More APUSH Unit 1: Period 1 (1491-1607) and 2 (1607-1754)
Period 1: 1491–1607
1. Pre-Contact North America
Native American Societies: Diverse and complex societies adapted to their specific environments.
Maize Cultivation: The spread of maize (corn) from present-day Mexico northward supported economic development, settlement, and social diversification. Societies like the Pueblo in the Southwest developed intricate irrigation systems to water their crops.
Regional Differences:
Southwest (Pueblo): Lived in arid climates; relied on farming with irrigation; built permanent settlements of adobe structures.
Great Plains (Sioux, Apache): Lived a nomadic lifestyle, hunting buffalo. The introduction of the horse by Europeans would later transform their societies.
Northeast (Iroquois, Algonquin): Lived in mixed agricultural and hunter-gatherer economies. This allowed for permanent villages like the Iroquois longhouses. The Iroquois Confederacy was a powerful political alliance.
Social Structure: Most societies were based on kinship networks and communal living. They engaged in trade with other groups, creating vast networks across the continent.
2. European Exploration & The Conquest of the New World
Context for European Encounters (The "3 G's"):
God: A desire to spread Christianity, particularly Catholicism, and a religious zeal following the Reconquista in Spain, where Spanish monarchs drove out the Muslim Moors.
Gold: The search for new sources of wealth. European kingdoms wanted to find new trade routes to Asia to bypass Italian and Ottoman control of the land routes. Mercantilism, an economic theory where wealth (measured in gold) equals power, drove nations to seek colonies for raw materials and new markets.
Glory: The rise of powerful, centralized "New Monarchies" in Spain, Portugal, France, and England. These rulers had the wealth and power to fund expensive voyages of exploration and colonization to increase their nation's prestige.
Technological & Intellectual Drivers:
Maritime Technology: New inventions like the caravel (a smaller, faster ship), the astrolabe, and the magnetic compass made long-distance sea travel possible.
The Renaissance: A spirit of curiosity and a focus on human achievement encouraged exploration and discovery.
3. The Columbian Exchange
The Columbian Exchange refers to the transfer of plants, animals, diseases, people, technology, and ideas between the Western Hemisphere (the Americas) and the Eastern Hemisphere (the Old World).
Impact on Europe:
New Crops: Foods from the Americas like potatoes, maize (corn), and tomatoes led to a population boom in Europe.
New Wealth: Minerals like gold and silver from the Americas (especially from Spain's colonies) fueled a shift from feudalism to capitalism in Europe.
Impact on the Americas:
Disease: European diseases like smallpox and measles devastated Native American populations, who had no immunity. This was the single greatest impact, killing up to 90% of the population in some areas.
New Livestock: Animals like horses, pigs, and cattle transformed Native life, particularly on the Great Plains with the introduction of the horse.
New Peoples: The forced migration of enslaved Africans and the migration of Europeans created entirely new societies and social structures.
Impact on Africa:
The growth of the plantation economy in the Americas created a massive demand for labor, leading to the devastating expansion of the transatlantic slave trade.
4. The Spanish Empire: Social and Economic Structures
Labor Systems:
Encomienda System: The Spanish crown granted colonists a specific number of Native Americans from whom they could demand tribute and forced labor in exchange for "protecting" them and converting them to Christianity. It was essentially a system of slavery.
Repartimiento System: After the encomienda system was reformed due to its brutality (advocated by figures like Bartolomé de las Casas), this system required adult male Native Americans to devote a set number of weeks or months of labor annually to Spanish mines, farms, or public works.
Social Hierarchy: The Casta System
A rigid racial hierarchy was established to control the diverse population of Europeans, Africans, and Native Americans.
Peninsulares: Spaniards born in Spain.
Creoles (Criollos): People of pure Spanish descent born in the Americas.
Mestizos: People of mixed Spanish and Native American ancestry.
Mulattos: People of mixed Spanish and African ancestry.
Native Americans & Enslaved Africans: At the bottom of the hierarchy.
Goals: The primary goals were to extract wealth (minerals) and spread Catholicism.
Period 2: 1607–1754
1. European Colonization in North America
Spanish: Continued to focus on extracting mineral wealth and converting Native Americans in the Southwest. Maintained a rigid social structure and direct control from the crown.
French: Focused on the fur trade (especially beaver pelts) in the interior of North America. They relied on extensive trade alliances and intermarriage with Native Americans (métis). Had a relatively small European population.
Dutch: Focused on commerce and trade. Established New Amsterdam (later New York) as a major trading post run by the Dutch West India Company, a joint-stock company. They were religiously tolerant and ethnically diverse.
English: Focused on agriculture and sending large numbers of settlers, both men and women. Their colonies were often founded for a mix of economic opportunity and religious freedom. They had a more hostile relationship with Native Americans, focused on pushing them off the land rather than integrating or trading with them.
2. Development of the British Colonies
The development of the British colonies was influenced by European events like the Protestant Reformation and the Enclosure Movement in England, which displaced many poor farmers who then sought opportunity in America.
Region | Culture & Society | Political | Economic | Lasting Effects/Characteristics |
New England | - Puritan religious motives (seeking to escape persecution) <br>- "City upon a Hill" (John Winthrop) <br>- Strong community and family focus<br>- Low tolerance for religious dissent (e.g., Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson) | - Self-governance through town meetings<br>- Mayflower Compact (early form of written constitution) <br>- Initially, only male church members could vote. | - Mixed economy: subsistence farming, fishing, timber, shipbuilding, commerce <br>- Relied on family labor | - Religious principles shaped society and laws<br>- Traditions of self-government<br>- More egalitarian social structure (compared to the South) |
Middle Colonies | - Most ethnically and religiously diverse (e.g., Quakers in PA, Dutch in NY)<br>- High degree of religious tolerance<br>- Cultural exchange and mixing | - Proprietary charters (owned by individuals like William Penn)<br>- Colonial assemblies with broad representation | - "Breadbasket colonies": export economy of cereal crops (wheat, corn)<br>- Mix of family farms and hired labor<br>- Major commercial centers like Philadelphia and New York City | - Pluralism (acceptance of diversity)<br>- Key commercial and trade networks<br>- Relative peace with Native Americans (initially, especially in PA) |
Chesapeake<br>(VA, MD) | - Initial goal: wealth (like the Virginia Company)<br>- Social hierarchy dominated by a wealthy planter class<br>- High mortality rates and male-dominated society initially | - House of Burgesses (1619): first representative assembly in British America<br>- Power concentrated in the hands of wealthy landowners | - Cash crop agriculture: Tobacco<br>- Labor-intensive<br>- Shift from indentured servitude to chattel slavery after Bacon's Rebellion (1676) | - Sharp social stratification<br>- Slavery became deeply embedded in the economy and laws<br>- Political power held by an elite few |
Southern Colonies<br>(Carolinas, GA) & West Indies | - Similar to Chesapeake: mixed European and African populations <br>- Hierarchical society based on race and land ownership<br>- Few large cities, mostly rural plantations | - Hierarchical political power mirroring the social structure; dominated by elites | - Cash crops: rice and indigo in the Carolinas, sugar in the West Indies<br>- Heavy reliance on enslaved African labor from the start<br>- Export-focused economy | - Rigid, race-based societies<br>- Slavery and slave codes shaped all aspects of politics, culture, and law<br>- Least economic diversity |
3. Interactions with Native Americans
Conflict: As British colonists expanded, conflicts over land and resources became common. Examples include the Pequot War (1637) and King Philip's War (1675), which was a last major effort by Natives in New England to drive out the English.
Resistance: Native Americans resisted European encroachment in various ways. The Pueblo Revolt (1680) was a successful uprising where Pueblo Indians expelled the Spanish from New Mexico for over a decade.
Adaptation: After the Pueblo Revolt, the Spanish became more accommodating of Native American culture and religious practices. This contrasts with the English model of removal and war.
4. Slavery and the Atlantic Economy
Transatlantic Trade (Triangular Trade): A complex network of trade routes.
European goods (e.g., guns, cloth) were shipped to Africa.
Enslaved Africans were transported across the Middle Passage to the Americas.
Colonial raw materials (e.g., sugar, tobacco, cotton) were shipped to Europe.
From Indentured Servants to Slavery: In the Chesapeake, landowners initially relied on indentured servants (Europeans who worked for a period of years in exchange for passage). Bacon's Rebellion (1676), an uprising of poor farmers and former indentured servants, made the planter class fearful of this landless white population and accelerated the shift to a more controllable labor force: enslaved Africans.
Slave Resistance: Enslaved people resisted dehumanization through both covert and overt means.
Covert: Maintaining cultural traditions (music, religion, kinship), working slowly, breaking tools.
Overt: Running away, armed rebellion. The Stono Rebellion (1739) in South Carolina was the largest slave uprising in the British mainland colonies.
5. The Development of an American Identity
The Enlightenment: An 18th-century European intellectual movement that emphasized reason, logic, and individualism.
Key Thinkers: John Locke wrote about natural rights (life, liberty, property) and the idea of a social contract, where governments derive their power from the consent of the governed.
Impact: These ideas heavily influenced American political thought and provided a foundation for the American Revolution.
The Great Awakening (1730s-1740s): A religious revival that swept through the colonies.
Key Preachers: George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards delivered emotional sermons emphasizing personal salvation.
Impact: It was the first shared experience across all colonies. It challenged traditional church authority, leading to new denominations and a greater sense of religious pluralism and individualism.
Anglicization: The process of colonists becoming more "British" by adopting English culture, political institutions, and consumer goods.
Salutary Neglect: An unofficial British policy of loosely enforcing trade laws and allowing colonies to govern themselves. This fostered a sense of independence and self-governance in the colonies. When Britain later tried to tighten control, the colonists resisted.