APUSH Unit 2 Review

Motivations and Strategies of European Powers

Spanish Colonies

Driven by the pursuit of wealth through gold, silver, and cash crops (sugar and tobacco). They established the Encomienda system for forced native labor, which was later replaced by the Hacienda system which focused on land ownership and debt repayment. Religious conversion was central, leading to the Pueblo Revolt where indigenous people resisted cultural destruction by destroying churches and killing hundreds of Spaniards.

French and Dutch Colonies

These powers had fewer colonists and focused on building trading posts for the fur trade. They prioritized cooperation, alliances, and intermarriage with Native Americans. The Dutch established New Amsterdam as a diverse and profitable trading hub.

British Colonies

Sought social mobility, economic prosperity, and religious freedom. Motivations included escaping England's primogeniture laws (where only the oldest son inherited land) and the Enclosure movement which displaced poor farmers. Early settlements like Jamestown struggled initially but eventually thrived through tobacco cultivation.

Regional Differences in the 13 Colonies

New England Colonies

Settled in 1620 by families (Pilgrims and Puritans) seeking religious autonomy. They established democratic foundations like the Mayflower Compact and practiced subsistence farming due to the cold climate and rocky soil.

Middle Colonies

Characterized by significant diversity and religious tolerance. Pennsylvania, founded by William Penn, became a refuge for Quakers and treated natives fairly. Their economy relied on the export of grain throughout the region.

Chesapeake Colonies

Focused primarily on profit from tobacco. These colonies were initially populated by single young men and relied heavily on indentured servitude before gradually transitioning to enslaved labor. They established the House of Burgesses as an early representative government.

Southern Colonies and the British West Indies

Dominated by large-scale plantations for sugarcane, rice, and indigo. The Barbados Slave Code granted white planters absolute power. In the West Indies, the enslaved population outnumbered whites by a ratio of 4:1

Economics, Trade, and Mercantilism

Transatlantic Trade

The colonies participated in the Triangular Trade, moving rum, sugar, and enslaved people across the Atlantic.

Mercantilism

An economic system where the state maximized exports and minimized imports to accumulate gold and silver. Britain used the Navigation Acts to force the colonies to serve the parent economy, though distance allowed for a period of "salutary neglect."

Social Evolution and Tensions

Labor Systems

Bacon’s Rebellion marked a turning point, as elite planters moved away from indentured servants toward chattel slavery. Enslaved people resisted their condition through covert methods or overt actions like the Stono Rebellion.

Cultural Identity

The Great Awakening (a religious revival) and the Enlightenment (focused on natural rights and rationality) both emphasized individual power over authority.

Anglicization vs. Colonial Autonomy

While colonies mirrored British systems with governors and two-house legislatures (22 houses), they developed a unique identity without titled nobility and resisted imperial overreach, such as impressment into the British navy.

Conflict with Natives

Expanding territorial settlements into the Ohio River Valley led to conflicts like Metacom’s War (King Philip’s War), which slowed European expansion but devastated native resistance.