AP U.S. History | Period 1: 1452-1607 Note Guide
As you work your way through the lessons in this first Period, it is important to take careful notes. We are going to use
the GRAPES acronym, which will help you focus on the important aspects of the people, places and events you will be
studying about. There are guiding questions below each category. Each question is not meant to be answered, rather
help you focus your thinking give you a starting point on describing their importance to each time period, as well as
make connections to other important people, places and events we will be learning about.
Before you begin your reading take a few minutes to think about what you know about the Native Americans that lived
in North America before and after European discovery. Use the GRAPES questions below to give you a starting point.
Geography


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How did the location of a civilization affect its development?
How were people affected by the environment, and how did they shape the environment?
How was movement a part of this civilization?
What were some of the key geographical features of landforms in this area?
Religion
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What factors contributed to the development of this religion or belief system?
How was this religion similar or different from others you know about?
How did religion shape other aspects of this society/civilization?
Achievements
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
How did these achievements contribute to the development of this civilization?
How were these achievements related to the needs of this civilization?
What was the significance of these achievements?
In what way did these achievements relate to other civilizations or cultures?
Politics
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

What was the context that led to the development of these political ideas or practices?
Evaluate the benefits and limitations of these political structures and ideas
How are the political structures of today similar or different from those of this civilization?
Economics
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What economic practices did this civilization engage in?
To what extent was their economy local? Global?
What were the key products/items that this civilization created, great, or traded?
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How did the economy relate to the geography of the area/civilization?
Social Structures
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Why did these social structures exist?
Who benefited and who was harmed by these social structures?
How did the social structure connect to this civilization’s religion, politics, and economics?
Key Concepts:
The Key Concepts will give you a general outline and help you focus on what is important in each of the lessons.
Thematic Questions to Answer
The seven major themes throughout this AP US History course are Identity, Work, exchange, and technology, Peopling, Politics and
power, America in the world, Environment and geography, Ideas, beliefs, and culture. You will see these themes in the parenthesis
and can see how they pertain to the lesson and start to see the relationships to other historical developments throughout our past.
Think about these questions before, during, and after the reading you do. If you understand their complexity and feel confident in
using information from the text and the supplementary reading in answering these, you should understand the period well.
You don’t need complete sentences if it is easier to make lists or use phrases. Bullet points are a useful tool. Include enough
information so that you demonstrate that you understand the major points. Keep an eye on the significant items below; as they will
help you answer these larger questions. If a question has two parts, answer both parts.
Significant Terms, People and Events (table)
You will not be tested on your memorization of specific dates, places and events, however it is crucial that you know and can
demonstrate their significance to the time period and their relationship to other historical developments. Use the GRAPES acronym
to help you identify the specific information that will help you to answer the Thematic Question.
Lesson 1.1 – Early Civilizations of North America
Key Concepts: Before the arrival of Europeans, native populations in North America developed a wide variety of social, political, and
economic structures based in part on interactions with the environment and each other.
1. As settlers migrated and settled across the vast expanse of North America over time, they developed quite
different and increasingly complex societies by adapting to and transforming their diverse environments.
 The spread of maize cultivation from present-day Mexico northward into the American Southwest and
beyond supported economic development and social diversification among societies in these areas; a mix
of foraging and hunting did the same for societies in the Northwest and areas of California.
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 Societies responded to the lack of natural resources in the Great Basin and the western Great Plains by
developing largely mobile lifestyles.
 In the Northeast and along the Atlantic Seaboard some societies developed a mixed agricultural and
hunter–gatherer economy that favored the development of permanent villages.
Themes and Guiding Questions to Answer:
At the end of this lesson you should be able to answer all of the following using specific names, dates, locations, events (i.e. proper
nouns), to demonstrate your understanding of the significant concepts listed below.
(Peopling) How and why did people moved within the Americas (before contact) and to and within the Americas (after contact and
colonization)?
(Environment) How the introduction of new plants, animals, and technologies did altered the natural environment of North America
and affected interactions among various groups in the colonial period?
(Environment) How did the natural environment contribute to the development of distinct regional group identities, institutions, and
conflicts in the precontact period through the independence period?
Significant
Terms, People
or Events
Description
Keep in mind the guiding questions about Geography, Religion, Achievements, Politics, Economics, Social Structures
Pueblo
Iroquois
Algonquian
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Chinook
Lesson 1.2 – A Collision of Cultures
Key Concepts: European overseas expansion resulted in the Columbian Exchange, a series of interactions and adaptations among
societies across the Atlantic.
1.
The arrival of Europeans in the Western Hemisphere in the 15th and 16th centuries triggered extensive demographic and social
changes on both sides of the Atlantic.
 Spanish and Portuguese exploration and conquest of the Americas led to widespread deadly epidemics, the emergence of
racially mixed populations, and a caste system defined by an intermixture among Spanish settlers, Africans, and Native
Americans.
 Spanish and Portuguese traders reached West Africa and partnered with some African groups to exploit local resources and
recruit slave labor for the Americas.
 The introduction of new crops and livestock by the Spanish had far-reaching effects on native settlement patterns, as well
as on economic, social, and political development in the Western Hemisphere.
 In the economies of the Spanish colonies, Indian labor, used in the encomienda system to support plantation-based
agriculture and extract precious metals and other resources, was gradually replaced by African slavery.
2.
European expansion into the Western Hemisphere caused intense social/religious, political, and economic competition in
Europe and the promotion of empire building.
 European exploration and conquest were fueled by a desire for new sources of wealth, increased power and status, and
converts to Christianity.
 New crops from the Americas stimulated European population growth, while new sources of mineral wealth facilitated the
European shift from feudalism to capitalism.
 Improvements in technology and more organized methods for conducting international trade helped drive changes to
economies in Europe and the Americas
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Themes and Guiding Questions
At the end of this lesson you should be able to answer all of the following using specific names, dates, locations, events (i.e. proper
nouns), to demonstrate your understanding of the significant concepts listed below.
(Peopling) Analyze the effects that migration, disease, and warfare had on the American Indian population after contact with
Europeans
(Peopling) Explain how free and forced migration to and within different parts of North America caused regional development,
cultural diversity and blending, and political and social conflicts through the 19th century
(Environment) Explain how the introduction of new plants, animals, and technologies altered the natural environment of North
America and affected interactions among various groups in the colonial period
(Environment) Analyze how the search for economic resources affected social and political developments from the colonial period
through Reconstruction
(Work, Exchange, and Technology) Explain how patterns of exchanging commodities, peoples, diseases, and ideas around the
Atlantic World developed after European contact and shaped North American colonial-era societies
(America in the World) Explain how imperial competition and the exchange of commodities across both sides of the Atlantic Ocean
influenced the origins and patterns of development of North American societies in the colonial period
(Politics and Power) Analyze the factors behind competition, cooperation, and conflict among different societies and social groups in
North America during the colonial period
Significant Terms,
People or Events
Description
How is this significant to the time Period?
Keep in mind the guiding questions about Geography, Religion, Achievements, Politics, Economics, Social Structures
Disease,
Smallpox
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Mestizo
zambo
Horses
Cows, Pigs
Sugar
Encomiendas
Corn, potatoes
sextant
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Joint-stock
companies
Lesson 1.3 – Relationship and Identity After Contact
Key Concepts: Contacts among American Indians, Africans, and Europeans challenged the worldviews of each group.
1.
European overseas expansion and sustained contacts with Africans and American Indians dramatically altered European views
of social, political, and economic relationships among and between white and nonwhite peoples.
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

2.
With little experience dealing with people who were different from themselves, Spanish and Portuguese explorers poorly
understood the native peoples they encountered in the Americas, leading to debates over how American Indians should be
treated and how “civilized” these groups were compared to European standards.
Many Europeans developed a belief in white superiority to justify their subjugation of Africans and American Indians, using
several different rationales.
Native peoples and Africans in the Americas strove to maintain their political and cultural autonomy in the face of European
challenges to their independence and core beliefs.
 European attempts to change American Indian beliefs and worldviews on basic social issues such as religion, gender roles
and the family, and the relationship of people with the natural environment led to American Indian resistance and conflict.
 In spite of slavery, Africans’ cultural and linguistic adaptations to the Western Hemisphere resulted in varying degrees of
cultural preservation and autonomy.
Themes and Guiding Questions:
At the end of this lesson you should be able to answer all of the following using specific names, dates, locations, events (i.e. proper
nouns), to demonstrate your understanding of the significant concepts listed below.
(Ideas, beliefs and Culture) Compare the cultural values and attitudes of different European, African American, and native
peoples in the colonial period and explain how contact affected intergroup relationships and conflicts
(Identity) How did conceptions of group identity and autonomy emerge out of cultural interactions between colonizing groups,
Africans, and American Indians in the colonial era?
(Politics and Power) Analyze the factors behind competition, cooperation, and conflict among different societies and social groups in
North America during the colonial period
(Ideas, beliefs and Culture) Compare the cultural values and attitudes of different European, African American, and native peoples in
the colonial period and explain how contact affected intergroup relationships and conflicts
(Environment and Geography) Explain how the natural environment contributed to the development of distinct regional group
identities, institutions, and conflicts in the precontact period through the independence period
Significant Terms,
People or Events
Description
How is this significant to the time Period?
Keep in mind the guiding questions about Geography, Religion, Achievements, Politics, Economics, Social Structures
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Juan de
Sepulveda
Bartolome de
Las Casas
Spanish mission
system
Pueblo Revolt
Juan de Onate
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