ worldviews regarding family

Native Americans

• Kinship network of extended family

Europeans

• Focused on the nuclear family

What aspects of European culture did Native Americans adopt?

• European metal tools (for farming and hunting)

• Horses

• Guns

• Christianity or syncretism

Syncretism

The combination of Native beliefs and Christianity

What aspects of Native American culture did Europeans adopt?

• Became part of the Native American fur trade

• Adopted Indigenous farming techniques

Why did religious conflicts arise between Europeans and Native Americans?

• Europeans tried to convert many Native Americans to Christianity

• Many Native Americans believed in their gods and the God in Catholicism

  • Christianity requires belief in only one god, so the Europeans did not like this

Pueblo Revolt / Popé’s Rebellion

The Pueblo People rose up against conversion to Christianity, which ended in victory for 12 years until they were reconquered

Taino Rebellion

The native people of modern Puerto Rico rebelled against the Spanish for the brutal conditions of the Encomienda System and the threat to their cultural traditions (i.e. conversion), and the Spanish won due to superior weaponry

Valladolid Debates

Debates on the morality of colonizing between Bartolomé de las Casas and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda

Bartolomé de las Casas’ arguments in the Valladolid Debates

• De las Casas was a priest who argued that if Spain kept treating the natives badly, their souls would be lost to God

• He was especially concerned about their welfare in the Encomienda System

Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda’s arguments in the Valladolid Debates

• Sepúlveda argued indigenous peoples were less then human, and subjugation and brutality helped transform them into full humanity

• His view, along with Biblical justifications, helped Spain justify treatment

Spain’s motivations and purposes for New World colonization

• Extract wealth through agriculture and mining of gold and silver

• Convert Native Americans to Christianity through the mission system

France’s motivations and purposes for New World colonization

• Wanted a water route across the Americas that would give them access to trade in Asia

• Had a much greater interest in trade then conquest

• Mostly established trading settlements

• Relatively few settlers

Netherlands’ motivations and purposes for New World colonization

• Wanted a water route through the Americas

• Mainly economic goals

• Had no interest in converting Native Americans to their religion (Protestants)

• Relatively few settlers

England’s motivations and purposes for New World colonization

• Social mobility

• Economic prosperity

• Religious freedom

• Improved living conditions

• Male and female migrants came

• Enclosure Movement

Enclosure Movement

Peasants’ land in England was being taken and sold to private parties

Spain’s interactions with Native Americans during colonization

• Encomienda System

• Conversion to Christianity

• Resistance to conversion (ex: Pueblo Revolt) led to partial accommodation of Native American culture in the Southwest US

How did Spain accommodate for Native American culture in the Southwest US?

• Offered land grants

• Appointed a representative to uphold Pueblo rights and interests

France’s interactions with Native Americans during colonization

• Maintained good relationships with Native Americans

• Some colonizers married Native American women to have kinship ties to the fur trade

• Had trade alliances with Native Americans

Netherlands’ interactions with Native Americans during colonization

• Maintained good relationships with Native Americans

• Allied with the Iroquois Confederacy

Iroquois Confederacy

An alliance of five tribes known for its strong political system

England’s interactions with Native Americans during colonization

• As the English population grew, it needed more land, which encroached on Native Americans’ land

• Metacom’s War

• English mainly forced out Native Americans

Metacom’s War / King Philip’s War

The chief of the Wampanoag tribe (Metacom / King Philip) allied with other Native groups and led a retaliation on the colonists for infringing on their land

• In retaliation, the British called upon their allies, the Mohawk, who killed Metacom, ending the resistance

• War temporarily slowed colonial expansion

Describe the triangular trade

US: Exports raw materials

Europe: Exports finished goods

Africa: Exports enslaved laborers

Middle Passage

The sea journey undertaken by slave ships from West Africa to the West Indies, famous for the brutal and cramped conditions on slave ships

Effects of transatlantic trade

• Generated wealth for cities

• Transformed America’s seaports into thriving urban centers

• Enabled the Consumer Revolution

• Continued the spread of epidemic diseases

Consumer revolution

Affluent families in colonial times began to buy more goods

Mercantilism

The dominant economic system in Europe during colonial times

• Assumed there is a fixed amount of wealth in the world; defines wealth in terms of gold and silver

• Main goal was to maintain a favorable balance of trade (more exports than imports) and enrich the mother state

• Colonies gave mercantilists access to raw materials, and could be markets for finished goods

Navigation Acts

Laws that required merchants to engage in trade with English colonies, English ships, and in English ports exclusively

Salutary neglect

England erratically enforced policies due to the large distance from the colonies

Diversity of colonies

British, German, Scots-Irish, African

Chesapeake and North Carolina colonies

• Jamestown was the first British North American colony

• Purpose was to make a profit

• Mined gold and silver, but were unsuccessful

• Many died due to famine and disease

• Grew tobacco (white, male indentured servants and later slaves farmed)

• Warm = plantations

New England colonies

• Plymouth = Separatist pilgrims

• Originally settled by Puritans

• Wanted religious freedom and economic opportunity

• Mostly immigrated as families

• Came to establish a society

• Had small towns with family farms

• Although fever and disease killed many original settlers, they eventually made a thriving mixed economy of agriculture and commerce

Middle colonies

• Export economy based on cereal crops (good soil)

• Had a diverse population

• Pennsylvania and Quakers specifically had high tolerance of people of different cultures/religions

British West Indies and Southern Atlantic Coast

• Warm climate = long growing seasons

• Sugarcane was the most important crop (grown in plantations)

• Majority population was enslaved Africans

• South Carolina grew rice and indigo

Why did colonies use indentured servants initially?

• Less expensive than slaves

• Headright system

Headright System

Planters got land for each servant they brought from England