APUSH Periodization Notes Period 1-4

Period 1: 1491-1607

• Key Events:

  • 1492: Columbus reaches the Americas.

• Focus:

  • Early Native American societies.

  • Early interactions between Europeans and Native Americans, especially the Spanish.

Period 2: 1607-1754

• Key Events:

  • 1607: Jamestown founded.

  • 1754: Start of the French and Indian War.

• Focus:

  • Colonization by the British, French, Spanish, and Dutch.

  • Main characteristics of the British American colonies.

Period 3: 1754-1800

• Key Events:

  • 1800: Revolution of 1800 (Jefferson becomes president).

• Significance of 1800:

  • First peaceful transfer of power.

  • Important for an orderly republic.

• Focus:

  • American Revolution.

  • Transformation from a Confederate system to a Federal system (Constitution).

  • Early presidents: Washington and John Adams.

• Republican Motherhood:

  • Early example of women's role in society.

Period 4: 1800-1848

• Political Aspects:

  • Political parties and expanding suffrage (initially only for white men).

  • Jeffersonian and Jacksonian democracy.

  • Sectionalism: Missouri Compromise.

• Economic Aspects:

  • American System by Henry Clay.

  • Market Revolution.

• Cultural Aspects:

  • Second Great Awakening.

  • Abolitionism.

  • Seneca Falls Convention.