English Settlement of the New World (Jamestown, 1607)

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts related to the Jamestown settlement, colonization efforts, labor systems, cash crops, and early American governance.

Jamestown

The first permanent English settlement in North America, founded in 1607 in Virginia by the Virginia Company; faced harsh, marshy land, disease, and conflict with Native Americans.

Joint-stock company

A company where many investors buy shares to fund colonization; provided the capital for Jamestown with hopes of quick wealth.

Headright system

A land grant of 50 acres given to settlers who moved to Virginia, used to attract workers and expand settlement.

Tobacco (cash crop)

A labor-intensive crop grown for sale; became Virginia’s major cash crop and drove economic activity in the colony.

Powhatan

Native American group and leader in Virginia; tensions arose as tobacco farming expanded onto Powhatan lands.

Indentured servant

A white person with little or no money who signed a contract to work for a fixed term (typically seven years) in exchange for passage to America.

Slavery (African slavery)

A system in which Africans were enslaved and forced to work; introduced as a labor source in Virginia.

1619

The year often cited as when African slavery began in Virginia, signaling a shift in colonial labor practices.

House of Burgesses

The first representative legislative assembly in what would become the United States (established in 1619); voting was limited to wealthy white male landowners.

Virginia Company

The English joint-stock company that sponsored and funded the Jamestown settlement in hopes of profit.

Cash crops

Crops grown primarily for sale (not for personal use), such as tobacco, to generate revenue in the colony.

Marshy, mosquito-infested land (environment of Jamestown)

The unhealthy, swampy environment around Jamestown contributed to disease and hardships for early settlers.