APUSH Period 2: Colonial America Flashcards

Roanoke Colony (“Lost Colony”)

The first English attempt at settlement (1585) by Sir Walter Raleigh; disappeared mysteriously

Joint-Stock Company

A business where investors pool money to fund colonies and share profits; used for early English colonization

Virginia Company

Joint-stock company that founded Jamestown in 1607 for economic gain

Jamestown

first permanent English colony in North America (1607, Virginia) 

Captain John Smith

Early Jamestown leader who enforced discipine; famous for “He who shall not work shall not eat”

John Rolfe

Jamestown settler who developed tobacco as a cash crop and married Pocahontas

Pocahontas

Powhatan Indian who acted as a mediator between natives and settlers; married John Rolfe 

Powhatan Confederacy

Native American alliance near Jamestown; initially traded with settlers, later conflicted

“Starving Time”

the winter of 1609-1610 when most Jamestown settlers died from famine and disease 

Tobacco Economy

cash crop that saved Virginia’s economy but led to land expansion and slave labor

Corporate Colony

run by joint-stock companies

Royal colony

under direct control of the king

proprietary colony

granted by the king to individuals with full governing rights

House of Burgesses (1619)

First representative assembly in America; set example for self-government

Mayflower Compact (1620)

agreement by pilgrims to self-govern by majority rule in Plymouth Colony

“City Upon a Hill”

John Withthrop’s phrase describing the Puritan version for Massachusetts Bay as a moral example

Halfway Covenant

Allowed partial church membership for Puritan version for Massachusetts Bay as a moral example

Fundmental Orders of Connecticut (1639)

first written constitution in the colonies; established representative government

New England Colonies

Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire; focused on trade, religion, and education

Middle Colonies 

New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware; diverse population, “breadbasket” farming, trade

Southern Colonies

Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia; plantation based, slavery. tobacco/rice/indigo

Maryland Act of Toleration (1694)

Granted religious freedom to all Christians but persecuted non-Christians

Quakers

Religious emphasizing equality and pacifism; founded Pennsylvania

William Penn

Founder of Pennsylvania; called it his “holy Experiment” of religious tolerance and fair treatment of Natives

Roger Williams

founded Rhode Island; believed in religious freedom and separation of church and state

Anne Hutchinson

Puritan dissenter banished for challenging church authority; founded Portsmouth, Rhode Island

James Oglethorpe

founded of Georgia; planned as a debtor’s colony and buffer against Spanish Florida

Mercantilism

Economic theory that colonies exist to benefit the mother country by providing raw materials and markets 

Navigation Acts (1650-1673)

British trade laws requiring all colonial goods be shipped on English vessels and sold to England

Salutary Neglect

Period when British loosely enforced trade laws, allowing colonies self-rule

Triangular Trade

trade route connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas (goods → slaves → raw materials)

Middle Passage

Brutal transatlantic voyage that brought enslaved Africans to the Americas

Enumerated Goods

colonial products (like tobacco, sugar restricted to English markets under the Navigation Acts)

New England Confederation

Alliance of New England colonies for defense and unity against threats

King Philip’s war (1675-1676)

conflict between New England colonies and Wampanaog chief Metacom (King Philip); ended major Native resistance in New England

Bacon’s rebellion (1676)

armed urising of Virginia settlers (led by Nathaniel Bacon) against Governor Berkeley over Native attacks and class inequality

Pueblo Revolt(1680) 

Successful Native uprising against Spanish rule in New Mexico; temporarily expelled Spaniards

Indentured Servitude

system where individuals worked 4-7 years in exchange for passage to the colonies

Headright system

offered 50 acres to anyone who paid their or another’s passage to Virginia; encouraged settlement

Chattel Slavery

legal system treating enslaved peoples’ rights and freedoms

slave codes

colonial laws restricting enslaved people’s rights and freedoms

stono rebellion 

slave uprising in South Carolina; led to harsher slave laws 

great awakening (1730s-1740s)

religious revival emphasizing emoton, faith, and personal connection to God

Jonathan Edwards

preacher of the Great Awakening; wrote Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God

George Whitefield

traveling preacher whose emotional sermons united the colonies shared religious experience

“New Lights” vs. “Old Lights”

terms describing supporters vs. critics of Great Awakening revivalism

Harvard College (1636)

founded by the puritans to train ministers; first college in America

Salem Witch Trials (1692)

series of accusations and executions for witchcraft in Massachusetts; showed social tensions 

Enlightenment

intellectual movement emphasizing reason, science, and individual rights over tradition 

John Peter Zenger Trial (1735) 

court case that established an early precedent for freedom of the press 

Poor Richard’s Almanac

popular annual publication by Benjamin Franklin with proverbs and practical wisdom

Representative Government

colonists tradition of electing assemblies like the House of Burgesses or town meetings

Religious Toleration

acceptance of multiple faiths (especially in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Maryland)

Plantation System 

Large scale farms using slave labor for cash crops (tobacco, rice, indigo) 

regionalism

distinct colonial cultures: Puritan New England diverse Middle Colonies plantation South

Self-government

colonists’ growing independence through local assemblies and limited royal interference