APUSH Unit 1 Vocabulary
Term / Definition / Historical Context (How does this term fit into the time period?) and Significance (What is the big picture? Cause/Effect? Long-term implications?)Triangular Trade/ Middle Passage / The commerce pattern between Europe, west coast of Africa, and the New World colonies. The first leg of the Triangle started as slave ships, loaded down with goods like iron, brandy, weapons, and gunpowder, sailed from Europe to the west coast of Africa where they traded for slaves. The second leg, the Middle Passage, was the shipment of these slaves to the New World colonies where they would be sold and go through a 'breaking-in' process of two to three years in plantation work in the Caribbean or Central or South America (called seasoning the slaves). The final leg of the journey was back to Europe, with goods produced in the Americas: sugar, cotton, tobacco, rum, and molasses. Slave ships could make three or four voyages of the Triangle per year.
Colombian Exchange / Starting point is 1492 - term used to describe the flow of ideas, people, plants animals, technology, and disease that took place because of Columbus' discovery of the New World.
Age of Exploration / The period from 1400 to 1600 when Europeans traveled over the world searching for goods, raw materials, land, power, and new trading partners. Based on the economic theory of mercantilism.
Puritans / The Puritans were non-separatists who wished to adopt reforms to purify the Church of England. They received a right to settle in the Massachusetts Bay area from the King of England. Many Puritans emigrated fromEngland to America in the 1630s and 1640s. During this time, the population of the Massachusetts Bay colony grew to ten times its earlier population.
William Bradford / A Pilgrim, the second governor of the Plymouth colony, 1621-1657. He developed private land ownership and helped colonists get out of debt. He helped the colony survive droughts, crop failures, and Indian attacks.
John Winthrop / He became the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay colony, and served in that capacity from 1630 through 1649. A Puritan with strong religious beliefs. He opposed total democracy, believing the colony was best governed by a small group of skillful leaders. He helped organize the New England Confederation in 1643 and served as its first president.
Pilgrims / The Pilgrims were separatists who believed that the Church of England could not be reformed. Separatist groups were illegal in England, so the Pilgrims fled to America and settled in Plymouth.
Mayflower Compact / 1620 - The first agreement for self-government in America. It was signed by the 41 men on the Mayflower and set up a government for the Plymouth colony.
Anne Hutchinson / Known for Antinomianism;
She preached the idea that God communicated directly to individuals instead of through the church elders. She was forced to leave Massachusetts in 1637. She traveled to Rhode Island and later died in New York colony. Her followers (the Antinomianists) founded the colony of New Hampshire in 1639.
Roger Williams / He was banished from the Massachusetts colony and purchased the land from a neighboring Indian tribe to found the colony of Rhode Island. He believed in separation of church and state. Rhode Island was the only colony at that time to offer complete religious freedom.
John Smith / Helped found and govern Jamestown. His leadership and strict discipline helped the Virginia colony get through the difficult first winter.
John Rolfe saved the economy of the colony. He was one of the English settlers at Jamestown (and he married Pocahontas). He discovered how to successfully grow tobacco in Virginia and cure it for export, which made Virginia an economically successful colony
William Penn / William Penn received a land grant from King Charles II, and used it to form a colony that would provide a haven for Quakers. His colony, Pennsylvania, allowed religious freedom. William Penn allowed anyone to emigrate to Pennsylvania, in order to provide a haven for persecuted religions. William Penn’s term for the government of Pennsylvania, the Holy Experiment, was supposed to serve everyone and provide freedom for all.
Quakers / Settled in Pennsylvania; pacifists; relative equality for women; no “saints”, anyone could speak in the church services
Lord Baltimore / Founded Maryland as a haven for Catholics
Duke of York / Founded New York; wanted to rid North American of the Dutch presence
New England, Middle, Southern colonies / New England colonies were Puritan colonies. They were self-governed, with each town having its own government ,which led the people in strict accordance with Puritan beliefs. Only those members of the congregation who had achieved grace and were full church members (called the "elect," or "saints") could vote and hold public office. Other colonies had different styles of government and were more open to different beliefs. They lost their charters and fell under royal control when England tightened control and established the Dominion of New England. The British government combined the colonies of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Connecticut into a single province headed by a royal governor (Andros). The Dominion ended in 1692, when the colonists revolted and drove out Governor Andros.
Middle: Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. European ethnic groups as manifold as English, Swedes, Dutch, Germans, Scots-Irish and French lived in closer proximity than in any location on continental Europe. The middle colonies contained Native American tribes of Algonkian and Iroquois language groups as well as a sizable percentage of African slaves during the early years. Ethnically diverse; contained Native American tribes of Algonkian and Iroquois language groups as well as a sizable percentage of African slaves during the early years. Also, diverse religions. Important trade center due to geographic location.
Southern: Based on cash crops; plantation system evolved; diverse ethnically and in religious matters; population was not as dense. Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia; Virginia was most successful due to tobacco as cash crop (John Rolfe developed a hybrid tobacco.) Because of the cash crop dependency, a large labor source was required; indentured servants and slaves provided the labor source.
Separation of church and state / A concept that led to the First Amendment right of religious freedom; Roger Williams believed in this and was banished for his belief.
House of Burgesses / 1619 - The Virginia House of Burgesses formed, the first legislative body in colonial America. Later other colonies would adopt houses of burgesses.
The Enlightenment in America / Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson are examples; The Enlightenment challenged the role of religion and divine right; helped lead to the American Revolution; led to a scientific approach to the world and human nature. John Locke’s ideas inspired Americans. Locke was an English political philosopher whose ideas inspired the American revolution. He wrote that all human beings have a right to life, liberty, and property, and that governments exist to protect those rights. He believed that government was based upon an unwritten "social contract" between the rulers and their people, and if the government failed to uphold its end of the contract, the people had a right to rebel and institute a new government
Navigation Acts / 1650, 1660, 1663, and 1696
British regulations designed to protect British shipping from competition. Said that British colonies could only import goods if they were shipped on British-owned vessels and at least 3/4 of the crew of the ship were British.
First Great Awakening / (1739-1744)
Puritanism had declined by the 1730s, and people were upset about the decline in religious piety. The Great Awakening was a sudden outbreak of religious fervor that swept through the colonies. One of the first events to unify the colonies
Jonathan Edwards / Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, a Careful and Strict Inquiry Into...That Freedom of Will
Part of the Great Awakening, Edwards gave gripping sermons about sin and the torments of Hell.
Salem Witch Trials / Several accusations of witchcraft led to sensational trials in Salem, Massachusetts at which Cotton Mather presided as the chief judge. 18 people were hanged as witches.
French and Indian War, 1754-1763 / Part of the Seven Years’ War in Europe. Britain and France fought for control of the Ohio Valley and Canada. The Algonquins, who feared British expansion into the Ohio Valley, allied with the French. The Mohawks also fought for the French while the rest of the Iroquois Nation allied with the British. The colonies fought under British commanders. Britain eventually won, and gained control of all of the remaining French possessions in Canada, as well as India. Spain, which had allied with France, ceeded Florida to Britain, but received Louisana in return.
It was during this time that Benjamin Franklin proposed the Albany Plan of Union. It was rejected because colonies feared central control; however, the idea was used to coordinate the colonies against the British.
Treaty of Paris, 1763 / Treaty between Britain, France, and Spain, which ended the Seven Years War (and the French and Indian War). France lost Canada, the land east of the Mississippi, some Caribbean islands and India to Britain. France also gave New Orleans and the land west of the Mississippi to Spain, to compensate it for ceding Florida to the British.
Pontiac’s Rebellion / 1763 - An Indian uprising after the French and Indian War, led by an Ottowa chief named Pontiac. They opposed British expansion into the western Ohio Valley and began destroying British forts in the area. The attacks ended when Pontiac was killed.