Unit 1 - Exploration and Colonial Beginnings Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering essential terms, people, events, and regional characteristics from the Exploration and Colonial Beginnings unit.

Cash Crops

Agricultural products grown for profit in the Southern Colonies, including cotton, indigo, and tobacco.

Bacon's Rebellion

A colonial conflict that exemplified the growing power of former indentured servants.

Puritans

A group seeking freedom from religious persecution in Europe who settled New England and founded the Massachusetts colony.

1619

The year when the first Africans were brought against their will to Jamestown.

Virginia Company of London

An organization that created a profitable settlement in Jamestown.

Disease

The single greatest factor that caused the widespread death of Native Americans after contact with Europeans.

House of Burgesses

The first representative government and first elected assembly in the Jamestown colony in the New World.

Jonathan Edwards

A preacher during the Great Awakening who gave the 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God' sermon and travelled the 13 Colonies giving 'fire & brimstone' sermons.

Triangular Trade

A trade network that led directly to the increased importation of enslaved Africans to the Western Hemisphere.

Columbian Exchange

The term describing the sharing of items such as pumpkin and tobacco between the New World and Europe.

Benjamin Franklin

A leading figure in the Enlightenment.

Jamestown

The first permanent English settlement, established in 1607.

Great Awakening

A movement that helped lay the social foundations for the American Revolution.

Mayflower Compact

The first written form of government in the New World.

Massachusetts

A colony founded by the Puritans that was one of the earlier English settlements.

New Netherland

A colony founded by the Dutch to expand the fur trade, later taken over by the English and run by the Duke of York.

New England Colonies

Colonies characterized by a cold climate, rocky soil, covenant communities focused on one religion, least tolerance, and an economy based on shipbuilding, fishing, and lumbering.

Middle Colonies

Colonies with a moderate climate suitable for grain, the most diverse population, a flexible social structure, and a middle class of artisans, business owners, and small farmers.

Southern Colonies

Colonies with an economy based on large plantations and slave labor, and a social structure based on family standing and land ownership.