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

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

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* 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

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* 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“

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* 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

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sanctification

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