APUSH Key Events, Systems, and Colonization Models

1491 (APUSH Significance)

Symbolic date representing the Americas prior to European contact.

1607 (APUSH Significance)

Establishment of Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in North America.

1754 (APUSH Significance)

Beginning of the French and Indian War.

Conquistadors

Spanish soldiers and explorers who conquered American lands for Gold, Glory, and God.

Casta System

Spanish colonial racial hierarchy ranking Europeans highest, mixed-race middle, Native/African lowest.

Encomienda System

Spanish labor system granting colonists rights to demand forced labor/tribute from Native Americans.

Columbian Exchange

Transfer of plants, animals, culture, diseases, and populations between Eastern and Western Hemispheres.

Bartolomé De Las Casas vs. Juan de Sepúlveda

Las Casas defended Native American rights; Sepúlveda justified their subjugation and mistreatment.

Spanish Colonization Model

Focused on extraction, conquest, religious conversion, and subjugating Native labor.

French & Dutch Colonization Models

Focused on trade networks (especially fur), building alliances and commercial ties with Native tribes.

English Colonization Model

Focused on permanent settlements and agricultural expansion, causing frequent violent conflicts over land.

Atlantic Economy / Triangular Trade

Trade network connecting Europe (manufactured goods), Africa (enslaved people), and Americas (raw materials).

Mercantilism

Economic theory that colonies exist to enrich the mother country through favorable trade balances.

Navigation Acts (1651+)

English laws enforcing mercantilism by requiring colonial goods to trade primarily on English ships.

Jamestown (1607)

First permanent English settlement; survived early starving time and established the House of Burgesses.

Joint-Stock Company

Business structure where pooled investor capital funded colonial ventures, spreading financial risk.

John Rolfe

Jamestown settler who perfected tobacco cultivation, establishing Virginia's profitable cash crop economy.

Indentured Servants

Laborers bound by contract to work for specific years in exchange for transatlantic passage.

Bacon's Rebellion (1676)

Virginia uprising of frontier settlers against governor; accelerated shift from indentured servitude to chattel slavery.

Puritans vs. Separatists (Pilgrims)

Pilgrims completely broke from Church of England; Puritans sought to purify it from within.

Mayflower Compact (1620)

Early self-government agreement creating a 'civil body politic' based on colonial consent.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

Puritan colony established in 1630 to serve as a religious 'city upon a hill'.

Anne Hutchinson

Puritan dissenter banished from Massachusetts Bay for challenging clergy authority and orthodoxy.

New England Colonial Region

Characterized by Puritan values, family farms, fishing, town meetings, and commerce.

Middle Colonies Region

Characterized by ethnic/religious diversity, cereal crop agriculture, and trade hubs.

Southern Colonies Region

Characterized by plantation agriculture, cash crops, hierarchical society, and heavy reliance on slave labor.

King Philip's War / Metacom's War (1676)

Conflict in New England ending effective Native American military resistance in the region.

First Great Awakening (1730s-1740s)

Religious revival emphasizing personal faith, emotional preaching, and questioning traditional religious authority.

George Whitefield

Key evangelical preacher of the First Great Awakening known for powerful open-air sermons.

Deism

Enlightenment belief in a creator God who operates the universe through natural laws without intervention.

Stono Rebellion (1739)

South Carolina slave revolt that led directly to stricter colonial slave codes.

Albany Plan of Union (1754)

Benjamin Franklin's rejected proposal to unite colonies for mutual defense against French and Native threats.