Colonial Era Lecture Notes

Vocabulary flashcards covering key people, places, events, and concepts from the Colonial Era lecture notes, Unit 1 (SSUSH01 & SSUSH02).

Treaty of Tordesillas (1494)

Agreement brokered by the Pope dividing newly discovered lands between Spain and Portugal.

Conquistadores

Spanish soldiers-explorers motivated by God, Gold, and Glory who created Catholic outposts and seized wealth in the Americas.

Jamestown (1607)

First permanent English settlement in North America, founded for profit by a joint-stock company.

Joint-Stock Company

Business entity that sold shares to finance colonies like Jamestown in hopes of future profits.

John Rolfe

Jamestown settler who introduced sweet tobacco, making it a cash crop; married Pocahontas to secure peace with Powhatan.

House of Burgesses

Bicameral legislature of colonial Virginia; each district sent two representatives, modeling England’s Parliament.

Headright System

Policy granting 50 acres in Virginia for each person whose passage an investor paid.

Indentured Servants

Laborers who worked 4–7 years for passage to America, then often received land under the headright system.

Bacon’s Rebellion (1676)

Uprising of frontier settlers that accelerated the shift from indentured servitude to race-based slavery in Virginia.

Carolina Slave Codes

Harsh laws originating after Bacon’s Rebellion that formalized lifelong, hereditary slavery in the southern colonies.

Pilgrims

Separatists who founded Plymouth Colony; sought religious independence from the Church of England.

Puritans

Reform-minded Protestants who established Massachusetts Bay to purify, not separate from, the Church of England.

Mayflower Compact

Plymouth agreement creating self-government based on majority rule under William Bradford.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

Large Puritan settlement centered on Boston that required church membership for civic participation.

General Court

Elected legislative assembly governing Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Great Migration (1630-1640)

Movement of thousands of Puritans to New England seeking religious and economic opportunity.

Georgia

Last of the 13 colonies; founded 1732 as a trustee-run buffer between Spanish Florida and the Carolinas.

James Oglethorpe

Founder of Georgia who originally banned slaves and rum while aiding English debtors.

Buffer Colony

Term describing Georgia’s role in protecting British Carolinas from Spanish Florida.

Carolinas

Proprietary colony established 1670; split into North and South in 1712 due to administrative differences.

Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina

Framework written by Lord Shaftesbury and John Locke outlining hierarchical land distribution and governance.

Proprietor

Individual granted large colonial landholdings by the crown to govern and profit, e.g., Penn and Lord Baltimore.

Pennsylvania

Quaker colony founded by William Penn that promoted religious tolerance and banned slavery initially.

William Penn

Quaker proprietor who envisioned Pennsylvania as a “Holy Experiment” of equality and tolerance.

Quakers

Religious group advocating pacifism, equality, and inner light; settled heavily in Pennsylvania.

Walking Purchase (1737)

Controversial Pennsylvania land grab where colonists swindled Native Americans by exploiting a “walk” clause.

Maryland

Proprietary colony intended as a refuge for English Catholics under Lord Baltimore.

Maryland Toleration Act (1649)

First colonial law granting religious freedom to all Christians, also called the Edict of Toleration.

Connecticut

New England colony led by Thomas Hooker that adopted one of the first written constitutions.

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

Early colonial constitution establishing a representative government in 1639.

Rhode Island

Colony founded by Roger Williams and other dissenters for complete religious freedom.

Roger Williams

Advocate of separation of church and state who established Rhode Island after banishment from Massachusetts.

Smallpox Epidemic

Disease that killed roughly 90% of Indigenous peoples before large-scale English settlement, leaving vacant land.

King Philip’s War (1675-1676)

Brutal conflict between New England colonists and Wampanoag leader Metacom over land encroachment.

Mercantilism

Economic theory that colonies exist to enrich the mother country by supplying raw materials and markets.

Navigation Acts

British laws regulating colonial trade, requiring goods to travel on British ships through British ports.

Salutary Neglect

Period before 1763 when Britain loosely enforced trade laws, allowing colonial smuggling to flourish.