England’s Colonies

Parliament

A legislative body of government. They write laws and such. In England, they work with the crown.

Anglicans

Think of religious reformation in England. Anglicans followed the Church of England and were free from the control of the pope

Puritans

They wanted to “purify” the Church of England of and purge it of all Roman Catholicism. They wanted more reform, claiming the church was Protestant enough.

Pilgrims

They were some of the first settlers in America. They came seeking religious freedom. They settled in Plymouth, MA in 1620.

Glorious Revolution

A term used to summarize the events that led to the overthrowing of James II and VII of England, Ireland and Scotland in 1688. It helped to establish the parliament as a ruling power of England.

Joint stock companies

Large, privately owned companies. Investors bought stock and took the risk in hopes of earning high returns for exploration and trade.

Enclosure

Used in terms of English landownership, it means the enclosing of common land, depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege

Jamestown

The first permanent English settlement in the Americas. The colony faced a lot of challenges such as inter-political termoil, attacks from the indigenous Algonquian, and disease. By the first winter, more than half of the colony passed due to disease and famine.

Powhatan

The Powhattan were a tribe of Indigenous peoples in Virginia. They were a part of the Algonquians, the term just commonly refers to those from Virginia. They lost their political power after the Anglo-Powhatan War of 1644-46.

Pocahontas/Matoaka

(Also Matoaka) Was an Indigenous woman, daughter of a Powhatan Chief. She had interactions with the English settlers until the first Anglo-Powhatan War. She was captured by the colonists and held for ransom in 1613. She converted to Christianity and was married to John Rolfe in 1614. After their marriage, she did a tour of England with her husband as a way to promote moving to the colonies. She died at the age of 21 as a result of disease without ever seeing her homeland again.

John Smith

He was a vital power in the establishment of Jamestown. Known for the journal that he kept of his experience as well as his encounters with Matoaka. Although, historians have speculated and proven that his accounts of Matoaka were not truthful.

Tobacco

A cash crop used for cigarettes and cigars. Grown mainly by slaves in the Caribbean.

Indentured servants

(Think Erika in Princess and the Pauper) A form of labor in which one is contracted to work for a set amount of time without salary. It was either voluntary as a form of debt repayment or involuntary as judicial punishment.

Land rich-labor poor

Bacon’s Rebellion

An armed rebellion that took place from 1676 to 1677. It was fought by Nathaniel Bacon and Colonial Governer William Berkeley because Berkeley refused Bacon’s request to drive the Indigenous people out of Virginia. Bacon burned Jamestown to the ground on September 19, 1676. He died less than a month later on October 26th. Berkeley managed to crush the rebellion.

New England 

A Northeast region of America consisting of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

The largest settlement in New England. It was a charter colony, meaning that they were allowed to govern themselves.

John Winthrop

John Winthrop was governor for 12 years of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was the puritan leader of the first wave of Puritan migrants to the colonies.

Plymouth Colony

The second permanent colony in New England. The settlers came on the Mayflower. They are best known for celebrating the first Thanksgiving.

Squanto/Tisquantum

Squanto was a member of the Patuxet tribe. He was an interpreter for his tribe and the settlers of Plymouth. He taught the colonist how to fish, hunt, and grow crops on the new land.

“City upon a hill” 

Derived from the Bible, it is used in American politics to declare American expressionism and claim America as “a beacon of hope” for the world. John Winthrop used it to describe the Massachusetts Bay Colony saying it would shine like an example to the world.

Anne Hutchinson

She was a Puritan minister. She is regarded as one of America’s earliest feminist. She challenged male authority by preaching to women and men as well as questioning Puritan teachings of salvation.

Roger Williams

Roger Williams was known for founding Rhode Island. He advocated for the separation of church and state in the colonies.

Carolinas

Carolina was one of the first three colonies established in America. They partitioned into North and South on January 24, 1712.

Quakers

Also known as The Society of Friends, they came to prominence in the mid-1600s in England. They seek to experience God directly; within themselves and their relationships with others.

Race based slavery

The origins of race based slavery came from the second half of the 1600s in Virginia. It was the act of enslavement of people based solely on race.

Middle Passage

The Middle Passage was the 80 day voyage that slave ships took to ship slaves to the Americas. 12.5 million Africans traversed the passage and 10.7 survived

Triangle Trade

The trade between Africa, the Americas, and Europe. Slaves came from Africa, raw materials came from the Americas, and manufactured goods came from Europe

Cash Crops

Cash crops are crops that are grown for sale rather than sustenance, like tobacco and sugar. These crops were mainly grown by enslaved people in the Caribbean.