Southern Colonies and Jamestown: Virginia, Slavery, and the Tobacco Economy

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from the lecture notes on the Southern Colonies, Jamestown, and the origins of slavery in English America.

Southern Colonies

The regional group consisting of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, characterized by plantation agriculture, cash crops, and extensive enslaved labor.

Mason-Dixon Line

Boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania, later a symbol of the division between the slaveholding South and free North.

Proprietary colony

A colony granted by the Crown to an individual or private group; Maryland was founded as a proprietary colony.

Lord Baltimore

George Calvert, founder of Maryland; established a private land grant and promoted religious tolerance for Christians.

Toleration Act (1649)

Maryland law protecting religious freedom for Christians.

Jamestown

First permanent English settlement in North America (founded 1607 by the Virginia Company) intended for profit.

Virginia Company

A joint-stock company that funded Jamestown’s settlement and exploration.

Headright system

Grant of 50 acres of land given to settlers or those who paid for others’ passage to Virginia.

Cavaliers

Wealthy landowners in Virginia who supported the colonial government and the plantation economy.

Indentured servant

A person from Europe who worked 4–7 years in exchange for passage, shelter, and sometimes land; many did not survive the term.

Bacon's Rebellion (1676)

Frontier uprising led by Nathaniel Bacon against Governor Berkeley; highlighted class tensions and pushed elites toward race-based slavery.

House of Burgesses

First elected colonial legislature in the English colonies (established in Virginia in 1619).

John Rolfe

Colonist who introduced high-quality tobacco seeds to Virginia, enabling a profitable cash crop.

Tobacco

Cash crop that became the cornerstone of Virginia’s economy and drove a labor-intensive plantation system.

Powhatan

Powhatan Confederacy, native group involved in early Jamestown relations and conflicts like the 1622 attack.

Slavery

System of forced bondage; in Virginia, slavery became race-based by the mid-17th century with status often inherited.

Partus sequitur ventrem

Legal principle: a child’s status follows the mother’s; foundational to hereditary slavery laws.

Middle Passage

Forced voyage of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas.

Atlantic Slave Trade

Transatlantic movement of enslaved Africans; millions transported, with Europe, Africa, and the Americas linked in exchange.

Triangular Trade

Trade network exchanging slaves, raw materials, and manufactured goods among Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

Slave Codes

Laws that defined and regulated slavery and enslaved people, restricting rights and reinforcing owners’ control.

Carolina constitutions (Locke)

Constitutions co-authored by John Locke for the Carolinas, shaping royal colony governance.

Charleston (Charles Town)

Major city and port in the Carolinas, central to trade.

Georgia

Last of the original colonies; founded by James Oglethorpe as a buffer against Spanish Florida and as a debtor colony.

James Oglethorpe

Founder of Georgia, established as a buffer colony and for debtors.

Westward expansion due to tobacco depletion

Tobacco exhausted soil, pushing settlers west and fueling conflicts with Native Americans.

Jamestown to Williamsburg capital shift

Virginia’s capital moved from Jamestown to Williamsburg (1699), reflecting administrative changes.

1619 Africans in Virginia

Arrival of the first enslaved Africans in Virginia, a turning point toward a slave-based system.

Elizabeth Key case

Mid-1600s court case influencing Virginia slavery law and the move toward race-based slavery.