Period 2 Part 1 Terms

huguenots

A group of French Protestants who were persecuted by the French Catholic government during the 17th century

colonization

The process of settling and controlling an already inhabited area for the economic benefit of the settlers, or colonizers.

calvinism

Developed in Switzerland by John Calvin, a version of Protestantism in which civil judges and reformed ministers ruled over a Christian society.

iroquois confederacy

A group of allied American Indian nations that included the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and later the Tuscarora. The Confederacy was largely dissolved by the final decade of the 1700s.

pueblo revolt

1680 uprising of Pueblo Indians against Spanish forces in New Mexico that led to the Spaniards’ temporary retreat from the area. The uprising was sparked by mistreatment and the suppression of Pueblo Culture and religion.

indentured servitude

Servants contracted to work for a set period of time without pay. Many early migrants to the English colonies indentured themselves in exchange for the price of passage to North America.

joint stock company

Companies in which large numbers of investors own stock. They were able to quickly raise large amounts of money and shared risk and reward equally among investors.

headright system

Created in Virginia in 1618, it rewarded those who imported indentured laborers and settlers with fifty acres of land.

house of burgesses

Local governing body in Virginia established by the English crown in 1619.

veto

The right to block a decision made by a governing body.

church of england

National church established by King Henry VIII after he split with the Catholic Church in 1534.

english civil war

A series of conflicts in the mid-17th century fought between those loyal to King Charles I and those loyal to the Parliament over religious freedom and power

slave code

Laws restricting enslaved peoples’ rights, largely due to slaveholders’ fears of rebellion.

bacon's rebellion

1676 uprising in Virginia led by Nathaniel Bacon. Bacon and his followers, many of whom were former indentured servants, were upset by the Virginia governor’s unwillingness to send troops to intervene in conflicts between settlers and American Indians and by the lack of representation of western settlers in the House of Burgesses.

protestant reformation

A 15th-century religious reform movement that led to Protestantism, involving the groups separated from the Roman Catholic Church.

pilgrims

Also known as Separatists, a group of English religious dissenters who established a settlement at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. Unlike more mainstream Protestants, the Pilgrims aimed to cut all connections with the Church of England.

predestination

Religious belief that God has predetermined who is worthy of salvation, and thus it could not be earned through good works or penance.

theologians 

Those who study and debate God, religion, and religious beliefs.

indulgences

Documents that absolved the buyer of sin.

mayflower compact

Written agreement created by the Pilgrims upon their arrival in Plymouth. It was the first written constitution adopted in North America.

puritan migration

The mass migration of Puritans from Europe to New England during the 1620s and 1630s.

anglicization 

Adoption of English customs and traditions. This shaped colonial culture and politics in eighteenth-century North America.

common law

Law established from custom and the standards set by previous judicial rulings.

pequot war

1636-1637 conflict between New England settlers, their Narragansett allies, and the Pequots. The English saw the Pequots as both a threat and an obstacle to further English expansion.

metacom's war

1675-1676 conflict between New England settlers and the region’s American Indians. The settlers were the eventual victors, but fighting was fierce and casualties on both sides were high.

dominion of new england

The consolidation of Northeastern colonies by King James II in 1686 to establish greater control over them, resulting in the banning of town meetings, new taxes, and other unpopular policies. The Dominion was dissolved during the Glorious Revolution.

glorious revolution

A series of events leading to the transfer of power from James II to William III of Orange and Mary II

king william's war

1689-1697 war that began as a conflict over competing French and English interests on the European continent but soon spread to the American frontier. Both sides pulled American Indian allies into the war.

household mode of production

the production of services and goods for a household by its own members

enclosure movements

A 1600s movement in the 1600s where common village land was turned into private land and fenced off to benefit wealthy landowners

act of religious toleration

1649 act passed by the Maryland Assembly granting religious freedom to all Christians.

puritans

Radical English Protestants who hoped to reform the Church of England. The first Puritan settlers in the Americans arrived in Massachusetts in 1630

patriarchal family

Model of the family in which fathers have absolute authority over wives, children, and servants. Most colonial Americans accepted the patriarchal model of the family, at least as an ideal.

powhatan confederacy

Large and powerful confederation of Algonquian-speaking American Indians in Virginia. The Jamestown  settlers had a complicated and often combative relationship with the leaders of the Powhatan Confederacy.