AP US History Unit 2 Summary: 1607–1754

Spain: Focused on extracting wealth via minerals and cash crops (sugar and tobacco). Utilized the encomienda system, later replaced by the hacienda system (land ownership and debt-based labor). Established a social hierarchy called the casta (cast) system based on racial purity.
French & Dutch: Fewer colonists, primarily male; focused on building trading posts rather than permanent settlements. Emphasized cooperation with indigenous groups for the beaver fur trade. The Dutch established New Amsterdam as a diverse trading hub.
British: High volume of colonists seeking social mobility, economic prosperity (tobacco in Jamestown), religious freedom (Puritans and Pilgrims), and better living conditions due to population growth and the enclosure movement in England.

New England: Settled by family groups for religious purposes. Plymouth (1620) established the Mayflower Compact for majority-rule governance. Economy based on fur, timber, and fish; utilized town hall meetings for local politics.
Middle Colonies: Characterized by trade and diversity. New York and Pennsylvania (William Penn) practiced religious tolerance. Economy focused on grain exports.
Chesapeake and North Carolina: Jamestown (1607) initially sought gold but thrived on tobacco. Initially relied on indentured servitude before transitioning to African slavery. Representative government included the Virginia House of Burgesses.
Southern Atlantic and West Indies: Dominated by large plantations. West Indies focused on sugarcane; South Carolina focused on rice and indigo. Implemented strict slave codes (e.g., Barbados Slave Code) as black populations began to outnumber whites, which in South Carolina reached a ratio of 4 to 1.

Triangular Trade: A network involving manufactured goods from Europe, rum from New England to Africa, enslaved people to the West Indies via the Middle Passage, sugar and molasses back to New England.
Mercantilism: A state-driven economic ideology aiming for a favorable balance of trade (maximizing exports, minimizing imports) to accumulate gold and silver. Colonies served as a source of raw materials and markets for finished goods.
Navigation Acts: British laws restricting colonial trade to British ships and ports. Often ignored through smuggling during periods of salutary neglect.

Beaver Wars: Conflicts in the 17th century over the fur trade involving the Iroquois Confederacy (allied with Dutch/British) and various groups allied with the French.
Pueblo Revolt (1680): Resistance against Spanish cultural and religious suppression. Although the Spanish returned 12 years later, they eventually moved toward accommodation, granting land and allowing some traditional practices.
Metacom’s War (King Philip’s War) (1675-1678): A conflict in New England resulting in the destruction of Puritan towns and the death of chief Metacom. The defeat of the Wampanoag alliance ended significant indigenous resistance in the region.

Transition to Slavery: Bacon’s Rebellion (1676) accelerated the shift from indentured servitude to African slavery as elite planters feared uprisings from landless formerly indentured white men.
Legal Framework: Slavery became defined as chattel slavery (property), made perpetual and hereditary by laws such as those in Virginia and Maryland.
Resistance: Included covert methods (breaking tools, slowing work, maintaining African cultural elements like cowry shells) and overt methods, such as the Stono Rebellion (1739) in South Carolina.

Diversity: Population included German (6%), Scots-Irish (7%), other Europeans (5%), and Africans (20%).
The Great Awakening (1730s): A religious revival led by figures like Johnathan Edwards and George Whitefield, emphasized individual emotional experience and challenged elites.
The Enlightenment: Movement emphasizing rationality and natural rights (John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau). Combined with the Great Awakening, it fostered more democratic tendencies and a unique American identity.
Anglicization: Despite developing distinct traits, colonies increasingly resembled British culture in government structure and social hierarchies.

Territorial Conflict: Colonists desired westward expansion into the Ohio River Valley, but Britain sought to limit movement to avoid conflict with the French and indigenous groups.
Self-Rule and Impressment: Resistance to the forced recruitment of colonists into the Royal Navy, notably causing the riots in Boston in 1747 during King George’s War.
Trade Restrictions: Resentment grew over the enforcement of the Navigation Acts, especially as the colonial population increased and needed new markets beyond Great Britain.