Period 2 Vocabulary Flashcards: Colonial America amid Global Change (1607-1754)

A comprehensive set of vocabulary terms and concise definitions covering key concepts, events, people, and institutions from Period 2: Colonial America amid Global Change (1607-1754).

Jamestown

First permanent English settlement in North America (1607); faced drought, hunger, and conflict with Powhatan; sustained later by tobacco.

Powhatan Confederacy

Alliance of Algonquian-speaking tribes led by Chief Powhatan in Virginia; interacting with Jamestown settlers.

Chief Powhatan

Leader of the Powhatan Confederacy; played a key role in early relations with English colonists.

Pocahontas (Matoaka, Rebecca)

Daughter of Powhatan; married John Rolfe; personified early English–Native American diplomacy; baptized as Rebecca.

John Rolfe

Virginia settler who perfected tobacco cultivation in Jamestown and married Pocahontas.

Headright system

Land grant (often 50 acres) awarded to an importer for each indentured servant brought to the colony.

Indentured servitude

Labor system where migrants agreed to a set number of years of service in exchange for passage; common in early Virginia.

Virginia Company

Joint-stock company that funded Jamestown; aimed to profit from English colonization.

Starving Time

Winter 1609–1610 in Jamestown marked by food shortages and extreme famine.

General Assembly of Virginia

Colonial legislative body established in 1619; evolved into a bicameral assembly with the House of Burgesses.

House of Burgesses

Lower house of Virginia’s General Assembly; elected representatives, early model of representative government.

Privy Council

King’s advisory council in London; could veto colonial legislation.

Act of Religious Toleration (Maryland, 1649)

Law granting religious freedom to Christians in Maryland; early precedent for religious toleration.

Cecilius Calvert, Lord Baltimore

Founder of Maryland; Catholic nobleman who promoted a haven for Christians and religious toleration.

Puritans

English Protestants seeking to reform the Church of England; established the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Pilgrims

Separatists who settled Plymouth (1620) to practice their faith freely.

Mayflower Compact

Early self-governing framework signed by Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower in 1620.

Puritan Migration

Mass movement of Puritans to New England (1620s–1630s) seeking religious freedom and a godly community.

Massachusetts Bay Company

Chartered company that established the Massachusetts Bay Colony; centralized Puritan settlement.

Winthrop, A Model of Christian Charity

Puritan sermon envisioning a unified, godly community; “city upon a hill.”

Old Light clergy

Conservative Puritan clergy who supported traditional worship practices.

New Light clergy

Revivalist preachers promoting emotional, experiential religion during the Great Awakening.

First Great Awakening

Religious revival (c. 1730s–1740s) emphasizing personal conversion and challenging established churches.

Enlightenment

European intellectual movement stressing reason and science; informed colonial thought (e.g., Locke, Franklin).

Mercantilism

Economic theory: wealth measured in gold/silver; nations seek favorable trade balance and control of colonial trade.

Navigation Acts

British laws (1650s–1670s) requiring trade in English ships and enumerated commodities to benefit England.

Enumerated articles

Goods (like tobacco, sugar, indigo) that had to be shipped to England before export elsewhere.

Barbados

British West Indies sugar island; developed plantation slavery; by 1660s a Black majority population.

Barbados slave codes

Legal framework defining enslaved Africans as property; codified hereditary slavery.

South Carolina rice and indigo plantations

Labor-intensive crops shaping slave economies and social structure in the southern colonies.

Stono Rebellion

1739 slave uprising in South Carolina; led march toward Spanish Florida; crushed with many executions.

Middle Passage

Brutal sea voyage of enslaved Africans from Africa to the Americas; high death rates.

Royal African Company

Company chartered (1660; rechartered 1672) to trade and transport enslaved Africans to the Americas.

Gang labor

System of organizing enslaved workers into centralized, tightly supervised work crews on plantations.

Walking Purchase (1737)

Deceptive treaty that enabled Pennsylvania to claim land by walking distances, dispossessing Delaware Indians.

Leisler’s Rebellion

1689–1691 New York uprising led by Jacob Leisler; contested royal authority; reflected class tensions.

Dominion of New England

1686–1689 centralized royal authority in the Northeast; banned town meetings; ended by Glorious Revolution.

Glorious Revolution (1688)

Overthrow of James II; William and Mary assumed power; increased colonial autonomy.

Queen Anne’s War (1702–1713)

North American theater of the War of Spanish Succession; contested colonial borders.

King William’s War (1689–1697)

First major colonial war between English and French in North America; impacted Native alliances.

King George’s War (1739–1748)

North American theater of the War of Austrian Succession; Louisbourg siege and capture debates.

Louisbourg (1745)

French fortress captured by British forces during King George’s War; later returned to France by treaty.

Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)

Ended King George’s War; redrew colonial boundaries in North America.

Louisiana (La Salle, 1682)

French claim north of the Gulf of Mexico; explored down the Mississippi; established forts and missions.

Québec (Champlain, 1608)

First permanent French settlement in New France; hub of fur trade and colonial defense.

New France vs. New Netherlands

France’s and the Dutch’s North American colonies; different settlement patterns and aims.

New Amsterdam / Fort Orange

Dutch colonial center (New Amsterdam, later New York City) and trading post Fort Orange (Albany).

Pueblo Revolt (1680) / San Esteban del Rey Mission

Pueblo uprising against Spanish missions; temporarily expelled Spaniards from Nuevo México.

San Juan Bautista Mission (1644)

Spanish mission established in Nuevo México; part of broader mission system.

Pueblo de Pecos/Apache–Navajo raids

Indigenous resistance and external pressures shaping Spanish frontier policy.

Powhatan adoption ritual

Captive English leader adoption ceremony (Powhatan ritual) signifying dominance and kinship ties.

Massachusetts witchcraft trials (Salem, 1692)

Witchcraft accusations targeting women; 19 hanged; reflected social tensions and gender dynamics.

Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) frame of government (1682)

Penn’s plan for religious freedom and representative government in Pennsylvania.

Walking Purchase (1699)

Treaty forged with Lenape to legitimize land cession and manipulations; often cited as deception.

Conn / Rhode Island religious liberty

Rhode Island’s separation of church and state; Providence founded for religious dissenters; tolerance.

Puritan Model of Charity / “city upon a hill”

Idealized communal society under covenant with God; emphasis on moral discipline and communal aid.

Zenger trial (1734)

New York printer John Peter Zenger acquitted of seditious libel; laid groundwork for freedom of the press.