European Colonies & Native Nations (Quick Review Notes)

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering major people, places, events, and concepts from Chapter 2: European Colonies and Native Nations, including early English colonization, Native relations, Puritan New England, and evolving ideas of liberty.

John Cabot (1497)

Italian explorer sailing for England; first European since the Vikings to reach North America’s coast.

English Reformation

16th-century break with the Catholic Church, creating the Church of England under Henry VIII.

Church of England

Protestant national church established by Henry VIII, with the monarch as its head.

The Pale (Ireland)

English-controlled zone to which conquered Irish Catholics were confined.

Sir Walter Raleigh

English adventurer who sponsored failed Roanoke colony on North Carolina’s coast.

Roanoke Colony

Lost English settlement (1580s); found abandoned with word “Croatoan” carved on a tree.

Virginia Dare

First English child born in America, granddaughter of Roanoke governor John White.

A Discourse Concerning Western Planting

1584 pamphlet urging Queen Elizabeth I to colonize America to spread Protestantism and rival Spain.

Enclosure Movement

English landlords fenced common lands for sheep/crop rotation, displacing peasants and fueling emigration.

Masterless Men

Unemployed wanderers viewed as social threats but who saw America as a place for economic freedom.

Indentured Servant

Person who exchanged 5–7 years of labor for passage to America; could be bought, sold, and punished.

Land and Liberty

Puritan/English belief that land ownership granted economic independence and political rights (e.g., voting).

Virginia Company

Joint-stock company that founded Jamestown in 1607 seeking gold rather than stable settlement.

Jamestown (1607)

First permanent English settlement in present-day U.S., located on the James River, Virginia.

John Smith

Jamestown leader who imposed military discipline; declared “He that will not work, shall not eat.”

Powhatan (Wahunsonacock)

Paramount chief of Algonquian towns around Jamestown; sought trade alliance with English.

Pocahontas

Powhatan’s daughter; intermediary between Powhatans and colonists, later married John Rolfe.

Opechancanough

Powhatan’s brother who led 1622 surprise attack killing a quarter of Virginia’s settlers.

Anglo-Powhatan Wars

Series of 17th-century conflicts (1610–1644) between Virginia colonists and Powhatan peoples.

Tobacco Colony

Nickname for Virginia (and Maryland) after tobacco became its cash crop and export “gold.”

John Rolfe

Colonist who introduced profitable West Indian tobacco to Virginia; married Pocahontas.

Plantation Slavery

Large-scale, labor-intensive agricultural system relying on enslaved Africans, distinct from earlier forms of slavery.

West Indies Sugar Plantations

Caribbean estates where brutal slave labor produced sugar, creating African-majority islands and vast profits.

Angela (1619)

One of the first recorded Africans sold in Virginia, working in planter William Pierce’s household.

Dower Rights

Under English law, widows entitled to one-third of deceased husband’s property for life.

Proprietary Colony

English colony granted to an individual with full governing rights (e.g., Maryland).

Lord Baltimore (Cecil Calvert)

Proprietor of Maryland who envisioned feudal manors and Catholic-Protestant coexistence.

Puritanism

English religious movement seeking to “purify” the Church of England of Catholic remnants.

Predestination

Calvinist doctrine that God has already chosen the elect for salvation.

Moral Liberty

Puritan concept of freedom as obedience to God’s will, not individual autonomy.

Pilgrims

Separatist Puritans who founded Plymouth Colony in 1620 after signing the Mayflower Compact.

Mayflower Compact

First written framework of government in America; pledged male settlers to “just and equal laws.”

Squanto

Patuxet Indian who taught Pilgrims survival skills and brokered alliance with Wampanoags.

Great Migration (1629-1640)

Exodus of ~21,000 Puritans from England to Massachusetts, creating New England society.

Congregational Church

Puritan church model where each congregation governs itself independently.

General Court

Elected legislative body of Massachusetts Bay Colony; originally company shareholders.

Body of Liberties (1641)

Massachusetts legal code listing rights and duties; sanctioned slavery for “outsiders.”

Pequot War (1636-1637)

Conflict where English and Native allies destroyed Pequot nation, signaling colonial power.

Roger Williams

Puritan dissenter who founded Rhode Island advocating separation of church and state and religious freedom.

Rhode Island Colony

Haven for religious dissenters; no established church, broad male suffrage, frequent town meetings.

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639)

Early constitution allowing voting by non-church members in Hartford colony.

Anne Hutchinson

Puritan woman banished for criticizing ministers and claiming direct revelations from God.

Half-Way Covenant (1662)

Policy granting partial church membership to grandchildren of original Puritan settlers.

Magna Carta (1215)

English charter limiting royal authority; source of idea of “rights of Englishmen.”

English Civil War (1642-1649)

Conflict over monarchy vs. Parliament and religious authority; ended with Charles I’s execution.

Levellers

Radical group in Civil War era advocating written constitution, universal male suffrage, and equal rights.

Quakers (Society of Friends)

Religious sect believing inner light exists in all; persecuted in Massachusetts.

Maryland Toleration Act (1649)

Law granting freedom of worship to all Christians in Maryland; early step toward religious liberty.

Navigation Act of 1651

Cromwell-era law directing colonial trade through English ships and ports to weaken Dutch commerce.

Haudenosaunee League (Iroquois)

Powerful confederacy of five (later six) nations in Northeast North America.

Calumet Ceremony

Indigenous peace-pipe ritual transforming strangers into kin to seal alliances.

Wampum

Beaded shells used by Native peoples as record-keeping, diplomacy, and currency.