Colonial America, Trade, and Systems of Slavery

Vocabulary flashcards covering colonial settlement regions, Atlantic trade, economic systems, and regional variations of slavery from the provided lecture notes.

New England Colonies

A colonial region settled in 1636 whose economy relied on fishing, ships, and fur trading, maintaining a small slave population where slavery was limited and less central to the economy.

Chesapeake Bay Region

A region settled in 1607 (including Virginia and Maryland) focused on tobacco as a cash crop, characterized by a strict social hierarchy, large plantations, smaller farms, and hard labor associated with Bacon's Rebellion (1676).

Middle Colonies

A colonial region settled in 1681 with an economy centered on grains, produce, and banking.

Southern Colonies

A colonial region settled in 1661 whose economy relied on cash crops like rice, indigo, and sugar, with slavery central to society from the outset.

Consumer Revolution

A phenomenon where trade and new manufactured goods led to rapid growth in port cities like Philadelphia, Boston, and New York, decreasing the time-space ratio and accelerating colonial development.

Triangular Trade

A three-part Atlantic trade route where manufactured goods moved from Europe to Africa, enslaved people were transported from Africa to the Americas, and colonial cash crops like sugar, rice, coffee, and tobacco were shipped from the Americas to Europe.

Middle Passage

The dangerous $6\text{ week to }3\text{ month}$ middle leg of the triangular trade voyage carrying enslaved Africans across the Atlantic under brutal, overcrowded, and inhumane conditions.

Task System

A system of labor used on plantations in South Carolina and Georgia where enslaved individuals were assigned a specific daily task and were free to spend time with family once that task was finished.

Georgia Experiment

A colonial enterprise founded in 1732 by James Oglethorpe and a group of philanthropists as a haven for worthy poor and imprisoned debtors, which initially banned liquor and slavery before repealing the slavery ban in 1751.

James Oglethorpe

The leader of a group of philanthropists who founded the colony of Georgia in 1732 to improve conditions for imprisoned debtors and create opportunities for the worthy poor.

Indentured Servitude

A system of labor in the 1600s that expanded through the headright system, guaranteeing $50\text{ acres}$ of land after completing $5\text{ to }7\text{ years}$ of work.

Virginia Law of 1723

A colonial law passed in Virginia that revoked voting privileges for free Black people as race became an increasingly strict social division.

Urban Slavery

A labor system where enslaved people were employed in urban markets and domestic service, with some hired or rented out, and some negotiating for partial money.

Bacon's Rebellion (1676)

A 1676 conflict in the Chesapeake region connected to economic strains, hard labor in tobacco production, and social unrest.