Colonial America, Enlightenment, and Great Awakening Vocabulary

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering colonial trade regulations, governance structures, political culture, Enlightenment philosophy, and the Great Awakening based on lecture notes.

Navigation Acts of 1660

British laws requiring 75% of trading ship crews to be British citizens and mandating that colonial commodities like tobacco, sugar, cotton, and indigo stop in England first to be taxed before being shipped anywhere else.

Dominion of New England

A single royal entity created by King James II that revoked local colonial charters and combined Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and New Hampshire under royal control.

Sir Edmund Andrews

The royal governor appointed by King James II to rule the Dominion of New England, widely disliked by colonists as a tyrant for dissolving local assemblies and strictly enforcing the Navigation Acts.

Glorious Revolution

The revolution in England that deposed King James II, placed King William and Queen Mary on the throne, established a Bill of Rights, and led to the collapse of the Dominion of New England.

Mayflower Compact

An agreement drawn up by the Pilgrims before stepping off their ship that outlined a fundamental system of self-governance in the colonies.

Civic Duty

The colonial political expectation that elected representatives have a moral obligation to act in the best interest of the people rather than for their own self-interest.

Provincial Colonies

Colonies controlled directly by the King of England, who possessed the authority to appoint the governor.

Proprietary Colonies

Colonies in which the owners of the land appointed the governor.

Chartered Colonies

Colonies in which the colonists governed themselves and elected their own governor.

Enlightenment

An intellectual movement, also known as the Age of Reason, originating in Europe that shifted explanations away from religion toward rational inquiry, scientific research, observation, and natural laws.

Natural Rights

Fundamental rights to life, liberty, and property that every person inherently possesses as a human being, rather than rights granted or earned from a government.

Social Contract

John Locke's concept outlined in Two Treaties on Government stating that government exists to protect the natural rights of the people, and if it fails or infringes on those rights, the people have a duty to overthrow it.

Deism

An Enlightenment religious view describing God as a 'great watchmaker' who created the universe, rational thought, and natural laws, but does not regularly intervene or interact directly in daily human affairs.

System of Coverture

A legal system under which a woman's legal identity was covered by her husband or close male relatives, preventing her from holding independent legal rights to liberty or property ownership.

Great Awakening

A purely American religious revival movement within Protestant faith traditions that reignited excitement and interest in religion after church membership had significantly declined.

Jonathan Edwards

The preacher who delivered the famous revival sermon titled Sinners hands of the angry God, sparking a widespread wave of religious revival across the United States.