Colonial America: King Philip's War & Slavery

50 vocabulary flashcards reviewing major terms from the lecture on King Philip’s War, African American culture, and slavery in colonial North America.

King Philip’s War (1675-1677)

A violent conflict between New England colonists and several Native nations, considered the bloodiest in colonial American history.

Metacom (King Philip)

Wampanoag leader who led Native resistance against English settlers during King Philip’s War.

Wampanoag Tribe

Native American people of southeastern New England central to King Philip’s War.

Conscription Laws (1675)

Colonial statutes that drafted male settlers aged 16-60 into militia service during King Philip’s War.

Militia-Aged Men

Colonial males between 16 and 60 obligated to serve in wartime militias.

Native Population Halved

Outcome of King Philip’s War in which New England’s Native numbers were reduced by 50%.

Bloodiest Colonial Conflict

Descriptor highlighting King Philip’s War as the most lethal per capita in early America.

African American Culture

Blended traditions of enslaved Africans influencing U.S. music, language, religion, and folklore.

Yam

West African root word adopted into colonial English to denote a sweet potato-like tuber.

Tabor

African-derived term for a drum, illustrating linguistic influence on colonial English.

Goober

African word for peanut that entered American English through slave vocabularies.

Secret Code Songs

Spirituals embedding hidden messages to communicate covertly among enslaved people.

Religious Preaching Codes

Use of Christian sermons by slaves to pass clandestine information.

Conversion to Christianity

Gradual adoption and adaptation of Christian faith by enslaved Africans in America.

English Colonial Prosperity

Economic growth that allowed British America to outpace French, Spanish, and Dutch rivals.

For-Profit Colonies

English settlements founded primarily as business ventures rather than royal missions.

Atlantic Mental Barrier

Psychological distance colonists felt from Europe, fostering independent identities.

Triangular Trade

Three-legged commercial route swapping slaves, raw materials, and goods between Africa, the Americas, and Britain.

Middle Passage

Trans-Atlantic slave voyage marked by brutal conditions and high mortality.

Slave Ship Overcrowding

Practice of packing Africans tightly below decks to maximize profits.

Six-Month Voyage

Approximate duration of some Middle Passage journeys from Africa to the Americas.

One in Six Mortality

Estimated death rate of enslaved Africans during the Middle Passage.

Chattel Slavery

System treating enslaved people as movable property for life.

Cash Crops

High-value agricultural products like tobacco, rice, and sugar grown by slave labor.

Gang Labor System

Organization of enslaved workers into supervised crews on plantations.

Rice Cultivation Hardships

Grueling slave labor in hot, waterlogged fields of the Carolinas.

Slave Diet

Basic rations of cornmeal and occasional pork parts provided to enslaved people.

Colonial Slave Codes

Laws giving masters legal power to control and punish slaves.

Whipping, Branding, Shackling

Common physical punishments authorized by colonial slave codes.

Family Slavery (New England)

System where a small number of slaves lived and worked in the same household as their masters.

New England Slavery Rate (7%)

Relatively low proportion of slaves in northern colonies due to absence of large plantations.

Chesapeake & Carolina Slavery

Regions where plantation agriculture made slavery more prevalent.

Self-Sustaining Slave Population

By the 1730s, natural increase in Virginia and Maryland reduced need for new slave imports.

Transatlantic Slave Ports

Major hubs such as Liverpool and Bristol that organized the slave trade.

Barbados

Sugar island in the Caribbean receiving large numbers of African captives.

Jamaica

British Caribbean colony with extensive sugar plantations worked by slaves.

West African Sourcing Regions

Areas along Africa’s coast that supplied most captives for the slave trade.

Gambia

River region in West Africa used as a major departure point for captives.

Sierra Leone

West African coastal area contributing significant numbers of enslaved people.

Cameroon

Central African region involved in the export of captives.

Angola

South-western African territory where many enslaved Africans were seized.

Congo

Central African area supplying captives for the transatlantic trade.

Ivory Coast

West African region (Côte d’Ivoire) participating in slave exports.

Lifetime Servitude

Legal stipulation that enslavement lasted for the individual’s entire life.

Hereditary Slavery

Condition by which children of enslaved mothers were enslaved from birth.

11% Enslaved in 1700

Proportion of the colonial population comprised of Africans at the start of the 18th century.

20% Enslaved in 1770

Growth in slave population to one-fifth of all colonial residents by the eve of revolution.

Chief Metacom’s Death

Killing of the Wampanoag leader by a rival Native during the war’s final phase.

Forced Relocation of 5,000 Natives

Post-war policy moving surviving Indians to supervised villages.

English Land Seizure

Continual colonial appropriation of Native territories fueling conflicts like King Philip’s War.

Why did English colonial prosperity surpass that of French, Spanish, and Dutch rivals?

English colonies were primarily established as for-profit ventures, focusing on generating wealth and economic growth, unlike the royal missions of other European powers.

What were the key characteristics of chattel slavery in the American colonies?

It was a system that treated enslaved people as movable property for life, where their servitude was for a lifetime, and it was hereditary, meaning children of enslaved mothers were also enslaved from birth.

What were the primary consequences for Native populations in New England following King Philip's War?

The war resulted in a 50% reduction of New England's Native population, the forced relocation of 5,000 survivors to supervised villages, and accelerated English land seizure.