This is a APUSH (AP US History) review guide that I made prior to my AP exam during the school year. It has important events and dates and all the topics are listed in order regarding units. It has extra information about presidents and a little bit of a timeline.
Overview of the Units
Unit 1: Collision of Cultures
Big Ideas
1. Native American Populations in the Americas were diverse peoples with differing
ways of life shaped by the environment in which they lived.
2. Europeans came to the Americas for Various Reasons
a. Portugal —> Spain
3. The Columbian Exchange resulted in Massive changes in Europe and the Americas.
a. Expanded diets —-> better life spans
b. Horses
c. Diseases
i. Smallpox
d. Minerals
i. Feudalism —-> Capitalism
ii. Exploration—-> Joint Stock Companies
4. The arrival of Spanish fundamentally changed the social and economic makeup of
the Americas
a. Encomienda System
b. Increased demand for African Slavery
c. Established Caste System
i. Impose social hierarchy
5. As a result of their interactions with each other, Europeans and Native Americans'
understanding of each other changed over time.
a. Land Use
b. Family
c. Religion
d. They did adopt each other and led to the debate between the proper behavior
i. Native Americans were less than humans and benefited from the
harsh labor conditions
ii. Dignity of the Natives as human beings
6. The Spanish, Dutch(New Amsterdam), French(Quebec), and English projects of
colonization were motivated by different goals
a. Inflation for Britain and the Enclosure Movement began
i. Puritans and Separatists
7. The British colonies in North America differed from each other in their goals,
population makeup, and society.
a. Chesapeake
i. Jamestown: Wealth extraction
, 1. Bacon's Rebellion
2. Tobacco
b. New England
i. Puritans = Separatists
ii. Economic prosperity and religion
c. British West Indies
i. Crops because of warm weather
ii. Cash crop economies to export
iii. Spike of goods lead to increased African Labors
d. New York and New Jersey: Middle Colonies
i. Trade hubs
ii. More diversity attraction
e. Self governing because of the Distance
i. Mayflower Compact
ii. House of Bourgeois
8. What kept colonization viable was the great wealth being generated by the
transatlantic trade.
a. Mercantilism kept it going
9. As European colonies became more established, European powers maintained
differing policies and their interactions with Native American peoples, which often
led to conflict.
a. Metacom's War
b. Pueblo Revolt
10. All British colonies depended more or less on enslaved African laborers, but some
enslaved people actively rebelled against the system.
a. Chattel Slavery
b. Covert (under radar)
i. Maintained their belief system
ii. The Stono Rebellion
11. Colonial society both resembled English Society and developed its own character
a. Enlightenment
b. Social Contract
c. Layer the foundation for the First Great Awakening
i. National identity forms
12. British colonial policies led to an increasing mistrust in the American colonies.
a. Impressment
i. Riots
b. Colonists start realizing their own natural rights and they are getting tired.
● Organized into diverse cultures
● America before European Colonization
, ○ North , East, and NE
■ Bigger empires and practiced mercantilism, like the Aztecs, Incas, and the
Mayans
○ South and Central
■ Smaller empires and thought the North part was tyrannical. They mostly
relied on agriculture and specifically, tribes like the Nomadic Tribes in
The Great Plains, followed Buffalo herds.
● Exploration
○ General Reasons
■ God, Glory, Gold
■ Bubonic Plague
○ Spain
■ They were the first to colonize
● Ferdinand and Isabella were the Spain Monarchs
● Built systems to extend their market and joined the Portuguese in
their attempt at finding another route to Asia through the atlantic.
● Their primary motive was to increase their wealth and spread
Christianity which became known as the Catholic Missions.
● They practiced the Encomienda System
● The Conquistadors
○ English
■ Many English people came for exploration because they were seeking
religious freedom.
■ In Great Britain, King Henry made a separate religion that was Anglican
which allowed for divorce.
■ There was the enclosure movement that kicked people out of their lands.
■ The Metacom War
○ French
■ They primarily had peaceful relationships with the Natives.
■ They mostly focused on trade and most importantly the trading of fur.
■ Established Quebec
■ They even intermarried with the Native Women to secure their position in
trade.
○ The Dutch: also seeking water based passage ways
■ 1624- found New Amsterdam
○ Columbian Exchange
■ There was a great exchange of resources between Europe, Latin America,
and the American continent.
, ■ Fundamentally transformed societies, economies, and environments for all
three continents.
■ People were also greatly transferred as a source of labor
● They had a system of bondage and had the idea of being superior
to the Africans- justified through the bible.
■ Impacts:
● It brought various diseases but most importantly was smallpox
which wiped out the Native American Population because they
were never exposed to it.
● It brought horses and cattle, which changed the diet of the Native
Americans, but also the horse really helped the Nomadic tribes for
example, with their farming business and made traveling easier.
○ Triangular Trade
■ Consumer Revolution
● Religion
○ Puritans
■ Made the society better and introduced the system of hard work and
believed in predestination.
■ There were the elect and the reprobate
■ Notable Persecutions
● Roger Williams
● Anne Hutchinson
● The Salem Witch Trials
○ Ended Puritanism
■ Hegemony
■ Common Theme: Divergent Worldviews led to misunderstandings.
● Early Colonial Conflicts
○ The Bacon's Rebellion in Jamestown - There was a large shift from indentured
servitude towards slavery
○ The Pueblo Revolt against Spain - ended the system of the Encomienda System.
○ The Stono Rebellion- Harsher laws for slaves: primarily the Negro Act
● The Slave Trade
○ Many slaves were brought to the Americas through the horrible conditions of the
Middle Passage
○ Many were traded for mere goods.
○ They made good free laborers because they didn’t know the land that well, and
also were immune to diseases
● There was a big influx of wealth because the Europeans depleted America’s wealth and
made Europe Richer. This led to a shift from feudalism to capitalism.
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