Period 1: 1491–1607 APUSH STUDY GUIDE Midterm
Period 1: 1491–1607
APUSH STUDY GUIDE Midterm
Maize – A staple crop domesticated by Native Americans that supported population growth and the development of complex societies due to its high yield and adaptability.
Three Sisters – An agricultural system (corn, beans, squash) used by Native Americans that improved soil fertility, nutrition, and crop sustainability.
Spanish Empire – A global empire built through conquest, colonization, and extraction of wealth, especially silver, relying on forced Native labor and slavery.
Columbian Exchange – The widespread transfer of plants, animals, diseases, people, and ideas between the Old and New Worlds after 1492, causing massive demographic and environmental changes.
Eastern Woodlands – Native American cultural region characterized by farming, permanent villages, and complex political structures.
Cahokia Valley – Site of the largest pre-Columbian city in North America, showing advanced political organization and trade networks.
Southwest Native Americans – Groups such as the Pueblo who adapted to arid climates using irrigation and adobe architecture.
Pacific Northwest Native Americans – Societies that relied on fishing, developed permanent settlements, and practiced social stratification.
Great Plains Native Americans – Nomadic groups whose culture later centered on the horse and buffalo hunting.
Encomienda System – Spanish labor system granting colonists control over Native labor in exchange for Christianization, often resulting in abuse.
Early Slave Trade – The forced transport of Africans to the Americas to meet labor demands after Native population decline.
Casta (Caste) System – Spanish colonial racial hierarchy that determined social status based on ancestry.
Bartolomé de las Casas – Spanish priest who criticized Native American abuse and advocated for their rights.
Juan de Sepúlveda – Scholar who argued Native Americans were inferior and justified Spanish conquest.
Valladolid Debates – A moral and legal debate over the treatment of Native Americans, highlighting tensions within Spanish imperial policy.
Period 2: 1607–1754
APUSH STUDY GUIDE Midterm
Black Legend – Anti-Spanish propaganda portraying Spanish colonization as uniquely cruel.
Jamestown – First permanent English settlement; survived through tobacco cultivation and Native alliances.
Powhatan Confederacy – Alliance of Native tribes in Virginia that initially cooperated with, then resisted, English settlers.
Tobacco – Cash crop that drove economic growth but increased reliance on enslaved labor.
Puritans – Religious reformers seeking to create a godly society in New England.
Roger Williams – Advocate for religious freedom and separation of church and state; founded Rhode Island.
Anne Hutchinson – Challenged Puritan authority; banished for religious dissent.
Salutary Neglect – British policy of minimal enforcement of colonial laws, encouraging colonial self-rule.
Mercantilism – Economic system prioritizing exports and colonial dependence on the mother country.
Transatlantic Trade – Exchange of goods and enslaved people linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
Middle Passage – Brutal transoceanic voyage enslaved Africans endured.
Indentured Servants – Laborers contracted for a set period in exchange for passage to America.
Chattel Slavery – Permanent, hereditary system treating enslaved people as property.
Stono Rebellion – Major slave uprising in South Carolina that led to stricter slave codes.
Navigation Acts – British laws regulating colonial trade to benefit England.
Pueblo Revolt – Successful Native uprising against Spanish rule in present-day New Mexico.
Pequot War – Conflict that demonstrated English willingness to use extreme violence against Native Americans.
Metacom (King Philip’s) War – Widespread Native resistance that weakened Native power in New England.
Opechancanough – Powhatan leader who resisted English expansion in Virginia.
Period 3: 1754–1800
APUSH STUDY GUIDE Midterm
Treaty of Paris (1763) – Ended the Seven Years’ War; Britain gained French territory in North America.
Proclamation of 1763 – Restricted westward settlement to reduce Native conflict.
Patriots – Colonists who supported independence.
Loyalists – Colonists who remained loyal to Britain.
Boston Massacre – British soldiers killed colonists, fueling anti-British sentiment.
Sons of Liberty – Organized resistance group opposing British taxation.
Boston Tea Party – Protest against the Tea Act.
Republican Motherhood – Ideology emphasizing women’s role in raising virtuous citizens.
Articles of Confederation – First U.S. government; weak central authority.
Shays’ Rebellion – Armed uprising revealing weaknesses of the Articles.
Great Compromise – Balanced representation between large and small states.
3/5ths Compromise – Counted enslaved people for representation and taxation.
Federalists / Anti-Federalists – Debated strength of the national government.
Bill of Rights – First ten amendments protecting individual liberties.
Hamilton’s Economic Plan – Strengthened federal power through debt assumption and a national bank.
Whiskey Rebellion – Demonstrated federal authority to enforce laws.
Period 4: 1800–1848
APUSH STUDY GUIDE Midterm
Jeffersonian Democracy – Emphasized agrarianism and limited government.
Louisiana Purchase – Doubled U.S. size and raised constitutional concerns.
Embargo of 1807 – Attempt to avoid war through economic pressure; hurt U.S. economy.
Monroe Doctrine – Asserted U.S. opposition to European colonization in the Americas.
Jacksonian Democracy – Expanded white male suffrage and strengthened executive power.
Nullification Crisis – South Carolina challenged federal tariff authority.
Market Revolution – Economic shift toward industrialization and commercialization.
Second Great Awakening – Religious revival inspiring reform movements.
Abolition – Movement to end slavery.
Seneca Falls Convention – First women’s rights convention.
Period 5: 1844–1877
APUSH STUDY GUIDE Midterm
Manifest Destiny – Belief that U.S. expansion westward was divinely ordained.
Wilmot Proviso – Proposed banning slavery in new territories.
Compromise of 1850 – Temporarily eased sectional tensions.
Kansas–Nebraska Act – Applied popular sovereignty, leading to violence.
Dred Scott v. Sandford – Ruled African Americans were not citizens; intensified sectional conflict.
Republican Party – Opposed expansion of slavery.
Emancipation Proclamation – Freed enslaved people in Confederate states.
Suspension of Habeas Corpus – Allowed detention without trial during the Civil War.