Chapter 2 Vocabulary

John Smith

An English soldier and explorer who became one of the leaders of the Jamestown colony and helped to establish relations with the Powhatans. His narratives describe the early history of Jamestown as well as his explorations of what became New England.

Virginia Company

A joint-stock enterprise that King James l chartered in 1606; the company was to spread Christianity in the Americas as well as find ways to make a profit off of it.

Anglican Church

The established state church of England, formed by Henry Vlll after the pope refused to annual his marriage to Catherine of Aragon

Roanoke Colony

Failed English attempt to establish a colony on Roanoke Island in the Outer Banks; the colony disappeared sometimes between 1587 and 1590

Enclosure Movement

A legal process that divided large farm fields in England that were previously collectively owned by groups of peasants into smaller, individually owned plots. The enclosure movement took place over several centuries and resulted in eviction for many peasants

Headright System

A land-grant policy that promised fifty acres to any colonist who could afford passage to Virginia, as well as fifty more for any accompanying servants. The headright policy was eventually expanded to include any colonists and was also adopted in other countries

House of Burgesses

The first elected assembly in colonial America established in 1619 in Virginia. Only wealthy landowners could vote in its elections

Anglo-Powhatan Wars

Three wars fought between the Powhatans and the Jamestown colonists in 1610-1614, 1622-1626, and 1644-1646

Plantation

An early word for a colony, a settlement “planted” from abroad among an alien population in Ireland or the Americas; later, a large agricultural enterprise that used unfree labor to produce a crop for the world market

Dower Rights

In colonial America, the right of a widowed woman to inherent one-third of her deceased husband’s property

Puritans

English religious group that sought to purify the Church of England; founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony under John Winthrop in 1630

John WInthrop

Puritan leader and governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony who resolved to use the colony as a refuge for persecuted Puritans and as an instrument of building a “wilderness Zion” in America

Pilgrims

Puritan separatists who broke completely with the Church of England and sailed to the Americas aboard the Mayflower, founding Plymouth Colony on Cape Cod in 1620

Mayflower Compact

Document signed in 1620 aboard the Mayflower before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth; the document committed the group to majority-rule government by its male colonists

Great Migration

Large-Scale migration of southern Blacks during and after World War l to the North, where jobs had become available during the labor shortage of the war years

Captivity Narratives

Accounts written by colonists after their time in Indian captivity, often stressing the captive’s religious convictions

Pequot War

An armed conflict in 1637 fought between the Pequot Indians and an alliance of Narragensett, Mohegan, and English. The Pequot loss led to most of them being killed, enslaved, or incorporated into other Native nations

Dissenters

Protestants who belonged to denominations outside of the established Anglican Church

Half-Way Covenant

A 1662 religious compromise that allowed baptism and partial church membership to colonial New Englanders whose parents were not among the Puritan elect

English liberty

The idea that English men were entitled to certain liberties, including trial by jury, habeas corpus, and the right to face one’s accuser in court. These rights meant that even the English King was subject to the rule of law

Act Concerning Religion (or Maryland Toleration Act)

1649 Law that granted free exercise of religion to all Christian denominations in colonial Maryland