UNIT 2 (1607-1754)
Welcome to Unit 2 of APUSH! This unit covers the time period from 1607-1754! During this unit, we will be covering everything from the establishment of the first English colony to right before the French and Indian War. We will be going over the different European colonies, the different regions of the British colonies and what they were like, the Transatlantic trade, interactions between natives and Europeans, slavery, and lastly, colonial society and culture.
Key People, Terms, and Events
People
Terms
Events
Indentured Servants: Workers who, in exchange for their payment to travel across the Atlantic, agreed to serve a master for a certain number of years
Joint-Stock Company: A type of company in which the investors of the company would pool their money together to share its successes and failures. If it failed, one person wouldn’t lose everything because all investors shared responsibility
Slave Codes: Codes that restricted the lives and behavior of slaves
Triangular Trade: A three-part journey across the Atlantic that forms the shape of a triangle. Ships from Europe would travel to Africa and trade manufactured goods for slaves. Then ships would sail from Africa to the Americas and trade the slaves for raw materials and goods. Then ships would sail from the Americas to Europe and trade these raw materials for manufactured goods, repeating the cycle all over again.
Salutary Neglect: The idea that, since Britain was so far away from the Americas, while they technically did have control over the colonies, they mostly ignored the colonists and allowed them to do their own things and govern themselves. This led to a desire for self-rule and independence among the colonists.
Consumer Revolution: An occurrence in North America in which now, rich families in the colonies were now rich enough that they could start buying things that they didn’t need and also changed the colonial social hierarchy to being based on wealth instead of ancestry
Chattel Slavery: With chattel meaning property, this was a system of slavery in which slaves were treated as property or as a tool or farm animal
Enlightenment: The Enlightenment was a movement in Europe that emphasized the use of reason and logic to look at the world instead of faith and belief systems. It emphasized rational thinking over tradition and religious revelation
Social Contract: An Enlightenment idea that people were in a contract with their government and that the right to govern was naturally in the hands of the people. This meant that they willingly gave over some of that power to a government that would, in turn, vow to protect their natural rights and that if the government failed to protect them in this regard, the people would have the right to alter or abolish it.
Impressment: A British practice in which they seized men against their will and forced them to serve in the Royal Navy, which was a huge threat to the colonists who lived in seaport cities
Samuel de Champlain: A French explorer that established the city of Quebec in New France (French colony in Canada) in 1608
Henry Hudson: An English explorer that discovered the Hudson River and Hudson Bay in 1607 and 1608
John Rolfe: Discovered tobacco farming in 1612 and saved the Jamestown colony from starvation, giving the colony a way to make money
Nathaniel Bacon: A farmer that led Bacon’s rebellion after nothing was being done to stop the natives from attacking them, eventually turned from attacking natives to attacking William Berkeley’s plantations, this rebellion led to plantation owners switching from indentured servitude and farmers as workers to slaves
William Berkeley: A governor of Virginia, Bacon’s rebellion happened after Berkeley refused to do something about the natives attacking the farmers, after a while the rebels began attacking Berkeley’s plantations
William Penn: A Quaker and a pacifist, founded Pennsylvania in 1681 in “Penn’s Holy Experiment”
Lord Baltimore: Founded Maryland in 1634 because he wanted to make money and make a peaceful haven for Catholics that were being persecuted in England
Metacom: Also known as King Philip by the British, he was the chief of the Wampanoag people and led an attack on the colonies where they burned their fields and killed and captured many British in an event known as Metacom’s War (1675), he was ambushed and killed by the Mohawk people who were allies of the British
John Locke: An Enlightenment thinker who wrote Two Treatises on Government, argued that a legitimate government can only exist by the consent of the governed, meaning that the power to govern is in the hands of the people, not a monarch. Another key point was that human beings, just by existing, have certain natural and unalienable rights that are given to them not by the government or a king, but by the Creator, and since it wasn’t given by the government, governments cannot take these rights away. Additionally, Locke argued that liberty is achieved through self-rule through elected representatives, not with a monarch like in Britain
Johnathan Edwards: A New England minister from Northampton and a scholar well-studied in philosophy and the natural sciences who was one of the main leaders of the First Great Awakening. His preachings combined Enlightenment ideas with religion, and helped spread the First Great Awakening. One of his most famous sermons became known as “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. He emphasized the enjoyment of religion and of other human beings
1607: The colony of Jamestown is established, the first permanent British colony in the Americas
1619: The House of Burgesses is established in Virginia
1620: Pilgrims first land in Plymouth Bay on the Mayflower and Puritans first settle New England
1661: The Barbados Code of 1661 is established, legally defining African slaves as property and making slavery hereditary
1675: Metacom’s War, or King Philip’s War, occurs
1676: Bacon’s Rebellion occurs against Lord Berkeley and Metacom is killed
1680: The Pueblo Revolt occurs against Spain in Nuevo Mexico
1681: William Penn establishes Pennsylvania in “Penn’s Holy Experiment”, a haven for Quakers
1730s: The Great Awakening begins
1739: The Stono Rebellion, a slave rebellion, occurs in South Carolina
Fast Summary
Unit 2 of APUSH covers the period of time from 1607 to 1754, and covers the development of the 13 British colonies in North America.
The first successful British colony in North America was established in 1607 at Jamestown, Virginia. The colony was primarily focused on the extraction of valuable resources such as tobacco, and was heavily reliant on the labor of enslaved Africans. The colony struggled in its early years, with high death rates due to disease and conflicts with the indigenous peoples.
In 1620, the Mayflower arrived in present-day Massachusetts, carrying the Pilgrims, a group of English Puritans seeking religious freedom. They established the colony of Plymouth, which was the first colony in New England. The Puritans believed that the Church of England was corrupt and believed that the colonies could be a new "City upon a Hill" where they could practice their religion freely. The New England colonies were also heavily reliant on the labor of enslaved Africans, but also had a significant number of white indentured servants.
The Middle colonies, including present-day New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, were established in the late 17th century. These colonies had a more diverse population, including Dutch, Swedish, German, and French settlers, and were more focused on farming and trade.
The Southern colonies, including present-day Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia, were established in the early 18th century. These colonies were heavily reliant on the labor of enslaved Africans to work on their tobacco and rice plantations. The Southern colonies also had a large number of white indentured servants.
During this period, the British government began to establish policies to control and regulate the colonies. The Navigation Acts were passed in the 17th century to regulate trade between the colonies and Britain, which led to tensions between the colonies and the British government. The British government also established policies to control the expansion of the colonies, including the Proclamation of 1763, which forbade British settlers from moving west of the Appalachian Mountains.
As the colonies grew and developed, they also began to develop a sense of identity and unity. The Great Awakening, a religious revival movement in the 18th century, helped to create a sense of shared religious and cultural identity among the colonies. Additionally, the colonies began to work together to resist British policies, such as the Stamp Act of 1765, which was a tax on printed materials in the colonies.
Overall, the period from 1607 to 1754 saw the establishment and growth of the 13 British colonies in North America. These colonies were diverse, but they shared a sense of identity and unity, which would play an important role in the events leading up to the American Revolution. The British government's attempts to control and regulate the colonies led to tensions and conflicts between the colonies and Britain, which would ultimately lead to the American Revolution.