Early American History and Colonial Foundations

Vocabulary flashcards covering early European colonization, key figures, religious developments, and political changes in colonial America based on the lecture transcript.

Sir Humphrey Gilbert

An English commander known for committing atrocities in Ireland during the 1560s and 1570s.

Transplantation

The English concept of completely transplanting English society into a new location, remaining separate from the native population.

Coureurs de Bois

French fur traders who lived among Native Americans and formed alliances, such as with the Algonquians against the Iroquois.

Henry Hudson

An explorer who sailed up the Hudson River in 1609 for the Dutch, leading to the creation of New Amsterdam where New York is today.

Spanish Armada

The Spanish fleet sent in 1588 by King Philip II to conquer England and return it to the Catholic Church; its failure marked the end of Spanish dominance.

John Cabot

The first Englishman in the Americas, arriving in 1497.

Enclosure Movement

An economic change in England characterized by an increase in sheep farming that dislocated farmers and led to food shortages.

Mercantilism

An economic concept based on the belief that the world's wealth is finite.

Martin Luther

A religious reformer who asserted that the Bible is the voice of God rather than the church; he was excommunicated in 1520.

John Calvin

A Christian theologian who introduced the doctrine of predestination.

English Reformation

The religious transition in England initiated when King Henry VIII sought a divorce and created the Anglican Church.

Puritans

English Protestants who sought to purify the Anglican Church of Catholic influences.

King James Charter (1606)

A royal charter that granted the London Company the rights to southern colonial lands and the Plymouth group the northern lands.

Roanoke

A colony established under Sir Walter Raleigh's charter in 1585 and 1587; led by John White, its settlers disappeared leaving only the word 'Croatoan'.

Jamestown

The English colony founded in 1607 on a peninsula in Virginia by the London Company using the ships Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery.

Starving Time

A severe period of famine in Jamestown during 1609–1610.

Headright System

A system employed in Virginia to attract new settlers by granting land to incoming colonists.

John Rolfe

A Jamestown colonist who introduced tobacco cultivation and married Pocahontas.

Bacon's Rebellion

A 1675 rebellion against Virginia Governor Berkeley triggered by native attacks, led by Nathaniel Bacon who overthrew Berkeley before dying.

Mayflower Compact

An agreement made in 1620 by the Pilgrims establishing a governance structure upon landing at Plymouth.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

A colony founded in 1630 by approximately 1,000 Puritans led by Governor John Winthrop, characterized by a strict Congregationalist theocracy.

Roger Williams

A religious dissenter expelled from Massachusetts who founded a religiously tolerant Rhode Island community in 1644, maintaining separation of church and state.

Anne Hutchinson

A midwife banished from Massachusetts in 1636 for defying gender norms and claiming the clergy had no right to lead; her followers created Portsmouth.

Fundamental Constitution for Carolina

A colonial constitution written by John Locke for Lord Shaftesbury.

Quakers

A religious group led in Pennsylvania by William Penn that believed in an 'inner light', democratic ideals, and equality for women.

James Oglethorpe

The leader of the unpaid trustees who founded Georgia in 1732 as a military barrier and a place for impoverished debtors.

Pequot War

A 1637 conflict in Connecticut where English settlers and rival native allies fought the Pequot Indians, highlighted by John Mason setting fire to a Pequot fort.

King Philip's War

A 1675 conflict between the Wampanoags and English colonists involving the use of the flintlock musket and resulting in heavy casualties over three years.

Navigation Acts

A series of English mercantilist trade laws passed in 1660, 1663, and 1673 to control colonial commerce, route European trade through England, and place duties on trade between colonies.

Dominion of New England

A consolidated regional government created in 1688 by King James II combining Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey under Sir Edmund Andros.

Glorious Revolution

The bloodless overthrow of King James II in England that brought Mary II to power and sparked rebellions across the American colonies.

Jacob Leisler

A New York colonist who drove out Lieutenant Governor Nicholson in 1689 during the Glorious Revolution and was later executed for treason in 1691.

John Coode's Rebellion

A 1689 Protestant revolt in Maryland that ousted Catholic Lord Baltimore and barred Catholics from holding office.