Chapter 3 - New England & Virginia Vocab

Headright System

A land‑grant policy in Virginia giving 50 acres to anyone who paid for their own passage or someone else’s, used to attract settlers and labor.

Joint-stock company

A business funded by multiple investors who share profits and losses; the Virginia Company was one.

Indentured servants

People who worked 4–7 years in exchange for passage to America, food, and shelter.

Powhatan Confederacy

A powerful alliance of Indigenous tribes in Virginia led by Chief Powhatan during early English settlement.

John Rolfe

Jamestown colonist who introduced tobacco cultivation, making Virginia profitable; married Pocahontas.

Bacon’s Rebellion

A 1676 uprising of frontier settlers led by Nathaniel Bacon against Virginia’s government over land, Native relations, and political power.

The Pequot War

A 1636–1637 conflict in New England where English settlers and their Native allies destroyed the Pequot tribe.

King Philip’s War

A 1675–1676 war between New England colonists and Native tribes led by Metacom (“King Philip”), resulting in massive casualties and Native displacement.

Pilgrims

Separatists who left England seeking religious freedom and founded Plymouth Colony in 1620.

Mayflower Compact

A 1620 agreement establishing self‑government and majority rule for the Pilgrims.

Puritans

A religious group wanting to purify the Church of England; founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

House of Burgesses

Established in 1619 in Virginia; the first elected legislative assembly in English America.

John Winthrop

Puritan leader and first governor of Massachusetts Bay; envisioned it as a “city upon a hill.”

Massachusetts General Court

The elected legislature of Massachusetts Bay Colony, combining law‑making and judicial functions.