U1 ID QUIZ 3 APUSH

Caravel

A European ship capable of sailing against the wind and current, which enabled extensive European maritime exploration.

Columbian Exchange

The transfer of plants, animals, foods, human populations, diseases, and ideas between the Western and Eastern Hemispheres following 1492. It boosted European and African populations through new crops, devastated Native populations via disease, introduced silver that facilitated the transition from feudalism to capitalism, and reshaped Plains Indian culture through the introduction of horses.

Encomienda system

A colonial system in which the Spanish crown granted colonists the right to force Native Americans into labor in exchange for converting them to Catholicism and Spanish culture. It was eventually replaced by African slavery due to religious protests over humane treatment and failure to convert native populations.

Bartolomé de Las Casas

A Spanish religious leader whose opposition to the inhumane treatment of Native Americans helped abolish the encomienda system. He maintained that Native Americans were rational, civilized beings who should be converted through peaceful, humane means.

Juan de Sepúlveda

A defender of the Spanish conquest and encomienda system who argued that Native Americans were uncivilized and subhuman, asserting that God intended superior peoples to rule over and enslave inferior ones.

Spanish racial caste system

A colonial hierarchy ranking individuals by blood purity (Spanish → Mestizo → Native American → African). This structure developed because a shortage of female Spanish colonists led to widespread intermarriage with indigenous and African populations.

Religious syncretism

The blending of different religious practices. In colonial America, indigenous and African populations forced to convert to Christianity selectively adopted elements that aligned with their existing spiritual traditions, such as equating Catholic saints with pagan spirits.

Pueblo Revolt (1680)

An uprising in which Pueblo Indians united to drive Spanish colonizers out of New Mexico following the suppression of native religious practices. It demonstrated the power of unified Native resistance and forced the Spanish to adopt greater religious tolerance.

Beaver Wars (mid-17th century)

A series of conflicts in the Northeast where Native American tribes allied with competing European powers (French, Dutch, English) fought for control of the fur trade. The introduction of firearms led to guerilla warfare and caused major population dispersals, reshaping regional tribal alliances.

Joint-stock company

A business model where capital is raised by selling shares to investors who share in the profits. Emerging during the shift from feudalism to capitalism, it funded English colonization efforts like Virginia, resulting in English colonies operating with greater independence than directly royal-funded French or Spanish colonies.

House of Burgesses

The representative legislature established in colonial Virginia, demonstrating that English colonies developed early traditions of representative self-government compared to the direct royal rule of French and Spanish colonies.

Indentured servitude

A labor system where individuals agreed to work for a landowner for 4 to 7 years in exchange for passage to the colonies. A decline in available indentured servants due to increasing opportunities in England led English colonies to switch to African slavery.

Bacon's Rebellion (1676)

An uprising in Virginia where former indentured servants attacked Native Americans and colonial elites after the governor refused to seize native land. The rebellion prompted wealthy planters to shift toward African slavery to prevent future servant uprisings.

Puritan beliefs

Religious principles centered on predestination (the "elect"), direct relationship with God through Bible reading, and local church autonomy. These beliefs fostered a strong work ethic, promoted public literacy and education, and established early democratic governance structures.

"City upon a hill"

The Puritan ambition to create a model utopian Christian society in New England to inspire reform in the Church of England. To maintain order, they built compact settlements, enforced economic fairness (just price laws), required church attendance, and banished dissenters.

Roger Williams

A New England dissenter banished from Massachusetts for advocating the separation of church and state, illustrating the lack of religious freedom in early Puritan colonies.

King Philip's War (1675–1678)

A conflict in New England where Metacom united Native American tribes to resist English land expansion. Despite initial Native success, the English defeated them with Iroquois assistance, highlighting the strict separation between English and indigenous populations and how Native divisions aided European conquest.

Stono Rebellion (1739)

An uprising of South Carolina slaves who attempted to reach Spanish Florida to gain freedom, killing whites along the way until they were captured and executed. It served as a key example of direct slave resistance and led colonies to pass stricter slave codes.

Salutary Neglect (1700–1763)

An unofficial British policy of loosely enforcing trade laws and allowing American colonies to govern their own internal affairs as long as they remained loyal and profitable. This fostered a tradition of self-governance and colonial independence that laid the groundwork for revolution.

Mercantilism

An economic theory holding that global wealth is fixed and that a country increases its wealth by exporting more than it imports and acquiring raw materials and markets from colonies. It caused tension between Britain and the colonies as trade restrictions led colonists to engage in resistance such as smuggling.

Navigation Acts (1660s–1770s)

A series of British laws designed to enforce mercantilism by requiring trade to occur on English ships, restricting raw material exports to Britain, imposing tariffs on foreign goods, and limiting colonial manufacturing. They stimulated New England shipping but increased costs for cash-crop farmers and consumers.

Enlightenment (18th century)

An European intellectual movement asserting that the world operates according to natural laws that human reason can uncover to solve problems. It spread to the American colonies through trade and correspondence, influencing political thought and colonial identity.

Social contract theory

An Enlightenment political philosophy holding that individuals form governments to protect their natural rights to life, liberty, and property, and that citizens have the right to form a new government if those rights are violated. It served as the primary ideological justification for the American Revolution.

First Great Awakening (1730s–1740s)

A widespread Protestant religious revival marked by emotional preaching and individual spiritual experience. It created a shared experience across the colonies and inspired ordinary people to challenge traditional authority, contributing to revolutionary ideas.

Anglicization

The process by which the American colonies became culturally and institutionally more similar to Britain due to increased trade, shared print culture, and transatlantic movements such as the Enlightenment and Great Awakening.