APUSH Comprehensive Course Review: Pre-Contact to the 21st Century

Pre-Contact Societies in the Americas

The environment of North America dictated the social, political, and economic structures of Indigenous societies prior to European arrival in $1492$ .
The Southwest: In this region, Maize (corn) became a primary staple. Advanced irrigation systems were developed to support agricultural growth in an arid climate. - Example: The Hohokam people constructed extensive and complex canal systems to divert water to their crops.
Great Basin and Western Great Plains: These regions were characterized by an arid environment that did not support permanent agriculture. - Lifestyle: Nomadic — defined as societies that move frequently to exploit seasonal resources rather than establishing fixed settlements. - Tribes: The Ute and Shoshone were prominent groups in these regions.
The Northeast: Located along river valleys like the Atlantic and Mississippi, these areas allowed for permanent villages. - Economy: A mixture of agriculture (Maize, beans, squash) and hunting-gathering. - Notable Site: Cahokia, a massive mound-building city that served as a major trade and religious hub.
California and Pacific Coast: Societies here followed a hunter-gatherer pattern similar to the plains but remained somewhat more stationary due to the abundance of sea life along the shoreline. - Tribes: The Shoshone (notably referred to as “Shinuk” in the recorded lecture) lived in this region.

European Contact: Motivations and the Columbian Exchange

The “Three G’s” of Motivation: - Gold: Driven by the mercantilist goal of acquiring precious metals. Spanish mines in the Americas were a source of incredible wealth. - God: A religious mission to convert Indigenous populations to Christianity, led largely by Jesuit and Catholic missionaries. - Glory: Territorial expansion was a way to increase a nation-states prestige and power on the world stage.
The Columbian Exchange: This is defined as the reciprocal movement of goods, peoples, animals, plants, diseases, and ideas between the Old World (Europe, Africa, Asia) and the New World (Americas) after $1492$ .
Transfers from the Americas to Europe: - Crops: Maize, potatoes, tomatoes, and tobacco were introduced, which spurred a significant European population boom. - Economic Shift: The influx of wealth and new commodities helped move Europe from a system of feudalism to early capitalism, characterized by private trade and industry. - Technology and Finance: Innovations like the Caravel and the astrolabe improved navigation. Joint-stock companies were formed to lower the individual investment risk for ocean voyages.
Transfers from Europe to the Americas: - Livestock and Crops: Wheat, rice, horses, and pigs were introduced to the American landscape. - Diseases: Smallpox and measles were devastating. Indigenous mortality rates are estimated between $50\%-90\%$ due to lack of immunity.
Spanish Slavery and the Encomienda System: - Encomienda: A system where Spanish conquistadors were granted labor from Indigenous peoples. In exchange, the Spaniards were supposed to provide Christian instruction and general ‘welfare,’ though welfare was rarely provided. - Failure and Shift: The system failed because Indigenous peoples could easily escape into familiar territory and were dying in massive numbers from Old World diseases. - Solution: The importation of enslaved Africans via the Middle Passage. Africans had been exposed to Old World diseases and possessed some immunity. - Casta System: A rigid social hierarchy developed where Spaniards were at the top, and those of Indigenous or African descent were relegated to the bottom.

Early Colonial Powers and Regional Characteristics

Divergent Worldviews: Misunderstandings over religion, gender roles, family structures, land use (private ownership vs. communal use), and power dynamics led to frequent conflict. - Military Resistance: Notable uprisings included the Kapuol uprising in the Yucatan and the Taino rebellion in the Caribbean. - The Requerimiento: A document used by the Spanish to justify the harsh treatment and conquest of Indigenous peoples by claiming a divine right.
English Motivations for Migration: - Social Mobility: The chance to rise in status, which was nearly impossible in England’s rigid class structure. - Economic Prosperity: Belief in the abundance of land and precious metals. - Religious Freedom: Puritans, Pilgrims, and Quakers sought to escape persecution.
English Regional Colonial Patterns: - Chesapeake and North Carolina: Primarily tobacco colonies. Labor was initially provided by indentured servants (individuals who contracted labor for a set period, typically $\approx 7\,years$ , for passage to the New World) but shifted toward African slaves. - New England: Established by Puritans. The soil was rocky, leading to a focus on small farms, shipbuilding, fishing, and a strong, religious community life. - Middle Colonies: Known as ‘bread colonies’ (Pennsylvania, New York). They focused on grain production and were characterized by high ethnic and religious diversity. - Southern Atlantic and West Indies: Plantation economies focusing on labor-intensive crops like sugar, rice, and indigo. These colonies had a majority African slave labor force.
Comparison of Colonial Approaches: - French: Focused on alliances and intermarriage with Indigenous groups to facilitate the fur trade. Settlement was limited (e.g., Montreal, $1701$ ). - Dutch: Established a fur trade empire through strategic alliances (e.g., New Netherland). - English: Focused primarily on land acquisition for agriculture, often using force to displace Indigenous tribes.

Resistance and Conflict in the 17th and 18th Centuries

Bacon’s Rebellion ( $1676$ ): A rebellion in Virginia where poor settlers and indentured servants rose up against the colonial elite. This event accelerated the shift from indentured servitude to a permanent reliance on African slaves, as slaves were seen as easier to control.
Metacom’s (King Philip’s) War ( $1675-1678$ ): Triggered by colonial expansion and broken treaties in New England. It resulted in over $7,000$ deaths and the effectively permanent end of Native power in that region.
Pueblo Revolt ( $1680$ ): A successful Indigenous uprising against Spanish rule in the Southwest that forced Spanish concessions regarding cultural practices, though the Spanish later reasserted control.
The French and Indian War (Seven Years’ War): - Causes: Disputes over the Ohio River Valley; British expansion threatened French-Indian trade networks. - Turning Point: British naval superiority led to the capture of Quebec ( $1759$ ) and Montreal ( $1760$ ). - Treaty of Paris ( $1763$ ): France lost almost all North American territory. Great Britain emerged with massive war debt, leading them to tax the American colonies to pay for the war.

The American Revolution and the Founding of a Nation

Direct Causes of Revolt: - Taxation Measures: The Sugar Act ( $1764$ ), Stamp Act ( $1765$ ), and Townshend Acts ( $1767$ ) were passed without colonial representation in Parliament (“No taxation without representation”). - Protests: The Sons of Liberty organized boycotts. Incidents like the Boston Massacre ( $1770$ ) and Boston Tea Party ( $1773$ ) escalated tensions. - Intolerable Acts ( $1774$ ): Closed Boston Harbor and inhibited self-government, leading to the First Continental Congress.
Philosophical Causes (The Enlightenment): - John Locke: Natural rights of life, liberty, and property. - Thomas Paine: Authored Common Sense ( $1776$ ), arguing that independence was the only logical path forward.
The Revolutionary War: - Battle of Saratoga ( $1777$ ): The turning point where the American victory convinced the French to form a military alliance against Britain. - The Articles of Confederation ( $1781-1789$ ): The first government. It was intentionally weak; it had no power to tax or enforce laws. Its success was the Northwest Ordinance ( $1787$ ), which banned slavery in the Northwest Territory and set a template for expansion.
The Constitution ( $1787$ ): - Great Compromise: Created a bicameral legislature (House of Representatives based on population; Senate with equal representation). - Three-Fifths Compromise: Counted each enslaved person as $3/5$ of a person for taxation and representation, boosting Southern power. - Federalism: A system of government in which power is divided between a central authority and the states.

The Early Republic and the Market Revolution

First Political Parties: - Federalists: Led by Alexander Hamilton. Supported a strong central government, a National Bank, and favored Britain in trade. - Democratic-Republicans: Led by Thomas Jefferson. Supported states’ rights, an agrarian economy, and favored France.
Western Expansion: - Louisiana Purchase ( $1803$ ): Thomas Jefferson purchased the territory for $\$15\,million$ (roughly $\$4$ per acre), doubling the size of the U.S.
The Market Revolution: Technological innovations like the cotton gin, steam engines, and telegraph transformed the economy. - Divergence: The North industrialized with factories, while the South became even more reliant on cotton agriculture and enslaved labor. - Social Change: The “separate spheres” ideology emerged, defining women’s roles as domestic and men’s roles as public/wage labor.
Second Great Awakening: A religious revival emphasizing personal salvation and social reform. It fueled abolitionism, the women’s rights movement (Seneca Falls, $1848$ ), and temperance.

Sectional Crisis and the Civil War

Manifest Destiny: The belief that the U.S. was destined by God to expand across the continent (“land equals opportunity”).
Mexican-American War ( $1846-1848$ ): Sparked by the Texas border dispute (Rio Grande vs. Nueces River). Ended with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ceding the Mexican Cession to the U.S.
Escalation Toward War: - Compromise of 1850: Included a strengthened Fugitive Slave Act that required Northerners to assist in returning escaped slaves, causing massive outrage. - Kansas-Nebraska Act ( $1854$ ): Allowed popular sovereignty (voting on slavery), leading to violent clashes known as “Bleeding Kansas.”
The Civil War ( $1861-1865$ ): - Emancipation Proclamation ( $1862/1863$ ): Shifted war aims to include the abolition of slavery and allowed for the recruitment of $\approx 200,000$ African American soldiers. - Turning Points: Gettysburg and Vicksburg ( $1863$ ). - Reconstruction Amendments: $13th$ (Abolished slavery), $14th$ (Birthright citizenship and equal protection), $15th$ (Black male suffrage).

Industrialization, the Gilded Age, and the 20th Century

Gilded Age: - Bessemer Process: Allowed mass production of steel. - Titans of Industry: John D. Rockefeller (Horizontal integration/Oil), Andrew Carnegie (Vertical integration/Steel), and J.P. Morgan (Finance). - Labor: Poor conditions led to the rise of unions like the Knights of Labor and the AFL, though they faced setbacks like the Haymarket Affair ( $1886$ ).
Great Depression and New Deal: - Causes: Overproduction and debt led to the stock market crash in $1929$ . Unemployment hit $25\%$ . - The New Deal: FDR’s plan (Relief, Recovery, Reform). Established the Social Security Act and FDIC.
The Cold War: - Containment: Policy to stop the spread of communism. Led to interventions in Korea ( $1950-1953$ ) and Vietnam ( $1954-1975$ ). - Domestic Front: The second Red Scare and McCarthyism created a culture of fear and blacklisting.
Modern Era: - The Great Society: LBJ’s agenda to end poverty and racial injustice (Medicare, Civil Rights Act of $1964$ , Voting Rights Act of $1965$ ). - Globalization: The shift toward service-sector jobs and international production starting in the $1980s$ . - War on Terror: Sparked by the September $11$ , $2001$ attacks, leading to invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.