AL Colonies Vocabulary

8th grade social studies

Roanoke

One of first attempts to settle in North America; colony was a failure because all residents disappeared

Charter

Document that gives the holder the right to organize settlements in an area

Stock

Shares of ownership a company sells in its business which often carries voting power

John Smith

an English soldier, explorer, colonial governor who played an important role in the establishment of the colony at Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in America, in the early 17th century; known as most successful leader of the Virginia Company

John Rolfe

an early settler of North America known for being the first person to cultivate tobacco in Virginia; married Pocahontas

Tobacco

a plant of the nightshade family which yields tobacco, native to tropical America. It is widely cultivated in warm regions and was a successful crop of southern US colonies.

Pocahontas

A Native American woman born around 1595 - the daughter of the powerful Chief Powhatan

Headright

a grant (as of money or land) formerly given one who fulfilled certain conditions relating especially to settling and developing land

Indentured Servant

Laborer who agreed to work without pay for a certain period of time in exchange for passage to America

Pilgrims

Separatists who journeyed to the Colonies for religious purposes in the 1600s

Puritans

Protestants that wanted to reform the Anglican Church (Church of England)

Persecuted

subject (someone) to hostility and ill-treatment, especially because of their race or political or religious beliefs

Glory, God, Gold

Ideas behind settlements in New World

Economy

the wealth and resources of a country or region, especially in terms of the production and consumption of goods and services

Virginia Company

Economic company who received right to settle in New World based on grant from James I

Separatists

Protestants who wanted to leave the Anglican Church (church of England) and create their own churches

Netherlands

Country in Europe - where Separatists first sought religious freedom before heading to the New World

Mayflower

Ship that carried Pilgrims and other travelers to the New World and landed in 1620 in Plymouth

Mayflower Compact

A formal document, written in 1620, that provided law and order to the Plymouth Colony

William Bradford

Leader of the Plymouth Colony

Wampanoag

Natives who lived in the Plymouth area when the Mayflower arrived; initially friendly but would later go to war with the Colonists

Squanto/Samoset

Natives who befriended the Pilgrims and taught them essential survival skills and how to plant, hunt, and fish the region

Massasoit

a Wampanoag leader, signed a treaty with the Pilgrims in March 1621, and the two groups lived in harmony

Immigrant

a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country.

Slave

a person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey/work for them

Servitude

the state of being a slave or completely subject to someone more powerful.

Mary Dyer

Quaker who was hanged by Puritan leaders for her beliefs

Anne Hutchinson

Puritan who disagreed with Puritan leaders in MA Colony and was banished by Puritan leaders