Early American Colonization and Cross-Cultural Encounters

Vocabulary flashcards generated from the introductory lecture covering cross-cultural encounters, the Protestant Reformation, and early English colonization including Jamestown.

Columbian Exchange

The post-Columbus transfer of products, diseases, ideas, and agricultural systems between Europeans and the Americas.

Cross-Cultural Encounter

An interaction that occurs anytime a person from one culture meets someone from another culture.

Conversion

A cultural response to contact with another culture where people adopt a new belief system, such as Aztecs adopting Christianity by choice or by force.

Resistance

A cultural response to foreign intrusion ranging from passive resistance to straight-on armed fighting.

Syncretism

The combination of different or even contradictory forms of belief or practice when cultures meet.

Conquistadors

Spanish explorers, typically second, third, or fourth sons locked out of earning money in Spain, who came to the Americas seeking adventure.

Martin Luther

A German monk who authored the 95 Theses in the 1500s to oppose Catholic Church practices, initiating the Protestant Reformation.

95 Theses

A document containing statement arguments written by Martin Luther criticizing the Catholic Church, particularly its sale of indulgences.

Protestant Reformation

A 16th-century religious movement started by Martin Luther that divided European Christianity into Protestants and Catholics.

Indulgences

Certificates sold by the Catholic Church that guaranteed the buyer access to heaven in exchange for monetary contributions.

John Calvin

A Protestant reformer who developed Calvinism and formulated the doctrine of predestination.

Predestination

The Calvinist belief that whether a soul goes to heaven is already determined at birth and cannot be altered by human behavior.

Puritans

Hardcore Calvinist Protestants who migrated from England to America to purify their souls of Catholic remnants and establish a new religious Eden.

Queen Elizabeth

The Queen of England who supported American colonization by selling land rights to private companies rather than using royal funds.

Joint Stock Company

A business model where private investors pool resources to spread out the financial risks of colonial ventures.

Virginia Company

A joint stock company formed in 1606 that received rights to land between 38 and 41 degrees longitude and established the Jamestown colony.

Powhatan

The ruler of the Powhatan tribes who controlled the territory surrounding the Jamestown settlement.

Starving Time

The winter of 1609 in Jamestown, during which disease and lack of food reduced the population from approximately 500 colonists to 60.

John Rolfe

The colonist who saved Jamestown financially by introducing tobacco seeds from Bermuda and growing a smooth, marketable strain.

Indentured Servants

Workers who signed contracts to labor for a farmer for four to seven years in exchange for passage to America, food, and clothing.

Treaty of 1646

The agreement that dissolved the Powhatan Confederacy approximately 40 years after British arrival and restricted them to a small piece of land under British protection.