The British Colonies

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts from the lecture on the British Colonies.

Jamestown

The first permanent English settlement in America, established in 1607.

Virginia Company

A joint-stock corporation founded to establish a colony in America and find gold.

Starving Time

The winter of 1609-10 in Jamestown, during which over 80% of the colonists perished due to starvation and disease.

Tobacco

The cash crop introduced by John Rolfe in 1614 that made the Virginia colony profitable.

House of Burgesses

The first legislative assembly in the American colonies, established in Virginia in 1619.

Mayflower Compact

The first governing document of the Plymouth Colony, signed by Pilgrims in 1620.

Pequot War

A conflict between Puritan settlers and the Pequot tribe in 1636-1637 that resulted in the weakening of the Pequot power.

King Philip's War

A conflict in 1675-1676 between Native Americans and settlers in New England, led by Wampanoag chief Metacom.

Slavery

The system that began to take root in the colonies, allowing plantation owners to use enslaved Africans for labor.

Bacon's Rebellion

A 1676 uprising led by Nathaniel Bacon against Virginia Governor William Berkeley, highlighting tensions between frontiersmen and Native Americans.

Mercantilism

An economic theory that promotes government regulation of a nation's economy for augmenting state power.

Navigation Acts

A series of laws passed by England that regulated colonial trade and enabled England to collect taxes from the colonies.

The Great Awakening

A religious revival in the 1730s-1740s that emphasized personal faith and a relationship with God.

Quakers

A religious group known for their belief in equality and pacifism, prominent in Pennsylvania.

Proprietary Colony

A colony owned by an individual or group who had been granted ownership by the British crown.

Royal Colony

A colony administered by royal officials and under direct control of the British monarchy.

Indentured Servants

Individuals who agreed to work for a period of years in exchange for passage to America and land.

Plymouth Colony

An early colony established by the Pilgrims in 1620 for religious freedom.

Wampanoag Tribe

A Native American tribe that helped the Pilgrims survive their first winter in the New World.

Headright System

A system introduced in Virginia giving settlers land in exchange for paying the passage of new immigrants.

Covenant

An agreement or promise, in the context of Puritan belief, referring to their bond with God.

Jamestown

The first permanent English settlement in America, established in 1607.

Virginia Company

A joint-stock corporation founded to establish a colony in America and find gold.

Starving Time

The winter of 1609-10 in Jamestown, during which over 80% of the colonists perished due to starvation and disease.

Tobacco

The cash crop introduced by John Rolfe in 1614 that made the Virginia colony profitable.

House of Burgesses

The first legislative assembly in the American colonies, established in Virginia in 1619.

Mayflower Compact

The first governing document of the Plymouth Colony, signed by Pilgrims in 1620.

Pequot War

A conflict between Puritan settlers and the Pequot tribe in 1636-1637 that resulted in the weakening of the Pequot power.

King Philip's War

A conflict in 1675-1676 between Native Americans and settlers in New England, led by Wampanoag chief Metacom.

Slavery

The system that began to take root in the colonies, allowing plantation owners to use enslaved Africans for labor.

Bacon's Rebellion

A 1676 uprising led by Nathaniel Bacon against Virginia Governor William Berkeley, highlighting tensions between frontiersmen and Native Americans.

Mercantilism

An economic theory that promotes government regulation of a nation's economy for augmenting state power.

Navigation Acts

A series of laws passed by England that regulated colonial trade and enabled England to collect taxes from the colonies.

The Great Awakening

A religious revival in the 1730s-1740s that emphasized personal faith and a relationship with God.

Quakers

A religious group known for their belief in equality and pacifism, prominent in Pennsylvania.

Proprietary Colony

A colony owned by an individual or group who had been granted ownership by the British crown.

Royal Colony

A colony administered by royal officials and under direct control of the British monarchy.

Indentured Servants

Individuals who agreed to work for a period of years in exchange for passage to America and land.

Plymouth Colony

An early colony established by the Pilgrims in 1620 for religious freedom.

Wampanoag Tribe

A Native American tribe that helped the Pilgrims survive their first winter in the New World.

Headright System

A system introduced in Virginia giving settlers land in exchange for paying the passage of new immigrants.

Covenant

An agreement or promise, in the context of Puritan belief, referring to their bond with God.

Powhatan

The powerful Native American confederacy whose territory included Jamestown, led by Chief Powhatan, father of Pocahontas.

Pocahontas

Daughter of Chief Powhatan, known for her association with the Jamestown settlement and John Rolfe.

Puritans

English Protestants who sought to "purify" the Church of England and established colonies like Massachusetts Bay for religious freedom.

John Winthrop

Influential leader and first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, known for his "City Upon a Hill" sermon.

Roger Williams

Puritan dissenter who advocated for religious freedom and separation of church and state, banished from Massachusetts and founded Rhode Island.

Dissenters

Individuals who disagreed with the established religious or political authority, often facing persecution in colonial America.

Anne Hutchinson

Puritan spiritual advisor, banished from Massachusetts for challenging male religious authority and advocating for individual religious experience.

New England Colonies

Colonial region characterized by rocky soil, a focus on trade, fishing, and shipbuilding, and a strong Puritan influence (e.g., Massachusetts, Rhode Island).

Middle Colonies

Colonial region known for agricultural fertility, diverse populations, and religious tolerance (e.g., Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware).

Chesapeake Colonies

Colonial region including Virginia and Maryland, known for tobacco cultivation and a hierarchical society reliant on labor.

Southern Colonies

Colonial region characterized by large-scale plantation agriculture (tobacco, rice, indigo), a reliance on enslaved labor, and aristocratic social structures.

Plantation

A large agricultural estate, especially in the Southern colonies, where cash crops like tobacco or rice were cultivated using enslaved labor.

Charter Colony

A colony granted a charter by the British crown, giving colonists the right to establish a local government (e.g., Massachusetts Bay).

Dominion of New England

A consolidated administrative unit created by King James II in 1686, merging New England colonies, New York, and New Jersey under a single governor.

Salem Witch Trials

A series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693.

1619

A pivotal year in Virginia when the first African enslaved people arrived, and the House of Burgesses, the first representative assembly, convened.

Middle Passage

The sea journey undertaken by enslaved African people from West Africa to the West Indies, marked by brutal conditions and high mortality.

Triangular Trade Network

A transatlantic trading system linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas, exchanging goods, enslaved people, and raw materials.

Stono Rebellion

The largest slave uprising in the British mainland colonies, occurring in South Carolina in 1739.

Salutary Neglect

An unofficial British policy allowing the American colonies to largely govern themselves, in exchange for economic loyalty.

The Enlightenment

An 18th-century intellectual movement in Europe and the American colonies emphasizing reason, individualism, and new ideas about government and human rights.

Jonathan Edwards

Prominent American theologian and preacher during the Great Awakening, known for his sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God."

George Whitefield

English Anglican cleric who was a powerful itinerant preacher during the Great Awakening, drawing large crowds with his emotional sermons.