APUSH Unit 1

Time Periods 1 (1491-1607) and 2 (1607-1754)

Land Bridge

A theoretical land connection that once existed between Asia and North America, allowing for the migration of early humans and animals during the last Ice Age.

Woodland Mound Builders

another name for the Adena-Hopewell, a native culture famous for its large dirt mounds

Iroquois Confederation

a political union of 5 tribes in New York’s Mohawk Valley. known for being a powerful military force

Columbian Exchange

The widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, and ideas between the Americas and Europe

Line of Demarcation

a north-south line on the world map created by the pope in 1493 to divide the new world between Portugal and Spain

Treaty of Tordesillas

a treaty between Portugal and Spain moving the line of demarcation a few degrees weset

Christopher Columbus

discoverer/first conqueror of the “new world,” believed he was in china

Conquistadors

Spanish conquerors during the 16th century

Encomienda System

a Spanish system giving grants of land and natives to individual Spaniards in the New World

Roanoke Island

location of Sir Walter Raleigh’s failed attempt to establish a settlement off the coast of North Carolina in 1587

Bartolome de Las Casas

a Spanish priest who advocated for better treatment of the natives

Valladolid Debate

the debate over the role of the natives in Spanish colonies

Slave Trade

the forced transportation of Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas from the 16th to 19th centuries

Corporate Colonies

operated by joint-stock companies

Royal Colonies

under the direct authority and rule of the king’s government

Proprietary Colonies

under the authority of individuals granted charters of ownership by the king

Joint-Stock Company

pooled the savings of many investors, spreading and lessening the individual risk

Virginia Company

sent settlers to create the colony of what is now known as Jamestown. guaranteed the settlers the same rights they would’ve had in England

John Smith

the forceful leader of Jamestown, led the colony to manage to survive its first year by introducing a “no work, no food” policy

John Rolfe

leader of Jamestown after John Smith, married to Pocahontas, led the colony to create a new variety of tobacco

City on a Hill

Speech given by John Rolfe about the importance of the Massachusetts Bay Colony

Theocracy

a form a government with no separation of church and state; religious leaders are often also political leaders

Virginia

the first royal colony; previously known as Jamestown

Puritans

a group who believed the Church of England could be reformed; made up the group who sailed to Massachusetts and founded Boston

John Winthrop

led ~1000 puritans to sail across the Atlantic and became the founder of Boston as a haven for Catholics. “city upon a hill”

Great Migration

nearly 15,000 settlers traveling to Massachusetts Bay after a civil war in 1630s England

House of Burgesses

the first representative assembly in America; created in Virginia a mere 12 years after the founding of Jamestown

Mayflower Compact

an early form of colonial self-government; a rudimentary constitution

Cecil Calvert

the second Lord Baltimore; created a haven for Catholics in America while also achieving great wealth in the colony

Act of Toleration

the first colonial statue granting religious freedom to all Christians but also called for the death of all who denied Jesus

Indentured Servants

young people from the British Isles who agreed to work for a specified period (4-10 years) in exchange for a landowner paying for their passage to America alongside room and board

Headright System

offered 50 acres of land to any immigrant who paid for their own passage or any plantation owner who paid for the passage of an immigrant

Sir William Berkeley

the royal governor of Virginia; used dictatorial powers to govern the colony on behalf of the owners of the largest plantations

Nathaniel Bacon

led a rebellion against Berkley on the behalf of the smaller farmers who were oppressed by the government. died of dysentary

Roger Williams

a respected Puritan Minister who traveled to Boston in 1631. His teachings conflicted with those of the other Puritans, so he fled and founded Providence in 1639 alongside a few followers. founded one of the first Baptist churches in America

Rhode Island

a colony unique for 2 reasons: (1) acknowledged the rights of the natives and paid them for use of the land and (2) allowed Catholics, Quakers and Jews to worship freely. known as the “sewer colony”

Anne Hutchinson

a dissident who questioned the Puritan authorities and believed in antinomianism. founded Portsmouth in 1638 nearby to Providence

Thomas Hooker

led a group of Boston Puritans to found the colony in Hartford. created the first written constitution in America

John Davenport

founded New Haven as a second settlement in Connecticut in 1637

James Oglethorpe

founder & governor of the Georgia colony. ran a rightly disciplined and military like colony. forbade alcohol, slaves, and catholocism

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

first constitution in the colonies; created by Thomas Hooker in 1839

Middle Passage

the specific branch of the Triangle Trade that involved the forced transport of African slaves to the New England colonies

Grandparents

a part of the extended family “created” by the Puritans in New England due to their long life expectancy

Powhatan

Native chief and founder of the Powhatan Confederacy in the James River area of eastern Virginia

Pequot Wars

the general names for the wars and battles fought between the Europeans and the native populations in America in the early-mid 1800s

New Amsterdam Harbor

also known as Manhattan. Purchased by the Dutch West India Company for only a few cents/acre. Company town run in the interests of stockholders. No interest in religious tolerance or democray; persecuted any religious dissenters

Patroonships

feudal estates granted to promoters who would settle 50 people on them

New Sweden

a small, under-funded colony near New Netherland, later absorbed by the Dutch.

Peter Stuyvesant

Dutch general who led the attack on New Sweden leading to the colony being absorbed into New Netherland in 1655

New York

the royal colony created in 1644 after the English takeover of the Dutch New Netherland and New Sweden

Quakers

named after the way they acted during intense religious practices. offended both religious and secular leaders due to their refusal to pay taxes and treat upper classes with deference

William Penn

aristocratic Quaker Englishmen who founded Pennsylvania in 1681 using a royal grant

Pennsylvania

bought (didn’t forcibly take) land from the natives. led by a representative council elected by landowners (white men). allowed complete religious freedom - only used the death penalty for treason and murder. outlawed slavery.

Blue Laws

against stage plays, cards, dice, gambling, & “excessive hilarity”

New Jersey

land given to proprietary aristocrats (Quakers) by the Duke of New York. Many New England settlers moved here due to worn-out soil in their original colonies

Delaware

named after a harsh military governor of Virginia. granted its own political assembly in 1703 but remained under the control of Pennsylvania

Crèvecoeur

a Frenchman who settled in New York territory in 1759; wrote a book called Letters of an American Farmer that established a new standard for writing about America

Jonathan Edwards

a Purist preacher during the Great Awakening known for using fear to communicate his message. Aaron Burr’s grandfather.

George Whitefield

a travelling preacher during the Great Awakening that avoided fear tactics and formed a connection between the colonies by preaching the same message in many places

Great Awakening

a Puritan religious revival of Protestant Christianity across British North America during the mid-1700s