AP United States History Vocabulary

encomienda system

King of Spain gives grants of lands and natives to individual Spaniards; natives had to farm or work in the mines, while the products went to their masters who had to "care" for them in turn

asiento system

Spanish brought slaves from West Africa, but they had to pay a tax to their king for each one

Adena-Hopewell

Native American culture centered in Ohio and famous for the large earthen mounds at settlements such as Cahokia

Hokokam, Anasazi, and Pueblos

Three Native American groups that evolved in New Mexico and set-up multifaceted societies supported by farming with irrigation

Mayas

Civilization on the Yucatán Peninsula from 300 - 800 AD

Incas

Vast empire developed in Peru across South America

Aztecs

Empire in Mexico and Central America with the capital Tenochtitlán

conquistadores

Spanish explorers and conquerors

Hernan Cortés

Conquistador that conquered the Aztecs in Mexico

Francisco Pizarro

Conquistador that conquered the Incas in Peru

New Laws of 1542

Spanish laws that ended native slavery, forced native labor, and the encomienda system (repealed by conservative Spaniards)

Roanoke Island

Settlement by Sir Walter Raleigh that failed in 1587

compass

Invention adopted from Arab merchants who learned about it from the Chinese

printing press

Invention in the 1450s that aided the spread of knowledge across Europe

Ferdinand and Isabella

Monarchs of Spain that outfitted Columbus’s ships and made him governor, admiral, and viceroy of all lands that he would claim for Spain

Protestant Reformation

Revolt of Christians in Germany, England, France, Holland, and northern Europe against the pope in Rome

Henry the Navigator

Prince of Portugal that opened up the sea route around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope

Christopher Columbus

Conquistador who ‘discovered’ America for Spain

Treaty of Tordesillas

1494 agreement between Spain and Portugal moving the previous line of demarcation west, giving Portugal Brazil and Spain the rest of the Americas (until the rest of Europe challenged this claim)

nation-state

Countries in which the majority of peoople shared both a common culture and common loyalty toward a central government

Algonquian

American Indian language in the Northeast

Siouan

American Indian language in the Great Plains

Iroquois Confederation

Political union of five independent tribes who lived in the Mohawk Valley of New York

longhouses

Buildings where multiple families related through a mother lived together

John Cabot

Italian sea captain who sailed under contract to King Henry VII and explored Newfoundland in 1497

Jacques Cartier

French explorer who explored the St. Lawrence River from 1534 - 1542

Samuel de Champlain

French explorer who established the first permanent French settlement in America at Quebec in 1608; known as the Father of New France

Henry Hudson

English sailor who sought westward passage to Asia for the Dutch by exploring the Hudson River and establishing Dutch claims to the surrounding area (New Amsterdam)

Bartolomé de Las Casas

Spanish priest who advocated for better treatment for Indians and persuaded the king to institute the New Laws of 1542

Valladolid Debate

Debate over the role of American Indians in the Spanish colonies with no clear winner

Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda

Spanish priest who believed that American Indians were less than human and benefitted from serving the Spaniards

Cecil Calvert

Second Lord of Baltimore who adopted the Act of Toleration in Maryland after his father’s (George Calvert’s) death

Act of Toleration (1649)

First colonial statute granting religious freedom to all Christians, but calling for the death of anyone who denied the divinity of Jesus (repealed after the Protestant Revolt)

Roger Williams

Puritan minister banished from the Massachusetts Bay colony who founded Providence in 1636 and also one of the first Baptist churches in America

Providence

New colony that recognized the rights of American Indians and paid them for the use of their land and allowed Catholics, Quakers, and Jews to worship freely

Anne Hutchinson

Puritan dissident banished from the Massachusetts Bay colony who founded Portsmouth in 1638

antinomianism

The idea that faith alone, not deeds, are necessary for salvation

Rhode Island

Colony that combined Providence and Portsmouth in 1644 with a charter from Parliament granted to Roger Williams; tolerated diverse beliefs

Halfway covenant

Allowed people to become partial members even if they have not felt a conversion (profound religious experience)

Quakers

Peace-loving Christian sect (Religious Society of Friends) that believed in the equality of all men and women, nonviolence, resistance to military service, and that religious authority is found within each person’s soul and not in the Bible

William Penn

Young convert to the Quaker faith that was granted land for Pennsylvania in 1681 by the royal family who owed his father a large debt

Holy Experiment

Term for Pennsylvania, where Penn attempted to provide a religious refuge for Quakers and other persecuted people, to enact liberal ideas in government, and to generate income and profits for himself

Charter of Liberties

Written constitution for Pennsylvania written in 1701, which guaranteed freedom of worship for all and unrestricted immigration

Jamestown

First permanent English colony in America founded 1607 by the Virginia Company

Captain John Smith

First leader of Jamestown who got the colony through its first five years, who decreed that those that didn’t work to hunt or farm would not eat (couldn’t just hunt for gold)

John Rolfe

Second leader of Jamestown that helped the colony survive by developing a new variety of tobacco to serve as a cash crop; husband of Pocahontas

Pocahontas

Wife of John Rolfe who helped smooth over relations with the local natives and facilitate trade to keep Jamestown alive

Puritans

Moderate dissenters who believed that the Church of England could be reformed (founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony with a royal charter from King Charles I)

Separatists

Radical dissenters from the Church of England who wanted to organize a separate church independent of royal control

Pilgrims

Group of Separatists who left England for Holland and then America in search of religious freedom (established Plymouth after setting sail for Virginia on the Mayflower)

Mayflower

Ship that the Pilgrims set out for Virginia in that got blown north in a stormy voyage, leading to the establishment of a new colony at Plymouth

Plymouth Colony

Colony established by the Pilgrims after the Mayflower was blown north from Virginia (with the help of Native Americans)

John Winthrop

Leader of a thousand Puritans who founded Boston and other towns in Massachusetts

Great Migration

Mass migration of approximately 15,000 settlers to Massachusetts in the 1630s because of a civil war in England

Virginia

England’s first royal colony (previously Jamestown)

Thomas Hooker

Reverend who led Boston Puritans to found Hartford in 1636 in the Connecticut River Valley

John Davenport

Founded New Haven in 1637 in the Connecticut River Valley

Connecticut

Colony formed from New Haven and Hartford in 1665 with a royal charter that granded a limited degree of self-government

New Hampshire

Colony separated from Massachusetts Bay in 1679 and made a royal colony by King Charles II

The Carolinas

Two royal colonies formed in 1729 from a grant of land given to eight nobles (lord proprietors) in 1663 by King Charles II

New York

Land granted to the Duke of York in 1664 after being taken from the Dutch (Dutch settlers treated well and allowed their own religion and language)

New Jersey

Colony split from New York in 1664, land granted to Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret as East and West New Jersey (combined into one royal colony in 1702)

Pennsylvania

Colony established by a Quaker named William Penn, who was given the land in 1681 because of the royal family’s debt to his father (established to provide a religous refuge for Quakers and other persecuted people, enact liberal ideas in government, and generate income)

Delaware

Lower three countries of Pennsylvania granted their own assembly in 1702 (shared Pennsylvania’s governor until the American Revolution)

Georgia

Colony chartered in 1732 (the only English colony that received direct financial support from London) to create a defensive buffer to protect South Carolina from Spanish Florida and a penal colony for debtors overcrowding English jails

James Oglethorpe

Founder of Georgia’s first settlement (Savannah) in 1733 and Georgia’s first governor, who implemented strict bans on drinking rum and slavery (gave up his plan in 1752)

Wampanoags

Tribe that conflicted most with the New England colonists

Metacom

Chief of the Wampanoags who united many of the tribes in southern New England against the English settlers

King Philip’s War

From 1675 - 1676, a vicious war between the Wampanoags and New England colonists left thousands on both sides dead before colonial forces killed Metacom (King Philip)

Mayflower Compact

Document signed by the Pilgrims in 1620 pledging to make decisions by the will of the majority

Virginia House of Burgesses

First representative assembly in America organized in 1619

Sir William Berkeley

Royal governor of Virginia from 1641 - 1652 who used dictatorial powers to help the large planters, but antagonized small farmers because he didn’t protect them from native attacks (governor during Bacon’s Rebellion)

Bacon’s Rebellion

Nathaniel Bacon, an impoverished gentleman farmer, led a rebellion against Sir William Berkeley’s government because he resented the control by large planters. After conducting raids and massacres on native villages, Bacon also defeated the governor’s forces, burning Jamestown. After Bacon died of dysentery, the rebellion was repressed and 23 rebels were executed

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

First written constitution in American history, which established a representative government with a legislature elected by popular vote and a governor chosen by that legislature

New England Confederation

Military alliance between four New England colonies from 1643 - 1684 with a board composed of two representatives from each colony and limited powers to act on boundary disputes, the return of runaway servants, and dealings with natives

Frame of Government

Document guaranteeing Pennsylvania a representative assembly elected by landowners

corporate colonies

Colonies operated by joint-stock companies

royal colonies

Colonies under the direct authority and rule of the king’s government

proprietary colonies

Colonies under the authority of individuals granted charters of ownership by the king

Chesapeake colonies

Virginia and Maryland colonies divided by King Charles I in 1632

joint-stock company

Company that pooled the savings of many investors in order to spread the risk of founding colonies

Virginia Company

Joint-stock company that founded Jamestown in 1607

mercantilism

Economic policy where governments regulated trade and production to become self-sufficient (colonies existed only to enrich the parent country)

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