Colonial America: Key Figures, Colonies, and Economic Foundations

Virginia company

A joint-stock company that founded the first permanent English colony in America at Jamestown in 1607.

John Rolfe

Pocahontas' husband. Helped the colony develop a variety of tobacco that became popular in Europe and a profitable crop.

Pocahontas

John Rolfe's Indian wife. Helped the colony develop a variety of tobacco that became popular in Europe and a profitable crop.

Lord Baltimore

A Catholic noble, for his service to the king.

Act of Toleration

The first colonial statute granting religious freedom to all Christians. However, the statute also called for the death of anyone who denied the divinity of Jesus.

Roger Williams

Well-respected Puritan minister who moved from England to Boston, arrived in 1631. He believed that the individual's conscience was beyond the control of any civil or church authority.

Providence

Settlement founded by Roger Williams that guaranteed worship freedom and recognized Native land rights.

Anne Hutchinson

A Puritan woman who challenged church authority in Massachusetts by preaching her own interpretations (Antinomianism); she was banished and helped found Portsmouth in 1638.

Antinomianism

The idea that since individuals receive salvation through their faith alone, they were not required to follow traditional moral laws.

Rhode Island

Formed when Roger Williams combined Providence and Portsmouth into one colony; it became a colony known for full religious toleration.

Halfway Covenant

A Puritan Church policy allowing partial church membership to children of baptized but unconverted members to keep people involved in the church.

Quakers (Society of Friends)

They believed that religious authority was found within each person and not in the Bible nor in any outside source.

William Penn

A Quaker who founded Pennsylvania as a refuge for his faith and others, promoting equality and fair treatment of Native Americans.

Holy Experiment

Penn's vision for Pennsylvania was to create a self-governing colony that promoted religious tolerance, equality, and peaceful Quaker principles.

Charter of Liberties (1701)

Guaranteed freedom of worship for all and unrestricted immigration.

Rice-growing plantations

Found mainly in the Carolinas and Georgia; depended on enslaved African labor and produced rice as a cash crop.

Tobacco farms

The economic foundation of Virginia and Maryland; relied on indentured servants and later enslaved Africans.

Jamestown (1607)

The first permanent English settlement in America, founded by the Virginia Company for profit.

Captain John Smith

Leader who helped Jamestown survive its first 5 years through discipline and trade with Native Americans.

Virginia

Developed from the Jamestown settlement into a royal colony whose economy relied heavily on tobacco farming.

Plymouth Colony

Founded by Pilgrims seeking religious freedom after separating from the Church of England.

Separatists

English Protestants who wanted to break entirely from the Church of England; Pilgrims were one group.

Pilgrims

Separatists who sailed on the Mayflower and founded Plymouth in 1620.

Mayflower

The ship that carried the Pilgrims to America; they signed the Mayflower Compact establishing self-government.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

A group of more moderate dissenters, called Puritans, believed that the Church of England could be reformed, or purified.

Puritans

Reform-minded Protestants wanting to purify the Church of England; established Massachusetts Bay Colony.

John Winthrop

Puritan leader and governor of Massachusetts Bay who envisioned it as a model Christian society.

Great Migration

The movement of thousands of Puritans to Massachusetts Bay in the 1630s due to religious persecution and economic troubles in England.

Thomas Hooker

Puritan minister who led settlers from Massachusetts to found Hartford, Connecticut.

John Davenport

Founded New Haven, another Connecticut settlement.

Connecticut

Colony formed when Hartford and New Haven merged; known for early representative government.

New Hampshire

Formed when the king separated it from Massachusetts and made it a royal colony.

The Carolinas

Proprietary colonies that developed rice plantations in the south and small farms in the north.

New York

Originally Dutch (New Amsterdam); taken by the English and given to the Duke of York.

New Jersey

Formed from part of New York; offered land and religious freedom to attract settlers.

Pennsylvania

Founded by William Penn as a Quaker refuge with democratic principles.

Delaware

Shared a governor with Pennsylvania but had its own assembly.

Georgia

Founded by James Oglethorpe as a defensive buffer and a haven for debtors.

James Oglethorpe

Founder and first governor of Georgia; initially banned slavery and alcohol.

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639)

The first written constitution in America, establishing a representative government.

Frame of Government (1682-1683)

William Penn's plan for Pennsylvania's government, guaranteeing representative assembly and religious freedom.

Virginia House of Burgesses

The first representative assembly in the colonies (1619).

Mayflower Compact

Agreement by Pilgrims to self-govern and make decisions by majority rule.

Corporate colonies

Colonies operated by joint-stock companies under royal charter.

Royal colonies

Colonies directly ruled by the English crown through appointed governors.

Proprietary colonies

Colonies granted to individuals or families by the king, who then governed as proprietors.

Chesapeake colonies

Virginia and Maryland; relied on tobacco and indentured/enslaved labor.

Triangular trade

Trade routes linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas; goods, enslaved Africans, and raw materials were exchanged.

Mercantilism

Economic policy where colonies exist to benefit the parent country by providing raw materials and markets.

Navigation Acts

English laws controlling colonial trade to enforce mercantilism; goods had to go through England.

Dominion of New England

Union of several New England colonies under one royal governor to increase royal control.

Sir Edmund Andros

Governor of the Dominion of New England; hated for limiting colonial self-rule and enforcing trade laws.

Glorious Revolution

1688 overthrow of King James II; ended the Dominion and restored colonial governments.

Wampanoag

Native American tribe in New England who first allied with the Pilgrims but later fought against English settlers.

Metacom (King Philip)

Wampanoag chief who led a war against English settlers to resist colonial expansion.

King Philip's War

(1675-1676) Conflict between New England colonists and Native tribes led by Metacom; ended Native resistance in New England.

Sir William Berkeley

Governor of Virginia whose favoritism toward wealthy planters and failure to protect frontier settlers led to Bacon's Rebellion.

Bacon's Rebellion

(1676) Armed rebellion by Virginia settlers against Governor Berkeley over Native policy and lack of frontier protection.

New England Confederation

(1643) Alliance of New England colonies for mutual defense against Native attacks and outside threats.