Unit/Period 2 APUSH

Joint stock companies

Businesses owned by shareholders that invested in exploration and colonization, with the intention of making a profit; they allowed England to colonize without the government bearing all the costs.

Virginia Company of London

A joint-stock company granted a charter by King James, I in 1606 to establish colonies in North America. They founded Jamestown.

Jamestown

The first permanent English settlement in North America, founded in 1607 in Virginia. It struggled initially due to disease, starvation, and conflict with Native Americans.

Captain John Smith

An English adventurer and soldier whose leadership, with the rule "He who shall not work shall not eat," helped save the Jamestown colony in its early years.

John Rolfe

A colonist who married Pocahontas and pioneered the cultivation of high-quality tobacco in Virginia, which became the colony's first successful cash crop.

Powhatan

The powerful chief of the Powhatan Confederacy of Algonquian-speaking Native Americans in the Virginia region; father of Pocahontas.

Pocahontas

Daughter of Chief Powhatan; she acted as an intermediary between the Native Americans and the Jamestown settlers and later married John Rolfe.

Anglo-Powhatan Wars (First and Second)

A series of conflicts (1610–1614 and 1622–1632, with the final conflict in 1644–1646) between the English settlers of Virginia and the Powhatan Confederacy, primarily over land encroachment, ultimately resulting in the English victory and the forced removal and assimilation of the Powhatans.

House of Burgesses

The first representative assembly in colonial America, established in 1619 in Virginia; it was a significant step toward self-government.

Lord Baltimore (George Calvert and his son Cecil Calvert)

The founder of Maryland, who sought to create a refuge for English Catholics.

Maryland Act of Toleration

A 1649 law passed in Maryland guaranteeing religious toleration to all Christians (specifically for both Catholics and Protestants); it did not protect non-Christians.

Charles II

English monarch restored to the throne in 1660 after the English Civil War and the Interregnum (period without a king); he was known for issuing royal charters for new colonies, known as the "Restoration colonies" (including the Carolinas, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania).

English Restoration

The period when the monarchy of England was restored under Charles II in 1660, following the Puritan Commonwealth established by Oliver Cromwell.

James Oglethorpe

A soldier and philanthropist who founded Georgia in 1733, initially intended as a refuge for debtors and a military outpost.

Barbados slave code

A 1661 law that gave masters virtually complete control over their slaves, including the right to inflict vicious punishments; later influenced slave codes in the Carolinas.

Buffer colony

A colony established to protect more valuable colonies from foreign or Native American threats. Georgia served as a buffer between the valuable Carolinas and Spanish-held Florida and French-held Louisiana.

Protestant Reformation

A 16th-century religious movement in Europe, started by Martin Luther and others, that challenged the authority of the Catholic Church and led to the creation of various Protestant denominations.

Henry VIII

English King who initiated the English Reformation in the 1530s, breaking with the Catholic Church to form the Church of England (Anglican Church), primarily to secure a divorce.

Calvinism

The dominant theological credo of many American settlers, founded by John Calvin; it emphasized predestination and God's absolute sovereignty.

Predestination

A core doctrine of Calvinism stating that God has eternally chosen those who will be saved (the elect) and those who will be damned, regardless of their actions on Earth.

Church of England (Anglican Church)

The national church of England, established by Henry VIII after breaking with the Catholic Church; many felt it retained too many Catholic rituals.

Puritans

English Protestant reformers who sought to "purify" the Church of England of Catholic remnants; they settled primarily in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Separatists (Pilgrims)

A radical group of Puritans who believed the Church of England could not be reformed and sought to completely break away; they founded Plymouth Colony in 1620.

Mayflower Compact

A simple agreement drafted by the Pilgrims on the Mayflower in 1620 to form a crude government and establish self-governance; a step toward self-government.

William Bradford

A Pilgrim leader who was elected governor of Plymouth Colony many times; he helped the colony survive its early years.

Massachusetts Bay colony

Large Puritan settlement founded in 1630 by non-separating Puritans seeking to create a "city upon a hill" (a model religious society); led by John Winthrop.

Great Migration

A period (1630s) when about 70,000 refugees, mostly Puritans, left England, with about 20,000 settling in Massachusetts and the rest in the West Indies.

John Winthrop

First governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; he famously envisioned the colony as a "city upon a hill," a holy society that would serve as a model for humankind.

Congregational Church

A Puritan church government where each local congregation was self-governing and independent of others.

Anne Hutchinson

A religious dissenter who challenged Puritan orthodoxy by claiming that a truly saved person was not bound to obey God's or man's law (antinomianism); she was banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Roger Williams

A Separatist minister banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony for advocating for a clean break with the Church of England, challenging the legality of the Bay Colony's charter, and demanding fair treatment of Native Americans; he founded Rhode Island (Providence) in 1636, establishing religious freedom for all.

Pequot War

A 1637 armed conflict in the New England area between the Pequot tribe and an alliance of English colonists from the Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth colonies, leading to the near destruction of the Pequots.

King Philip’s War (Metacom’s War)

A devastating war (1675–1676) between New England colonists and an alliance of Native American tribes led by Metacom (known as King Philip to the English). The war slowed colonial expansion for decades and largely eliminated Native American power in New England.

New England Confederation

A military alliance formed in 1643 by four Puritan colonies (Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, New Haven, and Connecticut) for defense against Native Americans and intercolonial problems; it was a significant early step toward colonial unity.

English Civil War

A series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists from 1642 to 1651, leading to the temporary execution of King Charles I and the establishment of the Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell.

Dominion of New England

An administrative union created by King James II in 1686, merging all of New England, New York, and New Jersey under the unpopular and autocratic rule of Sir Edmund Andros; it was an attempt to enforce the Navigation Acts and assert imperial control.

Navigation Acts

A series of laws passed by the English Parliament beginning in 1651 to regulate colonial shipping, trade, and manufacturing, ensuring that the colonies served as a closed market for British goods and resources.

Glorious Revolution

The relatively bloodless overthrow of Catholic King James II in 1688 and the ascension of Protestant monarchs William III and Mary II to the English throne; this led to the collapse of the Dominion of New England.

William III and Mary II

Protestant rulers of the Netherlands who were invited by Parliament to take the English throne in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, replacing James II.

Salutary neglect

An unofficial British policy from the early to mid-18th century of loosely enforcing trade restrictions, especially the Navigation Acts, on the American colonies; this allowed the colonies a degree of self-rule and economic freedom.

Quakers

A religious group known as the Religious Society of Friends; they were pacifists, refused to support the Church of England, and advocated for religious tolerance and peaceful relations with Native Americans; founded Pennsylvania.

William Penn

A wealthy English Quaker who was granted a large tract of land by Charles II in 1681 and founded Pennsylvania as a haven for Quakers and a "holy experiment" based on religious toleration and liberal government.

New Amsterdam

The Dutch colonial settlement on the southern tip of Manhattan Island, which was the seat of the government for the New Netherland territory; it was taken by the English in 1664 and renamed New York.

Indentured servants

Poor colonists who voluntarily sold their labor for a set period (usually 4 to 7 years) in exchange for passage to the New World and eventual freedom dues (clothing, tools, perhaps land). They were the primary labor force in the Chesapeake colonies before the 1680s.

Bacon’s Rebellion

An uprising in 1676 in Virginia led by planter Nathaniel Bacon against Governor William Berkeley's friendly policies toward Native Americans and his refusal to grant land-hungry settlers more land; the rebellion highlighted class tensions and the move away from indentured servitude toward African slavery.

William Berkeley

The long-serving royal governor of Virginia whose friendly policies toward Native Americans and refusal to retaliate against Native American attacks on the frontier led to Bacon's Rebellion.

Nathaniel Bacon

A young planter who led Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676, consisting primarily of discontented frontiersmen and landless former indentured servants.

Middle Passage

voyage of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to the New World, part of the Triangular trade.

Slave codes

A set of laws beginning in the late 17th century that formally defined the legal status of enslaved people (property, not people) and limited the rights of Black people, ensuring the perpetual and hereditary nature of slavery.

Triangular trade

An indirect, profitable pattern of colonial commerce connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas

Molasses Act

A 1733 British law that placed a heavy tax on imported French molasses, a key ingredient for colonial rum; it was an early attempt to regulate colonial trade.

Salem Witch Trials

A series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts (1692–1693); the crisis reflected widening social stratification, religious fanaticism, and friction with Native Americans.

Paxton Boys

A group of Scots-Irish frontiersmen from Pennsylvania who murdered several Native Americans in 1763 and then marched on Philadelphia to demand the colonial government provide better defense against Native Americans

Regulator movement

A movement in North Carolina (late 1760s/early 1770s) of disgruntled back-country farmers who organized to fight against high taxes, corrupt officials, and underrepresentation in the colonial legislature

Great Awakening

A widespread religious revival in the American colonies (1730s–1740s); it emphasized direct, emotional spirituality and weakened the authority of the established churches.

Jonathan Edwards

A New England minister and theologian whose powerful sermons, such as "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," ignited the Great Awakening

George Whitefield

An English preacher whose preaching tours throughout the colonies were key to spreading the Great Awakening.

Poor Richard’s Almanac

A famous publication (1732–1758) written by Benjamin Franklin; it contained proverbs, maxims, and practical advice, greatly shaping the American character and promoting virtues like thrift, industry, and morality.

Benjamin Franklin

A prominent American writer, inventor, publisher, scientist, and statesman, his writings like Poor Richard's Almanac, exemplify the colonial Enlightenment and American ingenuity.

Royal colonies

Colonies where the governor was appointed directly by the English king (e.g., Virginia after 1624).

Proprietary colonies

Colonies where the king granted a charter to a proprietor or a group of proprietors who were responsible for governing the colony (e.g., Maryland, Pennsylvania).