UNIT 1 (1491-1607)
Welcome to Unit 1 of APUSH! This unit covers the time period from 1491-1607! During this unit, we will be covering everything from the pre-Columbian period in the Americas up until the establishment of the first English colony. We will go over topics such as native life in the Americas, European arrival, the Columbian Exchange, the different labor systems, the Spanish colonial system, and slavery.
Key People, Terms, and Events
People
Terms
Events
Trading Post Empire: An empire defined by the creation of trading posts all around the world in key ports rather than taking over large areas of land
Northwest Passage: The idea that there was a water passage that cuts through the Americas connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the passage didn’t actually exist
Columbian Exchange: The mutual sharing of animals, food, minerals, goods, people, and diseases between the New World (Americas) and the Old World (Europe and Africa), between the east and the west. This exchange resulted in the drastic transformation of the societies, economies, demographics, and environments of all three continents
Feudalism: A system in medieval European society in which peasants lived and worked on the land of a noble in exchange for armed protection
Capitalism: An economic system based on private ownership and the free exchange of goods
Middle Passage: The passage from Africa to the Americas through the Atlantic Ocean that slaves would take while crammed into ships
Mercantilism: The economic belief that the goal of a state should be to maximize profits and exports while minimizing imports, and that there is only a limited amount of wealth in the world measured in gold and silver, and that the goal of a nation should be to get as much wealth as possible
Encomienda System: A labor system in which the king of Spain gave grants of land and natives to people in exchange for their loyalty. These natives had to far or work in mines and in exchange for their labor, their masters had to “care” for them. Failed because natives kept either dying of diseases or escaping, and so the Spanish started replacing them with African slaves instead.
Casta System: A social hierarchy based on racial ancestry with Peninsulares (people born in Spain) at the top, followed by Criollos (Spanish people born in the Americas), Mestizoes (mixed Spanish and Native Americans), Mulattoes (mixed Spanish and Africans), Native Americans, and then Africans at the very bottom
Mission System: A system in which Spain would send missionaries to the Americas to convert the natives
Prince Henry the Navigator: A Portuguese explorer that attempted to find a passage to Asia by sailing around Africa, his actions would lead to Portugal establishing a trading-post empire
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella: The rulers who unified Spain and reconquered the Iberian peninsula from the Muslims, funded exploration in order to spread Christianity, funded Columbus’ voyage west in which he landed in the Americas, issued the Requerimiento
Christopher Columbus: Came to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella seeking a sponsorship to sail west and find a route to Asia, he ended up landing on the island of San Salvador and called the inhabitants Indians because he thought he was in the East Indies. After he realized that these people had gold jewelry, he claimed the island for Spain and took some of the inhabitants back to Spain to show them off and their jewelry, his actions would lead to more Spaniards coming to the Americas for exploration and lead to the Columbian Exchange, introduced the encomienda system to the Americas before he left the Americas for the last time,
Bartholomeu Dias: From Portugal, first to sail around the southernmost tip of Africa in 1487
John Cabot: From England, sailed to the Chesapeake bay in search of the Northwest Passage and helped lay the groundwork for later British claim to Canada
Hernan Cortez: Spanish conquistador that invaded Tenochtitlan and conquered the Aztecs in Mexico with just a few thousand men
Francisco Pizarro: Spanish conquistador that conquered the Incas in Peru
Popé: A leader of the Pueblo people, he and the Pueblo rose up and killed roughly 400 colonizers and burned all the churches to the ground in the Pueblo Revolt. But then 12 years later, the Spanish returned and reconquered the land.
King Charles I: Grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella, convened a group of priests, philosophers, and jurors to discuss the morality and legality of Spanish conquest and many of these men argued that the natives were inferior and backward and that colonization was actually good for them because it gifted them with the riches of western civilization
Bartolomé de las Casas: A priest who had preached among the natives for many years and advocated for better treatment because brutalizing them would make them lost to God. He argued that the natives should be replaced by Africans
1469: Ferdinand and Isabella unify Spain
1492: Christopher Columbus lands on the island of San Salvador and the Columbian Exchange begins
1500s: The Triangular Trade starts
1515: Bartolomé de las Casas appeals to King Charles I of Spain for better treatment of the natives
1518: The Middle Passage is first used to transport slaves to the Americas
1519: Hernan Cortez, a Spanish conquistador, conquers the Aztecs in Mexico
1531: Francisco Pizarro, a Spanish conquistador, conquers the Incas in Peru
1542: The New Laws of 1542 are passed, ending indigenous slavery and the encomienda system, replacing them with Africans to perform the enslaved labor
1603: Samuel de Champlain, a French explorer, begins exploring North America
1607: The colony of Jamestown is established, the first permanent British colony in the Americas
Fast Summary
Unit 1 of APUSH covers the period of time from the late 15th century to the early 17th century, and covers the exploration and colonization of the Americas by European powers.
The first Europeans to arrive in the Americas were the Spanish, led by Christopher Columbus in 1492. They were searching for a new route to Asia in order to trade for valuable goods such as spices and silk. The Spanish established colonies in present-day Mexico, Central America, and parts of South America, and brought with them Christianity, which greatly affected the indigenous peoples of the Americas and led to several revolts such as the Pueblo Revolt.
The Portuguese were also exploring the Americas at this time, and established colonies in Brazil. They also brought Christianity to the region, and engaged in the slave trade, bringing enslaved Africans to work on their sugar plantations.
The French and the English began exploring and colonizing the Americas in the late 16th century. The French established settlements in present-day Canada and the Mississippi River Valley, while the English established colonies along the East Coast of North America, including present-day Virginia and Massachusetts.
Overall, the arrival of Europeans in the Americas had a profound impact on the indigenous peoples and the environment. Many native populations were decimated by disease and violence, and the introduction of new technologies and ways of life greatly altered the landscape of the Americas.