Unit 1: Foundations of the American Republic, Prehistory to 1750

Unit Overview:

This unit covers the Pre-colonial Era up to the eve of the American Revolution. Some important themes covered in this unit:

Unit 1 Essay: Puritan Values

FRQ: Analyze the effect of the French and Indian War and its aftermath on the relationship between Great Britain and the British colonies. Confine your response to the period from 1754 to 1776.(2012)FRQ: Analyze the origins and development of slavery in Britain’s North American colonies in the period 1607 to 1776. (2011)DBQ: In what ways did ideas and values held by Puritans influence the political, economic, and social development of the New England colonies from 1630 through the 1660’s. (2010)

FRQ: Evaluate the influence of religion on the development of colonial society in TWO of the following regions: The Spanish Southwest, New England, New France. (2010)

FRQ: Early encounters between American Indians and European Colonists led to a variety of relationships among the different cultures. Analyze how the actions taken by BOTH American Indians and European colonists shaped those relationships in TWO of the following regions. Confine your answer to the late 1600’s. New England; Chesapeake; Spanish Southwest; New York and New France. (2008)

FRQ: Compare and Contrast the ways in which economic development affected politics in Massachusetts and Virginia in the period from 1607 to 1750. (2005)

Unit Videos:                                            

AP US History Unit 1 Key Terms

For this project you must define the terms listed below and explain each term's significance to the unit/era being studied. Your definition should be 2-3 sentences long and may be copied and pasted from a source like Wikipedia, but the significance of the term must be in your own words and based on your own understanding. To fill out a term's significance, ask yourself, "Why is this item included in my study of this unit? Why is this term in a history book?" The answer to this question is your term's significance. 

Unit 1 Key Terms:

Age of Discovery                    

Spanish Empire                  

Virginia Colony                         

Quakers

Commercial Revolution           

Reformation                      

Massachusetts Bay Colony        

William Penn

Columbian Exchange               

Puritans                             

Roger Williams                           

Lord Baltimore

mercantilism                            

joint stock companies      

New England                              

Proprietary Colonies

triangular trade                       

Jamestown                       

New Netherlands                       

Toleration Act of 1649

Below is an example of a key term done with the proper format:

William the Conqueror: William I (c. 1028[2] – 9 September 1087), also known as William the Conqueror (Guillaume le Conquérant), was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II. Before his conquest of England, he was known as William the Bastard because of the illegitimacy of his birth.To press his claim to the English crown, William invaded England in 1066, leading an army of Normans, Bretons, Flemings, and Frenchmen (from Paris andÎle-de-France) to victory over the English forces of King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest.[3] (I copied and pasted this definition from Wikipedia)

Significance: William the Conqueror is significant because his conquest of England created the first nation state in Europe. His rearrangement of English feudal territories to give himself dramatically more power than the the barons and nobles around him caused him to be the most powerful monarch in Europe and eventually led to the rise of other nation states over the next few centuries. (These are my words based on my knowledge of English and European history.)

The Mayflower Compact, 1620. Oil-on-canvas, Jean Leon Gerome Ferris