Chapter Two: England Plants a Variety of Colonial Seeds in America

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the notes on England’s early colonization efforts in America.

Joint Stock Company

A private investment corporation that funded English colonization by selling shares; London Company and Plymouth Company were two such ventures chartered by James I, whose charters also functioned as early American constitutions.

Mercantilism

England's economic policy that overseas possessions would enrich the mother country by providing markets for English goods and sources of raw materials (e.g., timber, furs).

Virginia Company of London

A joint stock company chartered by King James I to settle Virginia; raised funds, sponsored Jamestown, and governed the colony.

Virginia Company of Plymouth

Another joint stock company chartered by James I to settle lands in Virginia; its charter overlapped with the London Company and areas could be claimed by both but not within 100 miles of each other.

Jamestown

First permanent English settlement in North America, founded in 1607 on the southern Virginia coast and named for King James.

Headright

Land grant of 50 acres given to each person who paid his or someone else’s passage to Virginia; additional headrights awarded for bringing more people.

Indentured servant

A person who signed an indenture (labor contract) to work for about seven years in exchange for passage, food, clothing, and shelter; could be bought, sold, or leased and could be beaten; later freed at term’s end.

Cash crop

A crop grown primarily for sale rather than for the farmer’s own use; tobacco became Virginia’s major cash crop.

Tobacco

Virginia’s profitable cash crop that saved Jamestown; introduced by John Rolfe using Caribbean seeds; created a tobacco economy and demand in England.

John Rolfe

English colonist who cultivated tobacco with Caribbean seeds, producing the colony’s first profitable export and later marrying Pocahontas.

Pocahontas (Rebecca)

Daughter of Chief Powhatan who learned English, converted to Christianity, and took the name Rebecca; married John Rolfe in 1614, aiding peace between settlers and Native peoples.

Powhatan Confederacy

Alliance of about 40 Algonquian-speaking tribes led by Chief Powhatan, involved in trade and conflict with Jamestown.

Starving Times

The period of extreme famine in the early Jamestown settlement (circa 1609–1610) when food ran short and starvation, disease, and raids decimated the population.

Work or Starve

Captain John Smith’s motto urging colonists to work and farm or risk starvation.

James River

A tidal Virginia river along which riverfront plantations were built; planters lived several miles apart and used piers to load tobacco for shipment.

Southern Planter

A tobacco planter; member of a class of planters whose wealth and society centered on tobacco farming and river plantations.

Capitalism (private investment and risk)

An economic system in which private individuals invest, own, and assume financial risk to seek profit, driving colonization and trade.

Motivations for colonization (England)

Political: counter French/Spanish overseas power; Economic: mercantilist profit and wealth; Social: relieve overpopulation and crime; Religious: spread Protestantism and remove religious troublemakers.

Charter/Patent (King James I)

Legal authorization giving rights to colonizing companies (e.g., London and Plymouth) and establishing settlement areas and governing authority.

Overseas trade and credit

Trade between the colony and English merchants, where merchants kept books and provided credit, sometimes financing shipments and supplying goods.

100-mile rule

Restriction that London and Plymouth Company areas could overlap but could not be within 100 miles of each other.

Mosquito-borne diseases

Diseases such as yellow fever and malaria contracted by settlers in swampy Jamestown after arrival, contributing to high mortality.

British voyage to Jamestown

Atlantic crossing of 2–6 months; about a third of passengers died during the voyage due to harsh conditions.