Colonization Vocab

Renaissance

Flowering of art, culture, and humanism in Central Europe.

Columbus

Opened the New World to Europe.

Henry the Navigator

Portuguese prince who funded aviation and sailing, essential for New World exploration.

Balboa

Spanish explorer who reached and named the Pacific Ocean.

Magellan

Led the first voyage to circumnavigate the globe; died in the Philippines.

Cortes

Spanish soldier who conquered the Aztec Empire.

Pizzaro

Spanish conquistador who conquered the Incan Empire.

Henry Hudson

Explored coast of New York and Atlantic for the Dutch and English.

Champlain

French explorer who colonized eastern Canada, notably Quebec and Montreal.

Joint Stock Company

Group of private investors who funded the establishment of New World colonies.

Jamestown (1607)

First permanent English settlement in colonial America.

John Smith

Second leader of Jamestown, credited with its survival.

John Rolfe

Jamestown colonist who married Pocahontas and introduced modern tobacco.

Royal Colony

A colony that is governed by a Royal Governor.

Proprietary Colony

A colony run by a single private individual.

Separatists/Pilgrims

People seeking to separate from the Church of England, leading to the establishment of Plymouth Colony.

Puritans

Those wanting to purify the Church of England of Catholic elements.

Mayflower Compact

The first set of English laws created in colonial America.

John Winthrop

Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, envisioned a 'City on a Hill' as a model for society.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

The largest colony run as a Puritan theocracy.

Great Migration

The first mass movement of Europeans to the New World for various reasons.