Early English Colonies and Leaders

Vocabulary flashcards covering key historical figures, settlements, and events from early North American colonial history.

John Smith

Sent from London to the Jamestown colony in Virginia to help establish and lead the first permanent English settlement. He instituted tough new rules

Roanoke

English colony. were sent to the coast of present-day North Carolina under a charter from Queen Elizabeth I

Jamestown

Queen Elizabeth I wanted to establish a permanent English presence in North America.

Squanto

A Native American who helped the pilgrims on the Mayflower by providing seeds of native plants like corn, beans, and pumpkins, and teaching settlers how to catch eels from local rivers.

John Winthrop

led a group of Puritans to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. to establish a pure, self-governing Christian community free from the religious persecution. “ We shall be as a city upon the hill, the eyes of all people are upon us

Thomas Hooker

A minister who disagreed with Puritan leaders and founded the town of Hartford in Connecticut, strongly disagreed with the strict religious and political leaders

Metacom

The chief of the Wampanoag, also known as King Philip, whose primary goal was to halt Puritan expansion.

William Penn

A Quaker leader who obtained a royal charter for a colony almost as large as England itself, where he founded Pennsylvania and made Philadelphia its capital.

James, Duke of York

The recipient of all Dutch lands in the Americas from King Charles II'; wanted to claim the entire eastern seaboard

Nathaniel Bacon

A frontier leader who assembled 1,000 westerners to attack Native Americans, burned Jamestown in response to the governor

Lord Baltimore

A proprietor who advocated for Christian rights during a period of discrimination, helped pass the Act of Toleration, and enabled adult male Christians to vote and hold public office.

James Oglethorpe

One of the founders of Georgia who designed the colony to protect English debtors, promoted small farms rather than plantations, and outlawed slavery.