Unit 2 — Period 2 Review: 1607–1754 (VOCABULARY)

80 vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, people, places, events, and ideas from the period 1607–1754 in United States history.

Mercantilism

Economic theory that a country’s wealth is measured by exports; colonies exist to enrich the mother country by supplying raw materials and markets.

Navigation Acts

English laws (1650–1673) restricting colonial trade to English or colonial ships and ports, and listing enumerated goods.

Enumerated goods

Colonial exports that could only be shipped to England under mercantilist policy.

Triangular Trade

Three-part Atlantic trade system linking the colonies, Africa, and Europe in rum, enslaved people, sugar, and other goods.

Middle Passage

The brutal sea voyage of enslaved Africans from Africa to the Americas.

Joint-stock company

Business entity funded by investors to finance colonies; profits shared among shareholders.

Virginia Company

Joint-stock company that established Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in North America.

Headright system

50 acres of land granted to each immigrant who paid for passage to the colonies or to sponsors.

Indentured servant

Worker who contracted to serve a master for a set number of years in exchange for passage and freedom dues.

Royal colony

Colonial government under direct control of the British crown.

Proprietary colony

Colony granted to an individual or group by the crown, who governed the colony.

Corporate colony

Colony operated by a joint-stock company rather than directly by the crown.

Jamestown

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

Plymouth

Settlement founded by the Separatists (Pilgrims) in 1620 in New England.

Mayflower Compact

Early self-government agreement signed by Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower in 1620.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

Puritan settlement founded in 1630; part of New England; strong religious influence.

Puritans

Dissenters from the Church of England seeking to purify it; settled New England colonies.

Great Migration

Large-scale Puritan movement to Massachusetts and other New England colonies in the 1630s.

Roger Williams

Religious dissenter who founded Providence, Rhode Island, promoting religious liberty.

Rhode Island

Colony founded on religious toleration and separation of church and state.

Anne Hutchinson

Puritan dissenter who argued antinomianism; banished to Portsmouth, Rhode Island.

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

1639 constitution establishing a representative government in Connecticut.

New England Confederation

1643 military alliance of four New England colonies for mutual defense.

Metacom’s War (King Philip’s War)

Conflict (1675–1676) between New England colonists and various Native American tribes.

Bacon’s Rebellion

1676 uprising in Virginia led by Nathaniel Bacon against colonial government’s policies toward Indians.

Pocahontas

Native American woman who allied with John Rolfe and helped Jamestown’s survival.

John Rolfe

Early Jamestown settler and husband of Pocahontas; helped popularize tobacco cultivation.

Tobacco

Cash crop that became a staple in Virginia and Chesapeake economy.

St. Augustine

Oldest continuous European settlement in what would become the United States; Spanish in Florida, founded 1565.

Santa Fe

Capital of New Mexico; key Spanish colonial outpost established in 1610.

New Mexico

Spanish territorial region reached by colonization after Florida; site of missions and settlements.

Texas

Spanish settlements in the area between Florida and New Mexico; frontier colonization.

California missions

Franciscan missions established along the California coast (1769 onward) to convert and control indigenous peoples.

San Diego

Site of one of the early Spanish missions on the California coast (1769).

Junípero Serra

Franciscan friar who established missions in California.

Louisiana (La Salle)

French claim and naming of Louisiana after Louis XIV following exploration of the Mississippi basin.

New France

French colonies in North America focused on the fur trade and Catholic missionary activity.

Quebec

First major French settlement in North America, founded by Champlain (1608).

Samuel de Champlain

French explorer who founded Quebec; “Father of New France.”

Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette

Explorers who mapped the upper Mississippi River; expanded French claims inland.

La Salle

French explorer who named Louisiana and claimed the Mississippi basin for France.

New Orleans

Important French trade and settlement on the Mississippi, founded by the French.

Dutch New Amsterdam

Dutch settlement at the tip of Manhattan; renamed New York after English conquest.

Henry Hudson

Explorer whose voyage up the Hudson River laid Dutch claims to the area.

Peter Stuyvesant

Dutch director-general who led New Amsterdam before it became New York.

Dutch West India Company

Private company authorized to govern Dutch colonial holdings in the Americas.

New Netherland

Dutch colonial province in North America including New Amsterdam (later New York).

New York

British colonial possession after the conquest of New Amsterdam in 1664.

James II and the Dominion of New England

1986–1689 administrative union of northern colonies under royal control; ended by the Glorious Revolution.

Andros (Sir Edmund Andros)

Governor appointed to govern the Dominion of New England; unpopular and oppressive.

Glorious Revolution (1688)

Overthrow of James II; it ended the Dominion of New England and restored colonial charters.

Salutary neglect

British policy of lax enforcement of trade laws, allowing colonial autonomy.

Albany Plan of Union (1754)

Benjamin Franklin’s proposal for a unified colonial government.

William Penn

Founder of Pennsylvania; advocate of religious toleration and liberal colonial governance.

Holy Experiment

Penn’s vision for Pennsylvania as a refuge for persecuted religious groups.

Frame of Government

Penn’s 1682–1683 constitution guaranteeing a representative assembly.

Charter of Liberties (1701)

Constitution guaranteeing freedom of worship and immigration in Pennsylvania.

Philadelphia

City founded by William Penn; central city in the Middle Colonies.

Quakers

Religious group (Society of Friends) promoting equality and pacifism; foundational in Pennsylvania.

Act of Toleration (1649)

Maryland statute granting religious freedom to all Christians; temporarily protected Catholics.

Maryland

Proprietary colony founded as a haven for Catholics; later home to religious conflict and toleration laws.

Bacon’s Rebellion (summary)

Early colonial conflict illustrating class tensions and frontier defense issues.

Plymouth Separatists

Pilgrims who sought religious freedom and founded Plymouth Colony.

Mayflower Compact (1620)

Agreement establishing a civil body politic for self-government in Plymouth.

Massachusetts Bay Puritans

Puritan settlers who established a theocratic-leaning colony in New England.

Town meetings

Local assembly-style governance in New England communities.

House of Burgesses (1619)

First representative assembly in English colonies (Virginia).

Mayflower Compact’s significance (policy)

Early move toward self-government and social contract in the colonies.

Pocahontas and Jamestown relations

Early alliance that aided colonization and trade between English settlers and Native Americans.

New England economy (shipbuilding, fishing, timber)

Key industries shaping the New England colonies.

Middle Colonies economy (grain, diversity)

Fertile land and diverse immigrant groups supporting trade and industry.

Southern Colonies economy (tobacco, rice, indigo)

Plantation-based economy with enslaved labor; key Southern crops.

Enslaved Africans in the colonies

Forced labor system; legal codes increasingly codified life-long bondage.

Slave codes (1660s–1700s)

Laws restricting enslaved people’ rights and establishing lifelong bondage.

Triangular trade’s impact on colonies

Labor and goods networks that shaped colonial economies and imperial relations.

Zenger Trial (1735)

A landmark case supporting freedom of the press and criticizing government authority.

The Great Awakening

Religious revival (1730s–1740s) led by Edwards and Whitefield; democratic impulse.

Jonathan Edwards

Puritan minister who sparked the Great Awakening with fiery sermons.

George Whitefield

Evangelist who spread the Great Awakening across colonies; emphasized personal faith.

Enlightenment influence (Locke)

Philosophical movement stressing natural rights and consent of the governed.

John Locke

English philosopher whose social contract ideas influenced colonial thinking.

Zenger and free press

Legal precedent supporting truth as defense against libel in colonial press.

Intercolonial diplomacy (Plan of Union/Albany Plan)

Early attempts to coordinate defense and policy among colonies.

Fundamental Orders (Connecticut)

Early framework for representative government in Connecticut.

Colonial voting rights (limits)

Voting restricted to white male property owners; women and enslaved people excluded.

Great Britain–colonies relationship (tensions and cooperation)

A dynamic of care, neglect, and conflict shaping colonial development.

Poverty and land hunger in colonies

Motivations formigration and settlement patterns across regions.

New World environmental impact

Colonial settlement altered ecology, agriculture, and native-land relations.

Catholic-Protestant tensions in colonies

Diverse religious practices and legal restrictions across regions.

Pueblo Revolt (1680)

Indigenous rebellion led by Pueblo peoples against Spanish rule in the Southwest.

California missions (Spanish)

Mission system to convert and control California Native peoples.

St. Augustine (1565)

Oldest continuously inhabited European-established city in what is now the U.S.

Valued crops (rice, indigo, tobacco)

Key cash crops that shaped regional economies and labor needs.

New Jersey’s colonial development

Growth as a Middle Colony with religious toleration and assembly.

Delaware’s colonial status

Lower counties of PA granted their own assembly; later separated.

Georgia’s founding (1732)

James Oglethorpe-founded colony as buffer and debtor haven; initially regulated.

Savannah (1733)

Georgia’s first settlement and capital; experimental governance.

Salutary neglect’s long-term effects

Weak enforcement produced independence-minded colonial populations.