british north america vocab

mercantilism

• policies aimed at guaranteeing prosperity to a nation
• makes the country as economically self-sufficient as possible
• eliminates dependence on foreign suppliers
• damages foreign competitors’ commercial interests
• selling more than buying abroad
• practiced by britain, france, and spain
• “the wealth of the world is finite“
• the economic motivation for England settling North America

joint stock company

• a company whose stock is owned jointly by the shareholders
• made english colonization successful
• british government awards pieces of land to stockholders, the system favors english politicians
  • landowners called “proprietors“
  • in charge of peopling, governing, and defending their colony
• ex: Massachusetts-Bay company, Virginia company

mercantilism

• policies aimed at guaranteeing prosperity to a nation
• makes the country as economically self-sufficient as possible
• eliminates dependence on foreign suppliers
• damages foreign competitors’ commercial interests
• selling more than buying abroad
• practiced by britain, france, and spain
• “the wealth of the world is finite“
• the economic motivation for England settling North America

joint stock company

• a company whose stock is owned jointly by the shareholders
• made english colonization successful
• british government awards pieces of land to stockholders, the system favors english politicians
  • landowners called “proprietors“
  • in charge of peopling, governing, and defending their colony
• ex: Massachusetts-Bay company, Virginia company

charter

• a written grant by a country’s government
• founds a body such as a colony, company, city, etc
• defines rights and privileges
• usually given by the British as permission to colonize a new area

jamestown, virginia

• the first permanent english settlement
• founded in 1607 by the London company
• served as the colonial capital from 1616-1699
• had the starving time

“starving time“

• the winter of 1609-1610 in jamestown

• disease, drought, bad harvest, harsh winter, bad water

• left ~75% of colonists dead, only 61 remained

• in 1634, maryland was the first colony not to have a starving time, due to their study of early virginia history

jamestown women

• came to the colonies to provide a sense of stability and to help make a home
• sometimes only sent to help create families

roanoke, virginia

• the first english settlement in America

• founded by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1585

• named for the roanoke river

• the colonists had disappeared under unknown circumstances when a ship visited the colony

  • they only left a tree that said Croatoan
  • found by john white in 1590

• purposes:

  • harassing spanish shipping
  • mining for gold/ silver
  • discovering a passage to the pacific ocean
  • christening the indians

john smith

• english soldier, 28 years old when he became governor of virginia
  • organized everyone into work gangs
  • ensured sufficient food/ housing for winter
  • maintained sanitation/ hygiene
• the colony’s diplomat to the Powhatan tribe
  • they liked him so much that they did a ceremony where he was “saved” by Pocahontas

john rolfe

• an englishman and tobacco planter
• married Pocahontas aafter the first Anglo-Powhatan war (from 1610-1614)
• spent several years adapting tobacco to virginia’s conditions
  • eventually became virginia’s salvation

headright system

• awarded a 50-acre reward for every person (“head“) to whoever paid for the person to enter passage
• incentivized young people to move to america
• started in virginia, moved to middle new england

tidewater

• the preferred land of southern settlers
• on the coast of virginia
• first to be occupied by settlers
• “fall line“ separated tidewater from piedmont

piedmont

• land formation, a gentle slope leading from the base of mountains to a region of flat land
• stretches along the eastern slope of the appalachians
• by 1750, 1/3 of all colonists lived in the piedmont
• “fall line“ separated piedmont from tidewater

staple crops

• tobacco, rice, cotton, indigo
• the new world’s main exports and survival staples
• grown in large quantities for food and export

crop rotation

• discovered by native americans
• allows fields to be unplanted for a while
  • this restores nutrients
• colonists didn’t do this because they didn’t have enough land and didn’t want to use indian methods
  • then they were disappointed when their fields were only prolific for a few years

indentured servants

• people who made an agreement for long-term work
  • helped people gain passage to america, pay off debt, or escape poverty
• most male immigrants were indentured servants
• 1/3 of german immigrants indentured themselves or their children to help pay for the voyage

african slaves

• between 1810 and 1860, over 3.5 million slaves were shipped to the americas
• in the 1820s alone, 850,000 were shipped.

sir john colleton

• 1608-1666
• one of the 8 proprietors of south carolina

anthony ashley-cooper

• british philanthropist
• one of the founders of georgia
• owner of a large plantation in Barbados
• proposed advancing settlement in the Carolina region

charter of carolina

• march 24, 1663
• marked the official beginning of the province of carolina
• gave carolina to 8 men, “the lord’s proprietors“

albemarle sound, cape fear, port royal

• the 3 first major settlements in the carolinas
• by the early 1600s, a group of colonists had already settled at cape fear

oyster point

• while albemarle point was being settled, oyster poine was made at the end of the peninsula
• settled in early 1600s
• built with potential to be a port
• by 1683 had been renamed Charles Town, later Charleston

james oglethorpe

• planner/ founder of savannah
• governor of georgia
• also british member of parliament and philanthropist
• hoped to resettle britain’s “worthy poor“ in georgia, focusing on debt inmates

savannah, georgia

• established 1733
• the oldest city in georgia
• british colonial capital of georgia
• the first state capital
• america’s first planned city
• established by james oglethorpe

protestant reformation

• religious movement that began in 1500s
• brought an end to medieval christianity in western europe
• clergy abuse had people criticizing the catholic church
• martin luther

church of england

• anglicans
• often considered “reformed catholics“
• dont have a central authority

predestination (calvinism)

• john calvin’s belief that an omnipotent God predestined most sinful humans to hell, saving only a few

  • in order to demonstrate his power and grace

• the few saved people were called the “elect“ or “godly“

• john calvin (1509-1564) was a french theologian and protestant reformer

pilgrims aka separatists

• another name for the colonists
• 102 people traveled in the mayflower to plymouth
• arrived in november 1620
• half the pilgrims died within 4 months of landing
• squanto and samoset taught them to farm

mayflower compact

• the mayflower expedition’s leaders had all adult males sign before they arrived in America
• declared that they constituted themselves a government under english rule
• established the colony of new plymouth

william bradford

• leader of the plymouth colony (massachusetts)
• wrote the book “of plymouth plantation“
  • a journal written over a period of years
  • the best account of the pilgrims’ early years

puritans

• a group of calvinists who wanted to split away from “catholic abuses“
• salvation by predestination
• membership in a church is reserved for converted christians
• went against catholic/ anglican churches
• severe self-discipline and moral uprightness

congregational church

• governed by congregation
• instead of having a leader or elders, they avoid any kind of hierarchy
• pilgrims and sometimes baptists ?

massachusetts bay colony

• the largest english settlement in new england
• lasted 1628-1691
• the most influential colony in the region
• settled by puritans under John Winthrop
• now boston and salem massachusetts

great puritan migration

• migration of puritans to the new england colonies
  • starting with plymouth and massachusetts bay
• came in family groups
• motivated by religious freedom

john winthrop

• governor of the massachusetts bay colony
• previously an english puritan lawyer
• led the first wave of colonists in 1630
• advocated for the mayflower compact

roger williams

• founded providence plantations, later rhode island
• english puritan minister, theologian, and author
• controversial because he clashed with puritan fathers
• put on trial for speaking his mind

justification vs sanctification

justification

• happens outside of you
• youre declared righteous
• one-time event
• God decides it
• anne hutchinson

sanctification

• happens inside of you
• youre made righteous
• works-based
• a continual process