AP U.S. History Terms: Fabric of a Nation Period 2

Yamasee War

A war from 1715 to 1717 led by the Yamasee confederation, which intended, but failed, to oust the British from South Carolina.

Walking Purchase

A 1737 treaty that allowed Pennsylvania to expand its boundaries at the expense of the Delaware Indians.

veto

The right to block a decision made by a governing body.

Tuscarora War

A war launched by Tuscarora Indians from 1711 to 1715 against European settlers in North Carolina and their allies from the Yamasee, Catawba, and Cherokee nations.

Treaty of Utrecht

The 1713 treaty that ended Queen Anne’s War. It aimed to achieve peace by balancing the interests of European powers and their colonial possessions.

subsistence farmer

A farmer who grows crops that can supply only the needs of the family rather than being sold for profit.

Stono Rebellion

A 1739 uprising by enslaved Africans and African Americans in South Carolina, which intensified white fear of slave revolts.

slave code

A law restricting enslaved persons’ rights, largely due to slaveholders fears of rebellion.

seditious

Describing behavior or language aimed at starting a rebellion against a government.

redemptioner

An immigrant who borrowed money from shipping agents to cover the costs of transport to America, loans that were repaid, or “redeemed,” by colonial employers.

Queen Anne’s War

A war from 1702 to 1713 over control of Spain and its colonies; also known as the War of the Spanish Succession.

Puritan Migration

The mass migration of Puritans from Europe to New England during the 1620s and 1630s.

Pueblo Revolt

An uprising of Pueblo Indians in 1680 against Spanish forces in New Mexico that led to the Spaniards’ temporary retreat from the area.

Protestant Reformation

A European religious movement to

break with the Catholic Church.

Privy Council

Advisory council of the king of England, comprised typically of prominent aristocrats.

Powhatan Confederacy

Large and powerful confederation of Algonquian-speaking Native Americans in Virginia.

Planter

One of the groups of white southern slaveholders who owned the largest plantations and forged a distinct culture and economy around the institution of slavery.

Pilgrims

Also known as Separatists, a group of English religious dissenters who established a settlement at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620.

Pequot War

A conflict between New England settlers and their Narragansett allies against the Pequot Indians in 1636–1637.

Old Light clergy

Colonial religious leaders from established churches who supported the religious status quo in the early eighteenth century.

New Light clergy

Colonial religious leaders who called for religious revivals and emphasized the emotional aspects of spiritual commitment.

Navigation Acts

Acts passed by Parliament in the 1650s and 1660s that prohibited smuggling, established guidelines for legal commerce, and set duties on trade items.

mercantilism

An economic system centered on maintaining a favorable balance of trade for the home country, with more gold and silver flowing into that country than flowed out.

Middle Passage

The brutal transatlantic portion of the forced journey of enslaved Africans from Africa to the Americas.

Metacom’s War

Also known as King Philip’s War, a conflict between English settlers and an alliance of Native Americans led by the Wampanoag tribe, in 1675–1676.

Mayflower Compact

Written agreement created by the Pilgrims upon their arrival in Plymouth. It was the first written constitution adopted in North America.

libel

A false written statement designed to damage the reputation of its subject.

Leisler’s Rebellion

A class revolt in NewYork in 1689 led by merchant Jacob Leisler. Urban artisans and landless renters rebelled against new taxes and centralized rule.

King William’s War

A war from 1689 to 1697 that began as a conflict over competing French and English interests on the European continent but soon spread to the American frontier.

King George’s War

A war from 1739 to 1748 between France, Spain, and England fought in North America.

joint-stock company

A company in which large numbers of investors own stock.

inflation

When prices rise because of a decline in the value of money because of its overabundance.

indentured servitude

Condition of being contracted to work for a set period of time without pay.

impressment

The forced enlistment of civilians into the army or navy.

imperialism

A policy of expanding the border and increasing the global power of a nation, typically via military force.

Huguenot

A French Protestant who subscribed to the theology of John Calvin. Huguenots were persecuted by the French crown.

House of Burgesses

Elected assembly within the General Assembly of Virginia formed in 1643 when the assembly was split into two houses.

headright system

Created in Virginia in 1618, it rewarded those who imported indentured laborers and settlers with land.

Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy

A group of allied American Indian nations that included the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and later the Tuscarora.

Glorious Revolution

The 1688 rebellion that forced James II from the English throne and replaced him with William and Mary.

General Assembly of Virginia

Local governing body in Virginia established by the English crown in 1619. Later, the assembly was known as the House of Burgesses.

gang labor

A system to produce cash crops based on dividing a work force into “gangs” who work at a consistent pace at a designated task.

First Great Awakening

Series of religious revivals in colonial America that began in 1720 and lasted until about 1750.

Enlightenment

A European cultural movement spanning the late seventeenth century to the end of the eighteenth century, emphasizing rational and scientific thinking over traditional religion and superstition.

English Civil War

Conflict (1642–1651) between parliamentary forces and the king of England over Charles I’s attempt to rule without Parliament.

Dominion of New England

The consolidation of northeastern colonies by King James II in 1686 to establish greater control over them, resulting in the banning of town meetings and new taxes.

Covenant Chain

Alliance between Iroquois and the northern colonies of British North America to maintain the fur trade and good relations in the aftermath of Metacom’s War.

consumer revolution

A process during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries through which status in the colonies became more closely linked to financial success and a refined lifestyle rather than birth and family pedigree.

colonization

The process of settling and controlling an already inhabited area for the economic benefit of the settlers, or colonizers.

Church of England

National English Protestant faith with King Henry VIII as head of the church. Created after England split with the Catholic Church in 1534.

cash crop

A crop produced for profit rather than for subsistence.

Calvinism

A branch of Protestantism developed by John Calvin that influenced Protestants in France, England, and Switzerland in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Bacon’s Rebellion

An uprising in Virginia led by Nathaniel Bacon in 1676. Bacon and his followers were upset by the Virginia governor’s unwillingness to send troops to intervene in conflicts.

Anglo-Powhatan Wars

Series of conflicts in the 1620s between the Powhatan Confederacy and English settlers in Virginia and Maryland.

Act of Religious Toleration

Act passed in 1649 by the Maryland Assembly granting religious freedom to all Christians, including Catholics.