APUSH (Entire Unit)

• Period 1 (1491-1607)


  Begins with the study of Native American cultures before European contact. Natives developed unique cultures based on climate and geography. Aztecs and Mayans relied on maize cultivation. Indigenous peoples on the Great Plains hunted buffalo and lived in tepees. Everything changed in 1492 when Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas, leading to the Columbian Exchange - the exchange of plants, animals, ideas, peoples, and diseases between the Old World and the New World.
• Conquistadors


  Spanish colonizers who brutally conquered the Aztecs and set up the encomienda system to enslave native populations and force them to convert to Catholicism
• Valladolid debates


  Debates between Catholic priest Bartolomé de las Casas, who supported converting the natives but opposed the brutality of the encomienda system, and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, who argued the natives were barbaric and the Spanish had the right to enslave them
• Encomienda system


  Replaced by the repartimiento system, which enslaved Africans
• Period 2 (1607-1754)


  Focuses on colonization. French established small settlements and maintained friendly relations with natives. Dutch established New Amsterdam for trade. English colonization was characterized by mass migration, with Jamestown founded in 1607 by a joint stock company. Chesapeake and southern colonies grew cash crops, while New England colonies had economies based on fishing, lumbering, and trade. Tensions mounted between colonists and indigenous tribes over land and resources, leading to violent conflicts.
• Mercantilism


  Economic theory where a country grows wealthy by exporting more than it imports, with the crown passing Navigation Acts to control colonial trade
• First Great Awakening


  Religious revival led by Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield, which questioned church authority and also led colonists to question the authority of the British crown
• Bacon's Rebellion


  Violent revolt of poor farmers in 1676 against Virginia's Royal Governor William Berkeley over unfair treatment and lack of protection from Native American attacks
• Period 3 (1754-1800)


  Begins with the French and Indian War, which ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763 and drastically altered the relationship between the colonists and the British crown. Tensions mounted over new taxes like the Stamp Act, leading to protests and the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Despite being the underdogs, the Continental Army won the American Revolution with the help of George Washington's leadership, guerilla warfare tactics, and support from allies like France. The new nation faced problems under the weak Articles of Confederation, leading to the Constitutional Convention and the ratification of the Constitution in 1789.
• Federalists


  Political party led by Alexander Hamilton that wanted an economy based on trade and manufacturing, supported the national bank, and favored a loose interpretation of the Constitution
• Democratic-Republicans


  Political party led by Thomas Jefferson that wanted an agrarian nation, opposed the national bank, and supported a strict interpretation of the Constitution
• Period 4 (1800-1848)


  Begins with the election of Thomas Jefferson, who believed in a strict interpretation of the Constitution and an economy based on farming. Focuses on foreign policy challenges like the Barbary Pirates and the War of 1812. Also sees the rise of Jacksonian Democracy, the Nullification Crisis, and the Whig Party's American System promoting economic growth.
• Market Revolution


  Rapid industrialization and technological changes, including the growth of textile mills, the invention of the cotton gin, and the transportation revolution with railroads and steamboats
• Second Great Awakening


  Wave of religious enthusiasm that inspired social and moral reform movements, including the abolitionist movement against slavery
• Period 5 (1844-1877)


  Begins with the election of James K. Polk and the Mexican-American War, which led to the acquisition of new western territories and debates over the expansion of slavery. Sees the rise of the Republican Party, the Dred Scott decision, John Brown's raid, and the outbreak of the Civil War. Reconstruction after the war aimed to bring the former Confederate states back into the Union, with mixed success.
• Period 6 (1865-1898)


  The Gilded Age, characterized by the development of large corporations and industrial capitalists like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller.
• The 13th abolished slavery, the 14th defined citizenship and guaranteed equal protection, and the 15th granted all men the right to vote. This led to the election of African-Americans to Congress for the first time.
• Reconstruction had many failures. Although slavery had ended, it was replaced with the sharecropping system which left African-Americans working on plantations and in a cycle of debt. Southern States disenfranchised black voters by using poll taxes and literacy tests. The rise of black codes, Jim Crow laws, and white supremacy groups like the KKK hindered progress.
• The Compromise of 1877 ended Reconstruction. Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was chosen as president in return for removing troops from the South.
• The Gilded Age saw the development of large corporations like US Steel and Standard Oil, run by wealthy industrial capitalists like Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller.
• New business practices like the formation of trusts and vertical and horizontal integration enabled these companies to form monopolies, which was possible because of a string of Republican presidents who supported laissez-faire policies.
• Workers endured long hours, low pay, and poor conditions, leading to the rise of labor unions like the American Federation of Labor who used strikes and collective bargaining to fight for change.
• Attempts to control businesses included the Sherman Antitrust Act and the Interstate Commerce Commission.
• New philosophies emerged during the Gilded Age, such as Social Darwinism and Andrew Carnegie's "Gospel of Wealth".
• The social gospel movement aimed to apply Christian principles to the problems caused by industrialization and urbanization.
• Immigration and urbanization increased, with tenement houses built for the poor and immigrants who often settled in ethnic neighborhoods.
• Nativism increased, especially against Chinese immigrants, leading to the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act.
• The Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869, connecting the East and West coasts, and railroads expanded across the West through government land grants.
• Mining and ranching were also set up in western territories, but the rapid development of the West had devastating consequences for Native Americans, leading to the Plains Wars and the decimation of Buffalo populations.
• Assimilation schools like the Carlisle School sought to erase Native American culture and force conversion to Christianity.
• The Populist movement, led by struggling farmers, supported the unlimited coinage of silver, a graduated income tax, and the direct election of senators.
• The Frontier Thesis, written by Frederick Jackson Turner in 1890, argued that the frontier was officially closed, transitioning America from Manifest Destiny into the age of Imperialism.
• President McKinley was America's first imperialist president, annexing Hawaii and bringing America into the Spanish-American War.
• The Progressive Movement was a period of social activism and political reform, with muckraking journalists exposing social problems and political corruption.
• President Theodore Roosevelt's Square Deal promoted consumer protection, controlling corporations, and conservation of resources.
• World War I led to the restriction of civil liberties with the Espionage and Sedition Acts, and the expansion of federal power through new organizations like the War Industries Board.
• The Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations were controversial, with reservationists like Henry Cabot Lodge opposing the League of Nations.
• The Roaring Twenties saw a period of prosperity and social change, including the Great Migration of African-Americans from the Jim Crow South to the North and the Harlem Renaissance.
• The 1920s also faced backlash, with increased nativism, the Red Scare, and religious fundamentalism opposing the teaching of evolution.
• The Great Depression was caused by excessive spending, credit buying, and a crisis in farming, and was poorly addressed by President Herbert Hoover.