APUSH Unit 1: Period 1 (1491-1607) and 2 (1607-1754)

Native American societies

Diverse, with complex social, political, and economic structures. Many were organized into tribes or confederacies with kinship-based leadership. Some, like the Iroquois, had sophisticated political systems (e.g., Iroquois Confederacy). Societies relied on agriculture, hunting, and gathering, with trade networks connecting regions. Cultural practices varied widely, tied to environment and spiritual beliefs.

Maize

A staple crop domesticated by Native Americans. Its significance lies in supporting large, stable populations, enabling complex societies (e.g., Mississippian culture). It was central to diets, trade, and cultural practices, shaping agricultural economies across the Americas.

Southwest Indians

Groups (e.g., Pueblo, Navajo) living in arid regions, building adobe or stone structures like pueblos. They practiced intensive agriculture (maize, beans, squash) using irrigation systems. Societies were matrilineal, with strong communal and religious traditions, like kiva ceremonies.

Great Plains Indians

Groups (e.g., Sioux, Cheyenne) who were nomadic or semi-nomadic, relying on buffalo hunting for food, clothing, and shelter (tipis). They developed horse-based cultures after European contact, with tribal governance and spiritual practices tied to the land and buffalo.

Northwest Indians

Groups (e.g., Chinook, Tlingit) living along the Pacific coast, relying on abundant resources like salmon, shellfish, and timber. They built large cedar plank houses, practiced totem pole carving, and had complex social hierarchies with potlatch ceremonies to display wealth and status.

Northeast Indians

Groups (e.g., Iroquois, Algonquin) living in forested regions, practicing agriculture (maize, beans, squash) and hunting. They formed confederacies like the Iroquois League for mutual defense. Longhouses housed extended families, and societies were often matrilineal with strong oral traditions.

Mississippi River Valley Indians

Groups (e.g., Cahokia, Natchez) who developed the Mississippian culture, known for large urban centers and mound-building (e.g., Cahokia's Monk's Mound). They relied on maize-based agriculture, had hierarchical societies with chiefs, and engaged in extensive trade networks.

Maritime technology

Advancements in shipbuilding and navigation (e.g., caravels, compasses, astrolabes) that enabled European exploration in the 15th-16th centuries. These tools allowed for longer, safer voyages across the Atlantic, facilitating colonization of the Americas.

Motive factors of European colonization

The three main reasons were: God: Spread Christianity (Catholicism/Protestantism) through missions. Gold: Seek wealth through resources like gold, silver, and trade. Glory: Gain power, prestige, and territorial expansion for European nations.

Christopher Columbus

An Italian explorer who sailed for Spain in 1492, landing in the Caribbean.

Columbian Exchange

The global transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and cultures between the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia after 1492. It introduced crops like maize and potatoes to Europe, horses and wheat to the Americas, and devastating diseases like smallpox to Native populations.

Mercantilism

An economic system where colonies provided raw materials and wealth to strengthen the mother country's economy through trade surpluses and bullion accumulation, often following the discovery of gold and silver in the Americas.

Joint-stock company

A business organization where investors pooled capital to fund colonial ventures, sharing profits and risks. Examples include the Virginia Company, which founded Jamestown, enabling costly expeditions without full royal funding.

Encomienda system

A Spanish colonial labor system where conquistadors were granted land and Native American laborers, whom they were supposed to protect and convert to Christianity. In practice, it led to exploitation and enslavement of Natives.

Caste system

A racial hierarchy (casta) in Spanish colonies based on ancestry, with Peninsulares (European-born) at the top, followed by Creoles (American-born Europeans), Mestizos (mixed European-Native), and enslaved Africans and Natives at the bottom, determining social status and privileges.

African importation

Africans were chosen as a labor source because Native American populations were decimated by disease (e.g., smallpox) and overwork, and they often resisted or fled. Africans were seen as more resistant to European diseases, unfamiliar with the terrain, and exploitable due to existing African slave trade networks.

Cultural exchange

Native Americans adopted European tools, weapons, horses, and Christianity. Europeans adopted Native crops (maize, potatoes), agricultural techniques, and survival skills (e.g., hunting, canoe-building). This reciprocal adoption also included trade practices and some intermarriage.

Justification of encomienda

Europeans presented the system as a means to Christianize and 'civilize' Native Americans, claiming it was their duty to convert and protect them. It was seen as mutual protection. In reality, it was used to exploit labor and resources for economic gain.

European competition for colonization

Spain, Portugal, France, England, and the Netherlands vied for control in the New World, establishing colonies and seeking resources, trade routes, and territorial dominance.

Significant development in exploration

The Renaissance sparked intellectual curiosity, advancements in maritime technology (e.g., caravels, astrolabes), and a desire for wealth and trade routes to Asia. Combined with competition among European monarchies and the spread of Christianity, these developments drove the expansion into the Americas.

Goals of French colonization

Aimed to establish trade networks (especially fur trade with Native Americans), spread Catholicism through missions, and create strategic outposts (e.g., Quebec, Louisiana) to counter rival European powers, with less focus on large-scale settlement.

Goals of Dutch colonization

Focused on trade and commerce, particularly fur and other goods, through strategic trading posts (e.g., New Netherland). They sought profit via the Dutch West India Company, with minimal emphasis on permanent settlement or religious missions.

Colony created by the Dutch

The Dutch created New Netherland, centered around the Hudson River Valley, with New Amsterdam (modern-day New York City) as its main settlement.

Motives of British colonization

Driven by economic opportunity (land, resources, trade), religious freedom (e.g., Puritans in New England), and mercantilist goals to enrich England through colonies. Some sought social mobility or to escape overcrowding in England.

Economic state of Britain during colonization era

Britain's economy was transitioning to mercantilism, seeking wealth through trade and colonies. It faced domestic challenges like population growth and land scarcity, encouraging colonization to secure resources and markets while competing with European rivals.

Chesapeake colonies

Regions (Virginia, Maryland) characterized by tobacco-based economies, plantation systems, and reliance on indentured servants (later African slaves). They had dispersed settlements, high mortality rates, and a male-dominated society with limited urban development.

Reason for Jamestown development

Jamestown (1607) was established by the Virginia Company, a joint-stock company, to generate profit through trade, resources (e.g., gold), and agriculture, serving as England's first permanent colony in North America.

Struggles faced by Jamestown

Challenges included starvation (the "Starving Time"), disease (malaria), conflicts with Powhatan Indians, poor leadership, and unrealistic expectations of quick wealth, nearly leading to its collapse in the early years.

What saved Jamestown

Tobacco, introduced by John Rolfe, was crucial for Jamestown's survival by becoming a profitable cash crop, attracting settlers and investment. Strong leadership (e.g., John Smith) and alliances with Powhatans also stabilized the colony.

Indentured servants

Laborers (often poor Europeans) who signed contracts to work for 4-7 years in exchange for passage to the colonies, room, and board. They were common in the Chesapeake before widespread African slavery.

Causes and effects of Bacon's Rebellion

Causes: Tensions over land access, high taxes, and Governor Berkeley's refusal to protect frontier settlers from Native attacks led Nathaniel Bacon to rebel in 1676. Effects: Exposed class tensions, accelerated shift to African slavery, and prompted tighter colonial control by England.

Connection of Bacon's Rebellion to African slavery

This event showed the dangers of relying on indentured servants, who could rebel after gaining freedom. Planters shifted to African slavery, seen as a more controllable and permanent labor force, reducing reliance on volatile European servants.

New England colonies

Regions including Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. These areas were founded by Puritans seeking religious freedom and were characterized by family-based communities, mixed economies (farming, fishing, trade, shipbuilding), and strong religious and educational institutions (e.g., Harvard), with a particular focus on Puritanism.

Pilgrims

Separatist Puritans who sought religious freedom and established Plymouth Colony (1620), signing the Mayflower Compact, a self-governing agreement, and relying on Native assistance (e.g., Squanto) to survive.

Southern colonies

Regions including Virginia, Maryland, Carolinas, and Georgia, that relied on plantation agriculture (tobacco, rice, indigo), using indentured servants and African slaves, characterized by hierarchical societies, few towns, and economies tied to export crops.

Sugar cane

A cash crop grown in the Caribbean and parts of the Southern colonies, requiring intensive labor, with high profitability driving demand for enslaved African labor in the Americas.

Demand for African slaves

Sugar cane cultivation was labor-intensive, requiring large workforces; high mortality rates and harsh conditions on sugar plantations increased the need for this labor force, seen as a resilient and exploitable source.

Middle colonies

Regions including New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, characterized by ethnic diversity, economies based on farming (wheat, grains), trade, and small-scale manufacturing, with religious tolerance and thriving port cities (e.g., Philadelphia, New York).

Economy of the Middle colonies

Diverse economy centered on agriculture (wheat, oats, dubbed the 'breadbasket'), trade through port cities, and small-scale industries (e.g., milling, ironworks), supporting a growing merchant class.

Pennsylvania

Founded by William Penn, a Quaker, in 1681 as a haven for religious freedom and a 'holy experiment' promoting tolerance, fair governance, and peaceful relations with Native Americans.

Contrast of Pennsylvania with other colonial regions

This colony emphasized religious tolerance, ethnic diversity, and fair treatment of Natives, unlike the religiously rigid New England or plantation-based Southern colonies, with a diverse economy and more inclusive government.

Self-democratic governments in colonies

Developed through assemblies and charters (e.g., Virginia House of Burgesses, Mayflower Compact), dominated by wealthy male landowners and elites, limiting participation to property-owning white men.

Triangular trade

A transatlantic trade network where New England sent rum to Africa for slaves, slaves were shipped to the Americas (Middle Passage), and the Americas sent sugar, tobacco, and cotton to Europe, enriching colonial economies.

Mercantilism

An economic system where colonies enrich the mother country through resource extraction and trade monopolies, leading to global competition, colonial rivalries, and wars (e.g., Anglo-Dutch Wars) as nations vied for economic dominance.

Navigation Acts

British laws (1650s-1670s) restricting colonial trade to English ships and markets.

Middle Passage

The brutal transatlantic journey of enslaved Africans to the Americas, marked by overcrowding, disease, and high mortality rates. It was a key leg of the triangular trade, supplying labor for plantations.

New England slavery

A system of smaller-scale labor, often domestic or artisanal, with enslaved people integrated into households in this region.

Southern slavery

A system of plantation-based, large-scale labor in this region, tied to cash crops (tobacco, rice), with harsher conditions and stricter racial hierarchies.

Chattel slavery

A system where enslaved people are treated as personal property, bought, sold, and owned for life, with their status inherited by their children.

Resistance to slavery

Africans resisted through rebellions (e.g., Stono Rebellion, 1739), running away, forming maroon communities, subtle sabotage (e.g., breaking tools), and preserving cultural practices (e.g., music, religion) to maintain identity and agency.

Enlightenment

An intellectual movement emphasizing reason, science, and individual rights, originating in Europe (17th-18th centuries) with thinkers like Locke and Montesquieu.

Colonial dissent

Enlightenment ideas (e.g., natural rights, social contract) inspired colonists to question British authority, demand representation, and challenge monarchical rule, laying ideological groundwork for resistance and eventual revolution.

First Great Awakening

A religious revival movement (1730s-1740s) emphasizing personal faith, emotional preaching, and salvation, challenging traditional church authority and fostering a sense of shared American identity.

Jonathan Edwards

Known for fiery sermons like 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.'

George Whitefield

A charismatic preacher who drew massive crowds, spreading revivalism across colonies.

Political and social effects of the First Great Awakening

It encouraged questioning of authority (religious and political), promoted egalitarianism, and fostered intercolonial unity. Socially, it empowered ordinary people, increased church membership, and supported education (e.g., Princeton).

Comparison of Enlightenment and First Great Awakening

Similarities: Both challenged traditional authority, encouraged individual empowerment, and shaped colonial identity. Differences: Enlightenment was rational, secular, focused on governance (Locke); Great Awakening was emotional, religious, focused on salvation (Edwards). Enlightenment appealed to elites; Awakening reached broader masses.

Anglicization

The process of American colonies adopting British culture, law, and institutions.

Impressment

The British practice of forcibly recruiting American sailors into the Royal Navy, which angered colonists, violated their rights, and strained Britain-America relations, contributing to tensions leading to the Revolution.

Bacon

A 1676-1677 armed uprising in colonial Virginia led by Nathaniel Bacon against Governor William Berkeley. The rebellion saw Bacon's forces burning Jamestown and forcing Berkeley to flee, ultimately leading to the collapse of the uprising after Bacon's death.