Early American History and Colonization Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering early English colonization, New England Puritanism, Enlightenment ideas, the American Revolutionary War, and the founding documents of the Constitutional Convention.

Roanoke Island (1587)

The site of an early English settlement established in 1587, known as "The Lost Colony," which remains an unsolved mystery.

Headright Policy (1618)

A policy implemented in Virginia in 1618 stating that the more people a person brought to the colony, the more land they received.

John Rolfe

Jamestown colonist who introduced tobacco as a cash crop in 1614 and remarked in 1617 that colonists spent too much time planting tobacco while neglecting their tillage of corn.

House of Burgesses

The colonial assembly in Virginia that held its first meeting during the crucial year of 1619.

Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)

Considered the first poet to have their work published, whose father and husband were actively involved in Boston politics.

Mayflower Compact

The governing agreement drafted and signed by the Pilgrims in 1620 upon establishing Plymouth.

Massachusetts Bay Colony (1629)

Colony founded in 1629 by Non-separating Congregationalists led by John Winthrop.

Bible Commonwealth

A Puritan societal model structured around covenants, a providential framework, high literacy, education, communal town structures, and churches.

Antinomianism

A religious doctrine dissenting from mainstream Puritan orthodoxy, closely associated with Anne Hutchinson in Massachusetts.

Jeremiads

Sermons preached in response to perceived declension or religious decay within Puritan society.

John Locke's Two Treatises on Government (1690)

A 1690 Enlightenment political work that heavily influenced social thought, progress, and concepts of government.

Battle of Saratoga (October 1777)

A major Revolutionary War battle in October 1777 resulting in the defeat of General John Burgoyne and securing vital foreign aid.

Friedrich Wilhelm, baron von Steuben

Prussian military officer who trained American troops during their harsh winter encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania in 1778.

Treaty of Paris (September 1783)

The peace treaty signed in September 1783 by John Adams, John Jay, and Ben Franklin that officially concluded the Revolutionary War.

Shays' Rebellion

An uprising during the Critical Period (1783-1789) sparked by economic problems, debt, currency inflation, and tensions between coastal and rural communities.

Virginia Plan

A constitutional proposal presented by James Madison favoring large states, calling for a bicameral legislature with proportional representation.

New Jersey Plan

A constitutional proposal favoring small states, advocating for a unicameral legislature with equal representation for each state.

Great Compromise

An agreement at the 1787 Constitutional Convention establishing a bicameral legislature with a popularly elected House of Representatives based on proportional representation.

$\frac{3}{5}$ Compromise

A constitutional agreement addressing slavery by counting three-fifths of the enslaved population for representation and taxation purposes.