Unit 1: Period 1 (1491-1607) Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key people, events, and concepts from Unit 1, Period 1 (1491-1607) notes.

Columbian Exchange

The widespread transfer of plants, animals, foods, diseases, and cultures between the Old World and the New World after Columbus's voyages.

Old World

Africa, Asia, and Europe; source of crops and animals (e.g., horses, pigs, rice, wheat, grapes) that were brought to the New World.

New World

The Americas; recipient of crops and animals from the Old World and source of crops like corn, potatoes, and tomatoes.

Maize

Corn; a staple crop that spread from present-day Mexico northward and supported economic development.

Caravel

A new, small, highly maneuverable sailing ship that enabled longer exploratory voyages.

Taino

Indigenous people of the Bahamas encountered by Columbus; he claimed their island (San Salvador) for Spain.

San Salvador

The island in the Bahamas where Columbus first landed and claimed for Spain.

Bering Land Bridge

A land bridge that connected Siberia to Alaska; first peoples crossed during migrations; later submerged to form the Bering Strait.

Pre-Columbian

The period in the Americas before Christopher Columbus's arrival.

Encomienda System

Spanish colonial labor system granting colonists authority over a group of natives in exchange for protection, Christianization, and labor.

Conquistadors

Spanish soldiers-explorers who claimed and conquered lands in the Americas for Spain.

Joint-Stock Company

A business enterprise funded by multiple investors to settle and develop colonies (e.g., Virginia Company).

Jamestown

First permanent English settlement in North America, established in 1607 in Virginia.

Headright System

Virginia policy granting land (about 50 acres) to settlers to attract new arrivals and address labor needs.

House of Burgesses

Virginia's representative assembly established in 1619; early step toward self-government.

Indentured Servitude

Labor system where migrants agreed to work for a set period in exchange for passage to the colonies.

Slavery in the English Colonies (1619)

Introduction of enslaved Africans to English colonies; 1619 marks the year associated with early slavery in English North America.

First Arrival of Enslaved Africans in English Colonies (1501)

Notes indicate enslaved Africans arrived in the English colonies in 1501.

Middle Passage

The brutal sea journey of enslaved Africans from Africa to the Americas as part of the transatlantic slave trade.

Tobacco

Cash crop grown in the Chesapeake; John Rolfe’s cultivation helped sustain and expand English settlement and slavery.

Pocahontas

Powhatan princess who allied with the English and married John Rolfe, briefly easing tensions.

Powhatan Confederacy

Native American political and political-economic alliance near the Jamestown area.

Chesapeake

Region including Virginia and Maryland; tobacco-based economy and early slave labor.

Puritans

English Calvinists who sought to reform (purify) the Church of England; settled in New England.

Mayflower Compact

1620 agreement among Pilgrims establishing a civil body politic and government based on consent of the governed.

Plymouth

Colony settled by Separatists (Pilgrims) in present-day Massachusetts in 1620.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

Puritan settlement founded by Congregationalists; significant 1629-1642 migration; emphasis on covenant community.

Great Migration

1629-1642 migration of Puritans to Massachusetts seeking religious freedom and community.

Covenant (Puritan belief)

Puritan idea of a covenant with God; central to social, political, and religious life; often linked to the concept of a ‘city upon a hill.’

Roger Williams

Puritan minister who argued for church-state separation and founded Rhode Island.

Anne Hutchinson

Puritan figure banished for challenging clergy authority and promoting antinomian ideas.

Edict of Nantes

1598 French decree granting limited religious tolerance to Huguenots, influencing later colonial prospects.

Coureurs du bois

French fur traders who moved into the woods, often intermarrying with Native peoples.

French and Indian War

1754-1763 conflict between Britain and France in North America, with Native American alliances; weakened French presence.

Roanoke (Lost Colony)

1587 English settlement on Roanoke Island that disappeared by 1590.

Captain John Smith

English leader at Jamestown who enforced discipline with the proverb 'he who will not work shall not eat.'