APUSH vocabulary isn't about memorizing definitions — it's about understanding which people, events, and ideas appear in the historical arguments the exam tests. These are the key terms organized by period at the depth you actually need.
Period 1: 1491–1607
Columbian Exchange — the transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and people between the Americas and Europe/Africa/Asia after 1492; devastated indigenous populations via disease, transformed European and American agriculture. Encomienda system — Spanish colonial labor system granting colonists authority over indigenous people in exchange for Christianizing them; source of forced labor and abuse. Pueblo Revolt (1680) — successful Native uprising in New Mexico against Spanish colonial rule; forced Spain to renegotiate terms with indigenous peoples.
Period 2: 1607–1754
Salutary neglect — British policy of loose enforcement of colonial trade laws; allowed colonies to develop self-governance; ended after 1763, directly causing colonial resistance. Mercantilism — economic theory that colonies exist to benefit the mother country through resource extraction and trade surpluses. Great Awakening — colonial religious revival (1730s–40s); democratized Christianity, increased colonial unity, challenged traditional authority. Bacon's Rebellion (1676) — armed uprising of Virginia colonists; led planters to shift toward African enslaved labor to reduce dependence on indentured servants.
Period 3: 1754–1800
Common Sense (1776) — Thomas Paine's pamphlet arguing for independence; made republican arguments in accessible language. Articles of Confederation — first US government; weak central authority, no power to tax or regulate commerce; replaced by Constitution after Shays' Rebellion. Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists — debate over ratification; Federalists (Hamilton, Madison) favored strong central government; Anti-Federalists (Patrick Henry) feared tyranny, demanded Bill of Rights. Hamilton's Financial Program — assumption of state debts, national bank, tariffs; established federal economic power, created first party divide.
Period 4: 1800–1848
Market Revolution — shift from subsistence to commercial economy through transportation (canals, railroads), manufacturing, and credit; transformed social relations and gender roles. Second Great Awakening — 19th-century religious revival; fueled reform movements (abolition, temperance, women's rights). Manifest Destiny — belief that US expansion to Pacific was divinely ordained; justified Mexican-American War, Indian Removal. Missouri Compromise (1820) — admitted Missouri as slave, Maine as free; drew line at 36°30' for future territories; papered over sectional conflict temporarily.
Period 5: 1844–1877
Compromise of 1850 — admitted California free, popular sovereignty in new territories, stronger Fugitive Slave Act; accelerated Northern resistance. Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) — repealed Missouri Compromise line; "Bleeding Kansas" — pro/anti-slavery settlers fought for control; destroyed Whig Party, created Republicans. Reconstruction Amendments — 13th (abolished slavery), 14th (citizenship and equal protection), 15th (Black male suffrage). Sharecropping — labor system replacing slavery in post-war South; trapped formerly enslaved people in debt cycles.
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