APUSH Review Unit 2 (Period 2: 1607-1754)—Everything You NEED To Know

Overview of Unit 2 (1607-1754)

• Focus on European motives and methods of colonization.

• Key European players: Spain, France, the Dutch, and Britain.

• Each nation approached colonization based on their unique goals and circumstances.

Spanish Colonization

• Objectives: Extract wealth through agriculture (cash crops) and precious metals (gold and silver).

• Methods:

  • Subjugation of native populations.

  • Efforts to convert natives to Christianity with mixed success.

  • Established a caste system influenced by racial ancestry.

French Colonization

• Focused more on trade than territorial conquest, emphasizing the fur and fish trade.

• Comparatively few French settlers established primarily trading posts.

• Notable interactions:

  • Marriages between French traders and Native American women strengthened trade relations.

  • Fostered alliances with tribes such as the Ojibway, resulting in cultural exchange.

Dutch Colonization

• Established fur trading center in 1609 on the Hudson River (modern-day New York).

• Economic focus rather than religious conversion; few settlers compared to the Spanish and British.

• Key settlement: New Amsterdam, which became a significant trade hub.

British Colonization

Economic Challenges

• Challenges of the British economy due to war costs, inflation, and the enclosure movement.

• Motivations for colonization included the pursuit of economic opportunities and religious freedom.

Colonial Settlements

Chesapeake Region

• First permanent settlement: Jamestown (1607).

• Funded by joint-stock companies, focused on profit.

• Early struggles with disease and famine; cannibalism occurred for survival.

• Tobacco cultivation led by John Rolfe in 1612 reversed the colony's fortunes.

• Labor system predominantly through indentured servitude, leading to increased conflict with Native Americans.

• Notable event: Bacon's Rebellion (1676) highlighted tensions between colonists and elites.

New England Colonies

• Settled by Pilgrims (1620) focused on establishing a religious society rather than a profit-driven colony.

• Developed a family-based agricultural economy despite initial hardships.

British West Indies and Southern Atlantic Coast

• Colonies established in the Caribbean for year-round agriculture (e.g., Barbados grew sugar cane).

• Sugar cane's labor-intensive production led to a significant demand for African slaves.

• By 1660, the black population in Barbados was greater than the white population; strict slave codes were enacted.

Middle Colonies

• Diverse population with a thriving export economy based on cereal crops.

• Pennsylvania founded by William Penn as a Quaker haven emphasizing negotiations for land.

• Democratic governance structures established (e.g., Mayflower Compact, House of Burgesses).

Atlantic Trade System

• Emergence of a global economy with the triangular trade route.

• Sequence of trade:

  • New England to West Africa (rum for enslaved people).

  • Middle Passage (transport of slaves).

  • West Indies to New England (enslaved people traded for sugar cane).

Mercantilism

• Economic strategy emphasized a fixed amount of wealth, focusing on exports to achieve a favorable trade balance.

• British Navigation Acts mandated trade with English colonies and ports, influencing colonial economies.

Slavery in the British Colonies

• Between 1700-1808, 3 million enslaved Africans transported, mainly to the West Indies.

• Comparison of slave ownership: New England (few slaves) vs. Chesapeake and southern colonies (many slaves).

• Introduction of strict slave codes defining enslaved individuals as property and perpetuating enslavement.

Resistance and Rebellion

• Modes of resistance: covert (cultural retention, sabotage) and overt (Stono Rebellion, 1739).

• Stono Rebellion involved armed resistance by enslaved Africans against oppressive conditions.

Relations with Native Americans

• British colonial expansion resulted in conflict with Native groups, exemplified by King Philip's War (Metacom's War, 1675).

• Metacom's resistance aimed to protect Native lands from encroachment but ultimately failed.

Colonial Society and the Enlightenment

• The Enlightenment emphasized rational thought and natural rights, influencing colonial political ideas.

• New Light clergy reacted against Enlightenment secularism, leading to the Great Awakening.

  • Key figures: Jonathan Edwards (philosophical preacher) and George Whitefield (itinerant evangelist).

  • Event fostered a collective American identity and levels of societal participation.

Conclusion

• Growing colonial frustrations with British control, demonstrated through practices such as impressment (forced labor in the Navy) and response to economic exploitation.

• Set the stage for future resistance and identities in American history.