Topic 2.2-2.3 European Colonization in North America (1607-1754)

Flashcards covering motivations for colonization, major European colonial powers (Spanish, French, Dutch, English), key settlements, and early colonial governance and democratic practices.

What were the primary motivations for settling in the Americas in the 17th century?

Wealth, to spread Christianity, and to escape persecution.

Name two factors that slowed Spanish colonization in North America.

Limited mineral resources and strong opposition from American Indians (plus missionary zeal to counter Protestantism).

Where and when was the oldest city founded by Europeans on the mainland United States?

St. Augustine, Florida, founded in 1565.

Which city did the Spanish establish as the capital of New Mexico in 1610?

Santa Fe.

Where did the Spanish establish a settlement in California in 1769?

San Diego.

Who founded Quebec, the first French settlement in North America, and in what year?

Samuel de Champlain, in 1608.

Which explorers reached the upper Mississippi River in 1673?

Louis Jolliet and Father Jacques Marquette.

Louisiana was named after which French king?

Louis XIV.

By 1718, where did the French establish a permanent settlement that became a prosperous trade center?

New Orleans, along the Mississippi River at the Gulf of Mexico.

Who explored the Hudson River in 1609, leading to Dutch claims in North America?

Henry Hudson.

What was the first Dutch settlement that later became New York?

New Amsterdam.

What role did the Dutch West India Company play in the region?

Controlled the area for economic gain and established trading posts.

What were the three types of English colonies by charter?

Corporate (joint-stock) colonies, Royal colonies, and Proprietary colonies.

What were some distinctive features of early English settlers compared with others?

More families and single women, a farming orientation, and greater likelihood of claiming Indian land, with less intermarriage with Indians.

Jamestown was chartered by which organization?

The Virginia Company.

What was the headright system in Jamestown?

100 acres? Actually 50 acres of land granted to any settler or to anyone who paid for passage for a settler.

Which crop saved Jamestown economically and who developed it?

Tobacco; developed by John Rolfe (with Pocahontas influence).

What event led to Virginia becoming a Royal Colony in 1624?

The Virginia Company's charter was revoked by King James I.

What was the first representative assembly in America and where was it established?

The House of Burgesses in Virginia, 1619.

What is the Mayflower Compact?

An agreement to govern by the will of the majority, an early form of self-government (1620).

What major migration brought Puritans to Massachusetts Bay in the 1630s?

The Great Migration.

Who founded Providence in 1636 and what colony did it become a part of?

Roger Williams founded Providence; it became Rhode Island.

Which dissenters banished from Massachusetts Bay founded Portsmouth in 1638?

Anne Hutchinson (and her followers).

What is the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut and why is it significant?

(1639) First written constitution in America, establishing a representative government.

What was the Halfway Covenant designed to do?

Allow partial church membership for people who had not yet experienced a conversion to maintain church influence.