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2 - British Colonial America (All)

Terms in this set (91)

London
Capital city of England and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The nation made up of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Privateers
Pirates that operate with a "Letter of Marque" from a monarch that gives them official protection, so long as they only attack ships from enemy nations.
Francis Drake
Prominent English privateer. He was the second person to circumnavigate the world.
Walter Raleigh
English privateer who founded the Roanoke colony.
Spanish Armada
The Spanish navy that sailed to attack England in 1588. It was damaged by a great storm and humiliated by Queen Elizabeth's navy, thus ending the threat of Spanish conquest of England.
Roanoke
Walter Raleigh's failed English colony in Virginia.
Joint-Stock Company
A business in which wealthy individuals invest in order to raise funds for a venture. The Virginia Company of London is a famous example.
Primogenitor
An English tradition that a family's property would pass down to the eldest son. Many of America's first settlers were second and third sons who did not inherit money or land in England.
Virginia Company of London
Joint-stock company that funded the Jamestown colony.
Jamestown
First successful English colony in America. Settled in 1607, John Smith helped save the settlers from starvation. Eventually the colony became financially successful when John Rolfe learned to grow quality tobacco in Virginia's soil.
John Smith
Leader of the Jamestown colony. He is famous for ordering that the setters would not eat if they did not work, and dealing with Powhatan. He also wrote a famous memoir his experience in the colony.
Starving Time
The winter of 1609-10 in Jamestown when many settlers starved to death. Later the colonists learned to grow their own food.
Tobacco
Crop that saved the Virginia colony.
John Rolfe
Jamestown colonist who learned how to successfully grow quality tobacco in Virginia. He married Pocahontas.
Powhatan
Leader of the Native America tribe that shared his name. They lived in Virginia around the Jamestown settlement and went to war with the English settlers. Pocahontas was his daughter.
Anglo-Powhatan Wars
A series of three conflicts between 1609 and 1646 between the English settlers in Virginia and the neighboring Native Americans.
Absolute Monarchy
A system of government in which a king or queen has total control.
Limited Monarchy
A system of government in which a king or queen shares power with elected officials.
Virginia House of Burgesses
A legislative body created in colonial Virginia. It was an early example of democracy in America.
Divine Right
The belief that a king or queen derived power from God. It contradicts the Enlightenment idea that governments derive power from the consent of the people.
Indentured Servant
White immigrants to America whose passage was payed for them. In turn, they worked for a set number of years in order to off the debt.
Headright System
A legal system in the British American colonies in which men who paid for the passage of indentured servants were rewarded by the government with 50 acres of land per servant. The policy was designed to encourage immigration and was used by wealth Americans to increase their landholdings.
Caribbean Islands
The small islands stretching in a long arch from Cuba to South America marking the division between the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. They were colonies by the English, Spanish, French, Dutch, and Portuguese.
Atlantic Slave Trade
The transport of African slaves from the West Coast of Africa to the Americas (mostly South America and the Caribbean Islands) from 1500s through the 1800s.
Triangle Trade
The trade of slaves, raw materials and finished products between Africa, Europe, the Caribbean and the British Colonies.
Middle Passage
The trip slave ships took from Africa to America.
Chesapeake Region
The area around the Chesapeake Bay, including the modern states of Virginia, Maryland and the upper are of North Carolina.
Chattel Slavery
System of slavery in which the slaves are considered property with no individual rights.
Slave Codes
Laws that regulated what slaves were allowed to do, including movement, gathering, learning, rights in court, etc.
South Carolina
Colony created by English planters from Barbados. It was established with chattel slavery as an explicit foundation for the economy.
Barbados
British island colony in the Caribbean. Plantation owners from the island established South Carolina an American version of the island, complete with chattel slavery.
Appalachian Mountains
Mountain range that runs north to south from Maine to Georgia. It divides the original 13 colonies from the interior.
Backcountry
The area away from coastal settlements, usually in the mountains that was home to most Scotch-Irish immigrants.
Stono Rebellion
A 1739 slave revolt in South Carolina. 25 Whites and 40-50 slaves were killed. The rebellion led to passage of stricter slave codes.
Haitian Revolution
Rebellion in the 1970s by African slaves in the French colony of Haiti. It led to the establishment of the independent nation of Haiti.
Anglican Church
The official Church of England. It is a protestant church created by Henry VIII when he wanted a divorce. In America, it is called the Episcopalian Church.
John Calvin
French protestant minister. The Pilgrim Separatists and Puritans in England followed his teachings. They were all known as Calvinists.
Separatists
English followers of John Calvin who wanted to leave the Anglican Church. They included the Pilgrims.
Puritans
English followers of John Calvin who wanted to fix problems with the Church of England. They founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony and were led by John Winthrop.
Pilgrims
English Separatists who founded the Plymouth Colony. They lived in the Netherlands briefly before coming to American on the Mayflower.
Mayflower
The ship used by the Pilgrims to come to America.
Cape Cod
Long, hook-shaped peninsula in Massachusetts. It was the first landing site of the Pilgrims and forms Massachusetts Bay.
Mayflower Compact
1620 agreement signed by the Pilgrims outlining the government for the new colony, including the right to vote for church members.
Tisquantum
Also called Squanto. He was a Native American who had learned English and helped the Pilgrims survive.
Massasoit
Native American leader of the Wampanoag Tribe who saw the Pilgrims as potential allies against the Wampanoag's traditional enemies.
William Bradford
Leader of the Puritan colony of Plymouth.
First Thanksgiving
Celebration held in the fall of 1621 in Plymouth to celebrate the harvest. It was attended by both Pilgrims and their Native American friends.
Massachusetts Bay Colony
Colony created by Puritans in 1630. It was centered around the city of Boston and eventually absorbed Plymouth.
A Model of Christian Charity
Sermon given by John Winthrop on the Arbella on the way to America in which he described the Puritan's covenant with God and described their colony as a "city upon a hill."
John Winthrop
Puritan minister and leader who described the colony as a "city upon a hill."
City Upon a Hill
Phrase used by John Winthrop to describe the Massachusetts Bay Colony as an example for the world of a godly society.
Predestination
Puritan belief that God had chosen some people for heaven and some for hell before they were born. By doing good works on Earth, a person could come to know that he or she was among the Elect - the people bound for heaven.
Great Migration
Nickname for the mass immigration of Puritans to Massachusetts beginning in 1630. Approximately 14,000 Puritans moved to America.
Common Schools
Schools that were opened in New England in the 1700s. They were open to boys and were supported by tax money. They are an example of Puritan belief in collective sacrifice for the greater good and the value they placed on literacy.
Harvard and Yale Universities
The first two universities established in what became the United States. They were set up by Puritans to train future ministers.
Protestant Work Ethic
A belief common in New England that encouraged people to work hard as part of a godly life.
Anne Hutchinson
Puritan dissident in Massachustts. In 1637 she was banished from the colony because she believed that church rules about behavior contradicted the belief in predestination. She eventually died in an attack by Native Americans in New York.
Hersey
Beliefs that contradict official church teachings.
Roger Williams
Puritan who believed in the separation of church and state (government and church leadership should be separate). He was banished and founded Rhode Island.
Rhode Island
Colony south of Massachusetts founded by Roger Williams and his followers.
Thomas Hooker
Puritan minister who left Massachusetts and founded Hartford in Connecticut. He believed that all men should be able to vote, not only church members.
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
Laws outlining the government of the Connecticut colony, including an elected governor and two-house legislature. Many colonies and states copied this model.
John Davenport
Leader of the colony at New Haven, Connecticut. He believed jury trials should be abolished because juries are not mentioned in the Bible.
King Philip's War
Conflict between Puritans in New England at the surrounding Native American tribes in 1675 and 1676. The Puritan colonies were nearly wiped out before the Native Americans were defeated.
Metacom
Leader of the Wampanoag and the surrounding Native American tribes who fought King Philip's War against the Puritans. He was also called Metacomet, or King Philip by the English.
Mary Rowlandson
Puritan who was kidnapped by Native Americans who attacked her town during King Philip's War. She wrote a memoir of her captivity and became one of America's first famous authors.
Salem
Massachusetts town that became famous because of witch trials that took place there in 1692 and 1693.
Tituba
African slave from the Caribbean in Salem who was accused of teaching witchcraft to local girls.
First Great Awakening
Revival in religious practice in the mid-1700s in both England and the English colonies in America. Ministers preached a more direct connection to god that did not rely on official church leaders. The movement weakened the power of established churches and led to the creation of new denominations such as the Methodists, Presbyterians and Baptists.
New Lights
Ministers who led the First Great Awakening.
Old Lights
Ministers during the First Great Awakening who wanted to preserve traditional practices and rejected the teachings of evangelical ministers.
Johnathan Edwards
Minister of the First Great Awakening who was known for his oratory. Among his famous sermons is "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."
George Whitfield
English minister, who travelled throughout America preaching during the First Great Awakening.
Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists
Protestant denominations established during the First Great Awakening.
New Netherland
Dutch colony in America. It became New York.
New Amsterdam
Dutch town that became New York City.
Quakers
Also called the Society of Friends, a religious group that believed in total equality and were pacifists. Their leader, William Penn, founded Pennsylvania as a haven in America.
William Penn
Quaker leader who established Pennsylvania as a haven for his followers.
Pennsylvania
Quaker colony established by William Penn. Because of the Quaker belief in peace and equality, Native Americans were respected and their land was purchased rather than taken.
Philadelphia
City in Pennsylvania. Its name means "City of Brotherly Love," reflecting Quaker beliefs in peace and equality. It would eventually host the Continental Congress and be the site of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Benjamin Franklin
The first truly famous American. He was a printer, scientist and politician.
Poor Richard's Almanac
Annual book published by Benjamin Franklin. It included useful information about when to plant crops, as well as pithy advice from Franklin.
Lord Baltimore
Cecelius Calvert. He founded Maryland as a haven for his fellow Catholics. The largest city in Maryland is named after him.
Maryland
Colony north of Virginia along the Chesapeake Bay that was established by Lord Baltimore as a haven for English Catholics.
Maryland Act of Toleration
Law passed in Maryland granting religious freedom.
James Oglethorpe
Founder of the Georgia colony as a home to debtors.
Georgia
Colony established by James Oglethorpe as a home to debtors. He wanted the poor of England to have a chance to start a new life. The experiment failed due to strict laws banning alcohol and slavery. Eventually it became more like South Carolina.
Scotch-Irish
A group of immigrants from the borderlands of England who settled mostly in the interior regions of American, especially in the Appalachian Mountains. They are well known for their individualism and resistance to government control.
Hillbilly
Derogatory term for uneducated, poor people who live in the Appalachian Mountains.
Colin Woodward
American historian who argued that colonial differences continue to affect politics and regional identity.
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