Chapter 2: American Experiments (1521-1700) Vocabulary

Flashcards covering key vocabulary, colonial systems, economic models, and major conflicts from 1521 to 1700 based on the lecture notes.

Chattel slavery

A system of bondage in which a slave has the legal status of property and so can be bought and sold like property.

Tribute colonies

Colonies located in Mexico and Peru that were reliant on manual labor provided by Native populations.

Plantation colonies

Colonies located in the Caribbean and the Atlantic seaboard that quickly became reliant on the export of cash crops and slavery.

Neo-European colonies

French, Dutch, and English colonies that sought to replicate, or at least approximate, economies and social structures they knew at home.

Encomiendas

A grant of Indian labor in Spanish America given in the 16th century to prominent men.

Casta system

A hierarchical system of racial classification developed by colonial elites in Latin America to make sense of the complex pattern of racial mixing.

Columbian Exchange

The massive global exchange of living things, including people, animals, plants, and disease, between Eastern and Western Hemispheres that began after the voyage of Columbus.

Mercantilism

A system of political economy based on government regulation, where the goal is to export more than you import to create a positive trade balance.

Joint-stock corporation

A financial organization where a number of investors pooled their capital and received shares of stock in the enterprise in proportion to their share of the total investment.

House of Burgesses

A representative, legislative body created in 1619 to make laws for Virginia.

Royal colony

A colony chartered by the crown, governed by a royally-appointed governor and small advisory council.

Freeholds

Land owned in its entirety, without feudal dues or landlord obligations, typically 30-50 acres owned by a patriarch.

Headright system

A system of land distribution that granted land—usually 50 acres—to anyone who paid the passage of a new arrival.

Indentured servitude

A system in which workers contracted for service for a specific period, typically 4-7 years, without wages in exchange for passage, room, and board.

Mayflower Compact

An agreement created by the Pilgrims to set up a system of self-government in Plymouth Colony.

Puritans

Dissenters from the Church of England who wanted a genuine reformation rather than the partial separation initiated by King Henry VIII.

Covenant of works

The Christian idea that God’s elect must do good works in their earthly lives to achieve salvation.

Covenant of grace

The Christian idea that God’s elect are granted salvation as a pure gift of grace, determined before birth regardless of good deeds.

Town meeting

A system of local government in New England in which all male heads of households met regularly to elect selectmen, levy local taxes, and regulate markets, roads, and schools.

Metacom's War (King Philip's War)

A 1675–1676 conflict led by Metacom and allied Native tribes aiming to expel English settlers from New England due to their threatened way of life.

Pueblo Revolt (Popé's War)

A 1680–1696 uprising in which Popé and his followers took Santa Fe, killed 400 Spaniards, and declared independence following drought, famine, and religious suppression.

Bacon's Rebellion

A 1676–1677 rebellion led by Nathaniel Bacon against Governor Berkeley and Virginia elites over concentrated power, land rights, and conflicts with Native Americans.