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APUSH Part 1
Founding the New Nation (33,000 BCE-1783 CE)
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Canadian Shield | First part of the North American landmass to emerge above sea level |
| Incas | Highly advanced South America civilization that occupied present-day Peru until conquered by Spain under Francisco Pizarro in 1532; Incas developed terrace farming to sustain large complex society in the Andes Mountains |
| Aztecs | Native American empire in present-day Mexico until 1521 when they were conquered by Spain (Hernan Cortes); they maintained control through trade and tribute system and were known for advancements in math and writing and practices in religious ceremonies |
| Nation-states | A sovereign, independent political entity (state) whose citizens share a common culture, language, history, or ethnicity (nation) within clearly defined territorial boundaries |
| Cahokia | Mississippian settlement near present-day St. Louis that was home to 25,000 Native Americans |
| Three-sister Farming | Agricultural system employed by North American Indians; maize, beans, and squash were grown together to maximize yields |
| Middlemen | In trading systems, the dealers who operate between the original producers of the goods and the merchants who sell to consumers; After 11th century, European exploration was driven in large part by the desire to cut out the middlemen and avoid extra tolls |
| Caravel | Small vessel with a high deck and triangular sails; they could sail more closely into the wind allowing European sailors to explore western African coast which had been previously impossible |
| Columbian Exchange | Transfer of goods, crops, and diseases between New and Old World societies after 1492 |
| Treaty of Tordesillas | Signed by Spain and Portugal, dividing territories in the New World; Spain received the bulk of the territory in the Americas, compensating Portugal with lands in Africa and Asia |
| Conquistadors | 16th century Spaniards who spread out across America, from Colorado to Argentina, eventually conquering the Aztecs and Incas |
| Capitalism | Economic system characterized by private property, generally free trade, and open and accessible markets; European colonization of America helped them transition to capitalism |
| Encomienda | Spanish government's policy to "commend" or give Indians to certain colonists in return for the promise to Christianize them; part of a broader Spanish effort to subdue Indians |
| Noche Triste | "sad night" when the Aztecs attacked Hernan Cortes and his forces in the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, killing hundreds; Cortes attacked the city the next year causing the fall of the Aztecs and starting three centuries of Spanish rule |
| Mestizos | People of mixed Indian and European heritage, notably in Mexico |
| Battle of Acoma | Battle between Spain under Don Juna de Onate and the Pueblo Indians in present-day New Mexico; Spaniards defeated them and established the territory as New Mexico in 1609 |
| Pope's Rebellion | Pueblo Indian rebellions which drove Spanish settlers from New Mexico (1680) |
| Black Legend | False notion that the Spanish conquerors did little but butcher the Indians and steal their gold in the name of Christ |
| Protestant Reformation | 16th century movement to reform the Catholic Church led by Martin Luther; it questioned the authority of the pope, sought to eliminate the sale of indulgences, and encourage the translation of the Bible; it launched in England with King Henry VIII |
| Roanoke Island | Sir Walter Raleigh's failed colonial settlement off the coast of North Carolina (1585) |
| Spanish Armada | Spanish fleet defeated in English Channel in 1588; defeat of the Armada marked the beginning of the decline of the Spanish Empire |
| Primogeniture | Legal principle that the oldest son inherits all family property or land; landowner's younger sons had to find fortunes elsewhere, pioneered early exploration and settlement of the Americas |
| Joint-stock Company | Short-term partnership between multiple investors to fund a commercial enterprise; funded early England's colonial ventures |
| Charter | Legal document granted by a government to a group to implement a stated purpose and giving their rights and obligations; British colonial charters guaranteed inhabitants the rights of the Englishmen, solidifying colonists ties to Britain |
| Jamestown | First permanent English settlement in North America founded by the Virginia Company |
| First Anglo-Powhatan War | Series of battles between Powhatans and English settlers in Virginia; English colonists burned and pillaged Indian villages, applying tactics from England's campaigns against the Irish |
| Second Anglo-Powhatan War | Last ditch effort by Indians to dislodge Virginian settlements; resulting peace treaty formally separated white and Indian areas of settlement |
| Act of Toleration | Passed in Maryland, guaranteed tolerance to all Christians but decreed the death penalty for those who denied divinity of Jesus; ensured Maryland would continue to attract Catholic migrants |
| Barbados Slave Code | First formal statute governing treatment of slaves which provided for harsh punishments against offending slaves but lacked penalties for mistreatment of slaves |
| Squatters | Frontier farmers who illegally occupied land owned by others or not yet officially opened for settlement; many of North Carolina's early settlers were squatters who contributed to state's reputation as being more independent-minded and democratic |
| Tuscarora War | Began with an Indian attack on North Carolina; after Tuscarora was defeated, remaining Indians migrated northward and eventually joined the Iroquois Confederacy |
| Yamasee Indians | Defeated by the south Carolinians in the war of 1715-1716. The Yamasee defeat devastated the last of the coastal Indian tribes in the Southern colonies |
| Iroquois Confederacy | (late 1500's) Bound together five tribes- Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas- in the Mohawk Valley of what is now New York state |
| Calvinism | Dominant theological credo of the New England Puritans based on the teachings of John Calvin. Calvinists believed in predestination- that only "the elect" were destined for salvation |
| Puritans | English Protestant reformer who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic rituals and creeds. Some of the most devout Puritans believed that only "visible saints" should be admitted to church membership |
| Separatists | Small group of Puritans who sought to break away entirely from the Church of England; after initially settling in Holland, a number of English Separatists made their way to Plymouth Bay, Massachusetts in 1620 |
| Mayflower Compact | (1620) Agreement to form a majoritarian government in Plymouth, signed aboard the Mayflower. Created a foundation for self-government in the colony. |
| Massachusetts Bay Colony | (founded in 1630) Established by non-separating Puritans, it soon grew to be the largest and most influential of the New England colonies |
| Great Migration | (1630-1642) Migration of 70,000 refugees from England to North American colonies, primarily New England and Caribbean. The 20,000 migrants who came to Massachusetts largely shared a common purpose-to establish a model Christian settlement in new world |
| Antinomianism | Belief that the elect need not obey the law of either God or man; most notably espoused in the colonies by Anne Hutchinson |
| Fundamental Orders | (1639) Drafted by settlers in the Connecticut River Valley, document was first “modern constitution” establishing a democratically controlled government. Key features were barred for Connecticut’s colonial charter and later, its state constitution |
| Pequot War | (1636-1638) Series of clashes between English settlers and Pequot Indians in the Connecticut River Valley. Ended in the slaughter of the Pequots by the Puritans in their Narragansett Indian allies |
| King Phillip's War | (1675-1676) Series of assaults by Metacom, King Phillip, on English settlements in New England. The attacks slowed the westward migration of New England settlers for several decades. |
| English Civil War | (1642-1651) Armed conflict between royalists and parliamentarians, resulting in the victory of pro parliament forces and the execution of Charles I |
| Dominion of New England | (1686-89) Administration created by royals, included New England, New York, East/West Jersey. Under Sir Edmund Andrews- popular assemblies, taxing without consent, and enforced navigation laws. Collapse showed colonial opposition to strict royal control |
| Navigation Laws | Series of laws passed, beginning in 1651, to regulate colonial shipping; the axe provided that only English ships would be allowed to trade in English and colonial ports, and that all goods destined for the colonies would first pass through England |
| Glorious/Bloodless Revolution | (1688) Relatively peaceful removal of the unpopular Catholic monarch, James II, replacing him with Dutch born William III and Mary, daughter of James II. William and Mary accepted increased parliamentary oversight and new limits on monarchical authority. |
| Salutary Neglect | (1688-1763) Unofficial policy of relaxed royal control over colonial trade and only weak enforcement of navigation laws. Lasted from the glorious revolution to the end of the French and Indian war in 1763 |
| Patroonships | Vast tracts of land along the Hudson River in new Netherlands granted to wealthy promoters and exchanged for bringing 50 settlers to the property |
| Blue Laws | Also known as sumptuary laws, they are designed to restrict personal behavior in accord with a strict code of morality. Blue laws were passed across the colonies, particularly in puritan New England and Quaker Pennsylvania |
| Indentured Servants | Migrants who, in exchange for transatlantic passage, bound themselves to a colonial employer for a term of service, typically between four and seven years. They are migration addressed the chronic labor shortage in the colonies and facilitated settlement |
| Headright System | Employed in the tobacco colonies to encourage the importation of indentured servants, the system allowed an individual to acquire 50 acres of land if he paid for a laborer's passage to the colony |
| Bacon's Rebellion | (1676) Uprising of Virginia farmers and indentured servants led by Nathaniel Bacon; initially a response to Governor William Berkeley’s refusal to protect settlers from Indians; grew into broader conflict between impoverished settlers and planter elite |
| Royal African Company | English joint-stock company that enjoyed a state-granted monopoly on the colonial slave trade from 1672 until 1698. The supply of slaves to the North American colonies rose sharply once the company lost its monopoly privileges. |
| Middle Passage | Transatlantic voyage slaves endured between Africa and the colonies. Mortality rates were notoriously high. |
| New York Slave Revolt | (1712): Uprising of approximately two dozen slaves that resulted in the deaths of nine whites and the brutal execution of twenty-one participating blacks |
| South Carolina Slave Revolt (Stono River) | (1739): Uprising, also known as the Stono Rebellion, of more than fifty South Carolina blacks along the Stono River. The slaves attempted to reach Spanish Florida but were stopped by the South Carolina militia |
| Congregational Church | Self-governing Puritan congregations without the hierarchical establishment of the Anglican Church |
| Jeremiad | Often-fiery sermons lamenting the waning piety of parishioners first delivered in New England in the mid-seventeenth century; named after the doom-saying Old Testament prophet Jeremiah. |
| Half-Way Covenant | (1662): Agreement allowing unconverted offspring of church members to baptize their children. It signified a waning of religious zeal among second and third generation Puritans |
| Salem Witch Trials | (1692–93): Series of witchcraft trials launched after a group of teen girls in Salem, Massachusetts, claimed to have been bewitched by older women of the town. 20 individuals were killed before the trials were ended by the Governor of Massachusetts. |
| Leisler's Rebellion | (1689–91): Armed conflict between aspiring merchants led by Jacob Leisler and the ruling elite of New York. One of many uprisings that erupted across the colonies when wealthy colonists attempted to recreate European social structures in the New World. |
| Paxton Boys | (1764): Armed march on Philadelphia by Scotts-Irish frontiersmen in protest against the Quaker establishment’s lenient policies toward Native Americans |
| Regulator Movement | (1768–1771): Eventually violent uprising of backcountry settlers in North Carolina against unfair taxation and the control of colonial affairs by the seaboard elite. |
| Triangular Trade | Exchange of rum, slaves, and molasses between the North American Colonies, Africa, and the West Indies. A small but immensely profitable subset of the Atlantic trade |
| Molasses Act | (1737): Tax on imported molasses passed by Parliament in an effort to squelch the North American trade with the French West Indies. It proved largely ineffective due to widespread smuggling. |
| Arminianism | Belief that salvation is offered to all humans but is conditional on ac cep tance of God’s grace. Different from Calvinism, which emphasizes predestination and unconditional election |
| Great Awakening | (1730s and 1740s): Religious revival that swept the colonies. Participating ministers, most notably Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield, placed an emphasis on direct, emotive spirituality. A Second Great Awakening arose in the nineteenth century. |
| Old Lights | Orthodox clergymen who rejected the emotionalism of the Great Awakening in favor of a more rational spirituality |
| New Lights | Ministers who took part in the revivalist, emotive religious tradition pioneered by George Whitefield during the Great Awakening |
| Poor Richard's Almanack | (1732–1758): Widely read annual pamphlet edited by Benjamin Franklin. Best known for its proverbs and aphorisms emphasizing thrift, industry, morality, and common sense. |
| Zenger Trial | New York libel case against John Peter Zenger. Established the principle that truthful statements about public officials could not be prosecuted as libel |
| Royal Colonies | Colonies where governors were appointed directly by the King. Though often competent administrators, the governors frequently ran into trouble with colonial legislatures, which resented the imposition of control from across the Atlantic |
| Proprietary Colonies | Colonies—Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware—under the control of local proprietors, who appointed colonial governors. |
| Huguenots | French Protestant dissenters, the Huguenots were granted limited toleration under the Edict of Nantes. After King Louis XIV outlawed Protestantism in 1685, many Huguenots fled elsewhere, including to British North America. |
| Edict of Nantes | (1598) Decree issued by French granting limited toleration to French Protestants. Ended religious wars in France and started period of French preeminence in Europe and across Atlantic. Its repeal in 1685 prompted migration of Protestant Huguenots to NA |
| Coureurs de Bois | Translated as “runners of the woods,” they were French fur-trappers, also known as “voyageurs” (travelers), who established trading posts throughout North America. Fur trade wreaked havoc on health and folkways of their Native American trading partners |
| Voyageurs | See coureurs de bois: French fur-trappers who established trading posts throughout North America |
| King William's War | (1689–1697): War fought largely between French trappers, British settlers, and their respective Indian allies from 1689–1697. The colonial theater of the larger War of the League of Augsburg in Europe |
| Queen Anne's War | (1702–13): 2nd in series of conflicts between European powers for NA, fought between English and French in North, and English and Spanish in Florida. In the peace treaty, the French ceded Acadia (Nova Scotia), Newfoundland, and Hudson Bay to Britain. |
| War of Jenkin's Ear | (began in 1739): Small-scale clash between Britain and Spain in the Caribbean and in the buffer colony, Georgia. It merged with the much larger War of Austrian Succession in 1742. |
| King George's War | (1744–48): North American theater of Europe’s War of Austrian Succession pitted British colonists against French counterparts in the North. Peace settlement didn't involve territorial change; led to conflict between New England settlers and British govt. |
| Acadians | French residents of Nova Scotia, many of whom were uprooted by the British in 1755 and scattered as far south as Louisiana, where their descendants became known as “Cajuns.” |
| French and Indian War (7 Year's War) | (1754–1763): Nine-year war between the British and the French in North America. It resulted in the expulsion of the French from the North American mainland and helped spark the Seven Years’ War in Europe |
| Albany Congress | (1754): Intercolonial congress summoned by the British government to foster greater colonial unity and assure Iroquois support in the escalating war against the French |
| Regulars | Trained professional soldiers, as distinct from militia or conscripts. During the French and Indian War, British generals, used to commanding experienced regulars, often showed contempt for ill-trained colonial militiamen |
| Battle of Quebec | (1759): Historic British victory over French forces on the outskirts of Québec. The surrender of Québec marked the beginning of the end of French rule in North America. |
| Pontiac's Uprising | (1763): Bloody campaign waged by Ottawa chief Pontiac to drive the British out of Ohio Country. It was brutally crushed by British troops, who resorted to distributing blankets infected with smallpox as a means to put down the rebellion |
| Proclamation of 1763 | Decree issued by Parliament in the wake of Pontiac’s uprising, prohibiting settlement beyond the Appalachians. Contributed to rising resentment of British rule in the American colonies |
| Republicanism | Political theory of representative government, based on principle of popular sovereignty, with a strong emphasis on liberty and civic virtue. Influential in 18th-century American political thought, it stood as an alternative to monarchical rule. |
| Radical Whigs | 18th-century British political commentators who agitated against political corruption and emphasized threat to liberty posed by arbitrary power. Their writings shaped American political thought and made colonists alert to encroachments on their rights |
| Mercantalism | Economic theory that closely linked a nation’s political and military power to its bullion reserves. Mercantilists generally favored protectionism and colonial acquisition as means to increase exports. |
| Sugar Act | (1764): Duty on imported sugar from the West Indies. It was the first tax levied on the colonists by the crown and was lowered substantially in response to widespread protests |
| Quartering Act | (1765): Required colonies to provide food and quarters for British troops. Many colonists resented the act, which they perceived as an encroachment on their rights. |
| Stamp Tax | (1765) Unpopular tax on paper goods, repealed in 1766 after mass protests in colonies. Colonists developed “no taxation without representation” which questioned Parliament’s authority over colonies and laid foundation for future revolutionary claims. |
| Admiralty Courts | Used to try offenders for violating the Navigation Acts passed by the crown after the French and Indian War. Colonists argued that the courts encroached on their rights as Englishmen since they lacked juries and placed the burden of proof on the accused. |
| Stamp Act Congress | (1765): Assembly of delegates from nine colonies who met in New York City to draft a petition for the repeal of the Stamp Act. Helped ease sectional suspicions and promote intercolonial unity |
| Nonimportation Agreements | (1765 and after): Boycotts against British goods adopted in response to the Stamp Act and, later, the Townshend and Intolerable Acts. The agreements were the most effective form of protest against British policies in the colonies. |
| Sons of Liberty | Patriotic groups that played a central role in agitating against the Stamp Act and enforcing non-importation agreements. |
| Daughters of Liberty | Patriotic groups that played a central role in agitating against the Stamp Act and enforcing non-importation agreements |
| Declaratory Act | (1766): Passed alongside the repeal of the Stamp Act, it reaffirmed Parliament’s unqualified sovereignty over the North American colonies. |
| Townshend Acts | (1767): External, or indirect, levies on glass, white lead, paper, paint and tea, the proceeds of which were used to pay colonial governors, who had previously been paid directly by colonial assemblies. Sparked another round of protests in the colonies. |
| Boston Massacre | (1770): Clash between unruly Bostonian protestors and locally-stationed British redcoats, who fired on the jeering crowd, killing or wounding eleven citizens. |
| Committees of Correspondence | (1772 and after): Local committees established across Massachusetts, and later in each of the thirteen colonies, to maintain colonial opposition to British policies through the exchange of letters and pamphlets |
| Boston Tea Party | (1773): Rowdy protest against the British East India Company’s newly acquired monopoly on the tea trade. Colonists, disguised as Indians, dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston harbor, prompting harsh sanctions from the British Parliament. |
| Intolerable Acts | (1774) Measures passed in retaliation for Boston Tea Party, closed Boston Port, revoked rights in MA colonial charter, and expanded Quartering Act for lodging of soldiers in private homes. Led to 1st Continental Congress and boycott of British goods |
| Quebec Act | (1774) Allowed French residents of Québec to retain traditional political and religious institutions, and extended boundaries of province south to Ohio River. Mistakenly perceived by colonists to be part of Parliament’s response to Boston Tea Party. |
| First Continental Congress | (1774): Convention of delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies that convened in Philadelphia to craft a response to the Intolerable Acts. Delegates established Association, which called for a complete boycott of British goods |
| The Association | (1774): Non-importation agreement crafted during the First Continental Congress calling for the complete boycott of British goods. |
| Battle of Lexington and Concord | (April 1775): First battles of the Revolutionary War, fought outside of Boston. The colonial militia successfully defended their stores of munitions, forcing the British to retreat to Boston. |
| Valley Forge | (1777–78) Encampment where George Washington’s poorly-equipped army spent a freezing winter. Hundreds died and 1000+ deserted. The plight of starving, shivering soldiers reflected main weakness of the American army—lack of stable supplies and ammunitions. |
| Second Continental Congress | (1775–1781): Representative body of delegates from all thirteen colonies. Drafted the Declaration of Independence and managed the colonial war effort. |
| Battle of Bunker Hill | (June 1775): Fought on the outskirts of Boston, on Breed’s Hill, the battle ended in the colonial militia’s retreat, though at a heavy cost to the British. |
| Olive Branch Petition | (July 1775): Conciliatory measure adopted by the Continental Congress, professing American loyalty and seeking an end to the hostilities. King George rejected the petition and proclaimed the colonies in rebellion. |
| Hessians | German troops hired from their princes by George III to aid in putting down the colonial insurrection. This hardened the resolve of American colonists, who resented the use of paid foreign fighters. |
| Common Sense | (1776): Thomas Paine’s pamphlet urging the colonies to declare independence and establish a republican government. The widely-read pamphlet helped convince colonists to support the Revolution. |
| Declaration of Independence | (July 4, 1776): Formal pronouncement of independence drafted by Thomas Jefferson and approved by Congress. The declaration allowed Americans to appeal for foreign aid and served as an inspiration for later revolutionary movements worldwide |
| Declaration of the Rights of Man | (1789): Declaration of rights adopted during the French Revolution. Modeled after the American Declaration of Independence |
| Loyalists | American colonists who opposed the Revolution and maintained their loyalty to the King; sometimes referred to as “Tories.” |
| Patriots | colonists who supported the American Revolution; they were also known as “Whigs.” |
| Battle of Long Island | (August 1776): Battle for the control of New York. British troops overwhelmed the colonial militias and retained control of the city for most of the war |
| Battle of Trenton | (December 1776): George Washington surprised and captured a garrison of sleeping German Hessians, raising the morale of his crestfallen army and setting the stage for his victory at Princeton a week later |
| Battle of Saratoga | (October 1777): Decisive colonial victory in upstate New York, which helped secure French support for the Revolutionary cause |
| Model Treaty | (1776): Sample treaty drafted by the Continental Congress as a guide for American diplomats. Reflected the Americans’ desire to foster commercial partnerships rather than political or military entanglements. |
| Armed Neutrality | (1780): Loose alliance of nonbelligerent naval powers, organized by Russia’s Catherine the Great, to protect neutral trading rights during the war for American independence. |
| Treaty of Fort Stanwix | (1784): Treaty signed by the United States and the pro-British Iroquois granting Ohio country to the Americans. |
| Privateers | Privately owned armed ships authorized by Congress to prey on enemy shipping during the Revolutionary War. Privateers, more numerous than the tiny American Navy, inflicted heavy damages on British shippers. |
| Battle of Yorktown | (October 1781) George Washington, with aid of French Army, besieged Cornwallis at Yorktown, while French navy prevented British reinforcements from coming ashore. Cornwallis surrendered, dealing heavy blow to British war effort and led to eventual peace |
| Treaty of Paris | (1783): Peace treaty signed by Britain and US ending Revolutionary War. British formally recognized American independence and ceded territory east of Mississippi while Americans promised to restore Loyalist property and repay debts to British creditors |
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