Apush pt 1

AP U.S. History Study Guide

Colonization

1. Reasons for Colonization:

   • Crusades: Sparked European interest in new trade routes.

   • Renaissance: Inspired curiosity about the world and new technologies like the compass and caravel.

   • Protestant Reformation: Motivated Europeans to spread their faith and escape religious persecution.

2. Christopher Columbus:

   • Italian explorer who reached the Americas in 1492, opening the door for European colonization.

3. Line of Demarcation (Treaty of Tordesillas):

   • Agreement between Spain and Portugal dividing the New World territories; Spain gained most of the Americas.

4. Roanoke ("Lost Colony"):

   • First English attempt at colonization, led by Sir Walter Raleigh. The colony mysteriously disappeared.

5. Jamestown, VA:

   • Established in 1607; first permanent English colony. Faced hardships like the "Starving Time" but survived under Captain John Smith’s leadership.

6. Joint Stock Company:

   • Businesses that funded colonies by pooling investors' money, such as the Virginia Company.

7. Indentured Servant:

   • Individuals who worked for a set number of years in exchange for passage to the colonies.

8. Virginia House of Burgesses:

   • First representative government in the colonies (1619).

9. Bacon’s Rebellion:

   • A 1676 uprising by frontier settlers against Virginia’s government; highlighted tensions between social classes.

10. Pilgrims/Mayflower Compact:

    • Pilgrims established Plymouth in 1620; the Mayflower Compact set up a basic self-government based on majority rule.

11. Massachusetts Bay Colony:

    • Founded by Puritans seeking religious freedom. Governor John Winthrop emphasized a "city upon a hill" as a moral example.

12. Roger Williams/Rhode Island:

    • Advocate for religious tolerance and separation of church and state; founded Rhode Island.

13. Lord Baltimore/Maryland Colony:

    • Maryland became a haven for Catholics; Maryland Toleration Act ensured religious freedom for Christians.

14. Quakers/William Penn:

    • Founded Pennsylvania as a "Holy Experiment" promoting religious tolerance and equality.

15. New England Confederation:

    • A union of New England colonies for mutual defense in the 1640s.

16. Salem Witchcraft Trials:

    • 1692 trials in Massachusetts resulting in executions; reflected fear of societal change and religious extremism.

17. Great Awakening:

    • A religious revival in the 1730s-1740s led by figures like Jonathan Edwards. Resulted in increased church membership and challenged traditional authority.

18. Mercantilism:

    • Economic policy where colonies existed to benefit the mother country by providing raw materials and serving as markets for goods.

Conflicts Leading to Revolution

19. French and Indian War (1754-1763):

    • Conflict between Britain and France over the Ohio River Valley. Britain’s victory led to debt and increased taxation of the colonies.

20. Proclamation of 1763:

    • Prevented colonists from settling west of the Appalachians to avoid conflict with Native Americans.

21. Navigation Acts:

    • Laws ensuring colonial trade benefited Britain. Contributed to colonial discontent.

22. Stamp Act (1765):

    • Taxed printed materials; prompted colonial protests and the Stamp Act Congress.

23. Boston Tea Party:

    • Protest against the Tea Act (1773) where colonists dumped tea into Boston Harbor. Led to the Intolerable Acts.

24. First Continental Congress (1774):

    • Met to address colonial grievances against Britain.

25. Declaration of Independence (1776):

    • Written by Thomas Jefferson; declared colonial independence from Britain.

26. Battle of Saratoga:

    • Turning point of the Revolutionary War; secured French support.

Federalist Period

27. Constitutional Convention:

    • Met in 1787 to replace the Articles of Confederation with the U.S. Constitution.

28. Great Compromise:

    • Combined the Virginia Plan and New Jersey Plan to create a bicameral legislature.

29. Three-Fifths Clause:

    • Counted enslaved individuals as three-fifths of a person for representation and taxation.

30. Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists:

    • Debate over ratifying the Constitution. Federalists supported a strong central government; Anti-Federalists demanded a Bill of Rights.

31. Judiciary Act of 1789:

    • Established the federal court system.

32. Whiskey Rebellion:

    • A 1794 protest against excise taxes; showed the strength of the new federal government.

Age of Jefferson

33. Marbury v. Madison (1803):

    • Established judicial review, allowing courts to declare laws unconstitutional.

34. Louisiana Purchase (1803):

    • Doubled the size of the U.S.; acquired from France. Explored by Lewis and Clark.

35. Embargo Act (1807):

    • Banned U.S. trade with foreign nations; hurt the U.S. economy.

36. War of 1812:

    • Fought against Britain over impressment and trade restrictions. Resulted in a surge of nationalism.

Era of Good Feelings

37. Monroe Doctrine (1823):

    • Declared that the Americas were off-limits to European colonization.

38. Missouri Compromise (1820):

    • Maintained balance between free and slave states by admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state.

39. Erie Canal:

    • Connected the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean; boosted trade and westward expansion.

Reform Movements

40. Second Great Awakening:

    • Religious revival emphasizing salvation through good works; spurred reform movements.

41. Abolitionists:

    • Advocates for ending slavery, including Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison.

42. Seneca Falls Convention (1848):

    • First women’s rights convention; issued the Declaration of Sentiments.

Civil War Era

43. Compromise of 1850:

    • Addressed slavery in territories; included the Fugitive Slave Law.

44. Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854):

    • Allowed popular sovereignty to decide slavery; led to "Bleeding Kansas."

45. Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857):

    • Ruled that African Americans were not citizens and that Congress could not ban slavery in territories.

46. Emancipation Proclamation (1863):

    • Declared freedom for slaves in Confederate states.

47. Gettysburg Address:

    • Lincoln’s speech emphasizing equality and national unity.

48. 13th Amendment (1865):

    • Abolished slavery in the United States.

49. Reconstruction:

    • Period after the Civil War focused on rebuilding the South and integrating freed slaves into society.