Early American Colonies and Society

Columbian Exchange

Global transfer of plants, animals, culture, and diseases between the Americas and Europe/Africa.

VA Company of London

Joint-stock company that established the Jamestown colony in 1607.

Indentured servants

Laborers who signed contracts to work for a period in exchange for passage to America.

John Smith

Leader who saved Jamestown by enforcing strict discipline and work requirements.

John Rolfe

Jamestown colonist who successfully cultivated tobacco, making it Virginia's economic savior.

Squanto

Pawtuxet Native American who helped the Pilgrims survive by teaching them farming and fishing.

Samoset

Abenaki sachem who was the first Native American to greet the Plymouth colonists in 1621.

New Netherland

Dutch colony along the Hudson River, later taken by the English and renamed New York.

Proprietary colony

A colony owned by an individual or group granted land ownership by the British monarch.

Lord Baltimore

Catholic proprietor who founded Maryland as a refuge for persecuted Catholics.

Act of Religious Toleration

1649 Maryland law mandating religious freedom for all Christians.

Women Virginia

Scarce in early Virginia; most arrived as indentured servants with lower life expectancy.

Life expectancy New England

Higher than in England or Virginia due to cleaner water and dispersed populations.

Life expectancy Virginia

Low due to malaria, typhoid, saltwater contamination, and harsh labor conditions.

Coverture

Legal doctrine where a married woman's legal rights were subsumed by her husband.

Religion New England

Dominated by Puritans seeking to reform the Church of England; highly strict and communal.

Religion Virginia

Dominated by the official Church of England (Anglicanism); less intensely religious initially.

Headright system

Grant of 50 acres of land to anyone who paid for a laborer's passage to Virginia.

Government New England

Centered on participatory town meetings and the Mayflower Compact.

Government Virginia

Led by the House of Burgesses, an elected representative assembly representing wealthy planters.

Conversion experience

Required Puritan testimony of a profound spiritual awakening to achieve full church membership.

New England Way

Cooperation between church and state in Puritan New England to enforce religious and civil laws.

Rhode Island

Colony founded by Roger Williams offering complete religious freedom and separation of church and state.

Antinomians

Followers of Anne Hutchinson who believed inner grace superseded external church laws.

Halfway covenant

1662 agreement allowing partial church membership for un-converted children of Puritan church members.

Pequot War

1637 conflict in Connecticut resulting in the near-destruction of the Pequot tribe by colonists.

King Philip's War

1675-1676 devastating conflict between New England colonists and Native Americans led by Metacom.

Separatists

Radical Puritans who completely broke away from the Church of England, including the Pilgrims.

Mayflower Compact

1620 document signed by Plymouth Pilgrims establishing a government based on majority rule.

City upon a hill

John Winthrop's vision of Massachusetts Bay as a godly, morally exemplary model society.

Mass Bay

Major Puritan colony founded in 1630 under John Winthrop, emphasizing a holy commonwealth.

Voting requirements

Initially restricted in New England to male church members, later tied to property ownership.

Roger Williams

Puritan minister banished for advocating religious freedom and fair Native American land deals.

Anne Hutchinson

Puritan woman banished for holding theological meetings challenging ministerial authority.

Town meetings

Local democratic assemblies in New England where male residents governed community affairs.

Social reciprocity

Colonial New England expectation that community needs and mutual obligation outweighed individualism.

Women in New England

Enjoyed higher life expectancy and family stability, but faced strict patriarchal control.

Life expectancy/health

Generally healthier in New England; shorter and disease-ridden in the southern colonies.

Economics of New England

Diversified economy based on farming, fishing, timber, shipbuilding, and maritime trade.

Praying towns

Settlements established by Puritans to convert Native Americans to Christianity and European lifestyles.

Education in New England

Emphasized heavily so all children could read the Bible, leading to early schools and Harvard.

Puritans

English Protestants who wanted to purify the Church of England of Catholic rituals.

Pilgrims

Separatist Puritans who sailed on the Mayflower and founded Plymouth Colony in 1620.

Bacon's Rebellion

1676 Virginia uprising of landless former servants against Native Americans and colonial leadership.

Salem Witch Trials

1692 hysteria in Massachusetts resulting in the execution of 20 people for alleged witchcraft.