APUSH Period 1 and 2 (1491-1754): Exploration, New World, Cultural Interactions, and Colonization
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1450
Caraval is developed
The Portuguese developed the caravel in 1450 which overcame the problem of the prevailing winds keeping the Europeans from sailing southward -
1492
Columbus lands in the West Indies
Columbus persuaded the Spanish monarchs to outfit him with three ships which he used to head westward. Seeking a new wateroute, Columbus had bumped into new continents and was certain he reached the “Indies". Columbus’s discovery convulsed four continents (Europe, Africa, and the two Americas) The New World provided raw materials and resources (metal, soil) for the cultivation of sugarcane and the Europeans provided the technology -
Period: 1492 to
Columbian Exchange
In exchange for the crops from the Native Americans, Europeans introduced them with animals such as horses which transformed the Indian cultures into highly mobile, hunter societies. Columbus also brought sugar cane which thrived in the Caribbean climate (started a “sugar revolution” which forced millions of Africans into slave labor)
Illness was brought into the New World from Europe and Africa causing a rapid decrease in Native American population -
1494
Treaty of Tordesillas
A treaty signed used to divide the “heathen lands” of the New World between Portugal and Spain -
1497
John Cabot cross the Atlantic
Henry VII of England commissioned Giovanni Cabato (John Cabot) to search for a sea route in India leading to the crossing of the Atlantic -
Period: 1500 to
African Diaspora
The vast scattering of African people throughout the New World to work as slaves -
1501
Vespucci sights America
Amerigo Vespucci (Spanish) sighted the northeastern shore of South America in a search of a passage to the East -
1523
Giovanni de Verrazano explores North America
Giovanni da Verrazano (French) charted the entire Atlantic coastline of North America -
1530
Puritans form
After Henry VIII broke ties with the Roman Catholic Church in the 1530s, a total purification of English Christianity occurred (Puritans)
Puritans grew unhappy with the slow progress of the Protestant Reformation and wanted to see the C of E de-catholicized. Many Puritans believed that only “visible saints” should be admitted to Church membership, but the Church of England enrolled all the king’s subjects. This group of Puritans vowed to break away from the Church of England. (Separatists) -
Period: to
Triangular Trade
used to refer to the trade in the 18th and 19th centuries that involved shipping goods from Britain to West Africa to be exchanged for slaves, these slaves being shipped to the West Indies and exchanged for sugar, rum, and other commodities which were in turn shipped back to Britain. -
Virginia Company
The Virginia Company was an English trading company chartered by King James I on 10 April 1606, with the object of colonizing the eastern coast of America. (joint stock company) -
Powhatan Confederacy
Alliance of Native American tribes living in the region of the initial Virginia settlement. Powhatan, leader of this alliance, tried to live in peace with the English settlers when they arrived in 1607. -
Pilgrims arrive in America
congregation of Separatists departed for Holland in 1608. They longed to find a haven where they could live as purified protestants.
The separatists secured rights to settle under the Virginia Company’s jurisdiction, but the Mayflower missed its destination and arrived on the coast of New England.
The Pilgrims chose their site on the shore of Plymouth Bay and became squatters. (without legal right to the land) -
Tobacco rush in Virginia
Many colonists pressed settlement up river valleys to the west, edging against the Indians territory (Virginia began to prosper when people started their own farms)
Tobacco played a vital role in putting the colony on firm economic foundations and promoted the plantation system which had a demand for fresh labor (slaves) -
Period: to
Anglo-Powhatan War
Series of wars between the English and Chesapeake Indians, led to the marriage between Rolfe and Pocahontas; Indians failed to dislodge English; were barred from lands. -
The Headright system
employed by Virginia and Maryland, under its terms, whoever paid the passage of a laborer received the right to acquire fifty acres of land. -
House of Burgess
The Virginia House of Burgesses formed, the first legislative body in colonial America. Later other colonies would adopt houses of burgesses. -
Mayflower Compact
Signed by the Pilgrim leaders. An agreement to form a crude government and to submit to the will of the majority under the regulations agreed upon. Promised step to self government (open-discussion town meetings) -
Massasoit treaty
the Wampanoag Indians befriended the settlers and their chief Massasoit signed a treaty with the Pilgrims in 1621 (first Thanksgiving) -
Dutch West and East Indian Companies
maintained enterprises in the Caribbean, established outposts in Africa, and a sugar industry in Brazil -
House of Burgess
The Virginia Company authorized an assembly of the settlers called the House of Burgess (representative government)
James I distrusted the House of Burgess and in 1624, made Virginia a royal colony directly under his control -
Massachusetts Bay Company
A group of wealthy Puritans who were granted a royal charter in 1629 to settle in Massachusetts Bay (joint-stock company) -
Great Migration
Turmoil in England caused the Great Migration of the 1630’s- seventy thousand refugees left England (20,000 came to Massachusetts) -
Maryland is founded
Founded in 1634 by Lord Baltimore (plantation colony). He planned to reap financial profits and create a refuge for Catholics (protestant England was persecuting Roman Catholics). Colonists only proved willing to come if they were offered land of their own. From there they dispersed around the Chesapeake area starting farms -
Pequot Wars
As English settlers moved further west into Indian territory, war broke out between the English settlers and the Pequot village in 1637. (the Pequots were annihilated) -
Fundamental Orders
a document drafted by the new Connecticut settlers that established a government democratically controlled by the citizens -
New England Confederation
Weak union of colonies in MA and CT led by Puritans for the purposes of defense and organization; an early attempt at self-government during the benign neglect of the English Civil War -
Act of Toleration
The Protestants threatened to place severe restrictions on the Catholics and the Catholics threw their support behind the Act of Toleration- granted toleration to all Christians. The Act of Toleration decreed the death penalty for those like Jews and atheists -
England claims the West Indies
With Spain weakened by military over extension, the English had laid claim on several West Indian islands (1655). Sugar was planted in the Caribbean and required a lot of land and labor so only wealthy growers with abundant capital could succeed in sugar -
Navigation Laws
Series of laws passed to regulate colonial shipping; the acts 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 (mercantilism) -
Barbados Slave Code
To control slaves, English authorities devised codes that described slaves’ legal status. The Barbados slave code of 1661 gave masters complete control over their laborers -
Slave Codes
Beginning in Virginia in 1662, “slave codes” made blacks and their children the property (or “chattels”) for life of their white masters. Not even conversion to Christianity could qualify a slave for freedom. By the end of the seventeenth century, racial discrimination molded the American slave system -
Carolina founded
Carolina, named after Charles II, was created in 1670. The founders hoped to grow foodstuffs to provision the sugar plantations in Barbados to export non-English products like wine, silk, and olive oil -
King Philip's War
Massasoit's son, Metacom (King Philip), forged an alliance with other tribes and forced the English back into Boston after taking Native land with a series of assaults (King Philip's War). Inflicted a lasting defeat on New England's Indians as many more died than the English -
Bacon's Rebellion
A rebellion lead by Nathaniel Bacon with back country farmers and indentured servants to attack Native Americans in an attempt to gain more land (proved that indentured servants were to hard to manage) -
Pueblo Revolt
Native American revolt against the Spanish in late 17th century; expelled the Spanish for over 10 years; Spain began to take an accommodating approach to Natives after the revolt -
Pennsylvania is formed
Quaker William Penn secured a grant of fertile land from the king in 1681 where he hoped to experiment with liberal ideas and make profit (Pennsylvania). Penn welcomed substantial citizens and his liberal land policy, which encouraged substantial holdings, attracted immigrants. Practiced racial equality and religious freedom. -
Period: to
The Enlightenment
A movement in the 18th century that advocated the use of reason in the reappraisal of accepted ideas and social institutions.
- freedom of speech, equality, freedom of press, and religious tolerance, freedom of assembly, and representative government -
Dominion of New England (Glorious Revolution)
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. (Glorious Revolution) -
Tuscarora War
Carolinas, Tuscarora Indians tire of British abuse and rise up but are put down by the British (with the help of the Cherokee Indians). Many of the Tuscarora are later used as slaves. -
Period: to
The Great Awakening
Religious revival in the American colonies of the eighteenth century during which a number of new Protestant churches were established. -
Georgia is founded, Molasses Act
Georgia: Founded in 1733, Georgia was intended to serve chiefly as a buffer (It would protect the Carolinas against the Spanish and French) (Used in many wars between Spain and England) Molasses Act: British Parliament passed the Molasses Act, aimed at squelching North American trade with the French West Indies - Americans responded by bribing and smuggling their way around the law and would revolt rather than to submit to Parliament