APUSH Period 2

Joint-stock companies

Business organizations where investors pooled money for ventures, sharing profits and risks; financed early English colonization.

Virginia Company of London

Joint-stock company that received a royal charter in 1606 to establish the Jamestown colony in Virginia.

Jamestown

Founded in 1607, the first permanent English settlement in North America, located in Virginia.

Captain John Smith

Early leader of Jamestown whose leadership and discipline helped the struggling colony survive.

John Rolfe

Jamestown colonist who introduced tobacco cultivation, making it Virginia’s economic foundation; married Pocahontas.

Anglo-Powhatan Wars (First and Second)

Conflicts between English settlers and Powhatan Indians in Virginia (1610–1614, 1644–1646), ending with Native defeat and removal.

Powhatan

Powerful chief of the Powhatan Confederacy in Virginia who initially traded with the English but later resisted them.

Pocahontas

Daughter of Powhatan who fostered peace between natives and English; married John Rolfe, symbolizing early Anglo-Native relations.

House of Burgesses

First representative legislative assembly in the English colonies (Virginia). Allowed white male property owners to pass laws.

Lord Baltimore

Founder of Maryland (1634) as a haven for Catholics and to profit from landholdings.

Maryland Act of Toleration (1649)

Law granting religious freedom to all Christians in Maryland; denied rights to non-Christians.

Charles II

English king (1660–1685) restored to the throne after the English Civil War; expanded colonial ventures.

English Restoration (1660)

Period when monarchy was restored under Charles II after Oliver Cromwell’s Puritan rule; led to increased colonial activity.

James Oglethorpe

Founder of Georgia (1733) as a buffer against Spanish Florida and haven for debtors.

Protestant Reformation

Religious movement beginning with Martin Luther (1517) that led to Protestant churches — challenged the Roman Catholic Church's authority

Barbados Slave Code (1661)

Gave masters complete control over enslaved people, considering them property (chattel); influenced slavery in the colonies.

Buffer colony

A colony established to protect others, such as Georgia shielding the Carolinas from Spanish Florida.

Henry VIII

English king who broke with the Catholic Church and established the Church of England.

Calvinism

Protestant doctrine founded by John Calvin emphasizing predestination and strict moral codes.

Predestination

Calvinist belief that God had already chosen who would be saved or damned.

Church of England (Anglican Church)

National church established by Henry VIII, combining Protestant ideas with Catholic traditions.

Puritans

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

Separatists

Radical Puritans who broke away entirely from the Church of England; many became Pilgrims.

Mayflower Compact (1620)

Agreement by Pilgrims to form a self-governing community in Plymouth Colony.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

Founded by Puritans in 1630 as a religious 'city upon a hill' and prosperous New England colony.

Great Migration (1630s)

Movement of tens of thousands of Puritans to Massachusetts and the West Indies.

Pequot War (1636–1638)

Conflict between New England settlers and the Pequot tribe; ended with near destruction of the Pequots.

King Philip’s War (1675–1676)

Native uprising led by Metacom ('King Philip') against New England settlers; ended with Indian defeat and reduced resistance.

New England Confederation (1643)

Alliance of New England colonies for defense against Natives, Dutch, and French.

English Civil War (1642–1651)

Conflict between Parliament and Charles I; temporarily distracted England from its colonies.

Dominion of New England (1686–1689)

Attempt by England to consolidate New England colonies under a governor; collapsed after the Glorious Revolution.

Navigation Acts

English laws regulating colonial trade to benefit England, restricting commerce with other nations.

Glorious Revolution (1688)

Overthrow of Catholic king James II in England; William III and Protestant Mary II took the throne, increased Parliament’s power.

Salutary neglect

Period of relaxed enforcement of trade laws in colonies, allowing self-government to grow.

Quakers

Religious group founded in England, promoting equality, pacifism, and tolerance; settled in Pennsylvania.

William Bradford

Leader and governor of Plymouth Colony

John Winthrop

Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony who envisioned it as a 'city upon a hill.'

Anne Hutchinson

Dissenter in Massachusetts who challenged Puritan leaders; banished and later killed in New York.

Roger Williams

Founder of Rhode Island, advocating separation of church and state and religious tolerance.

William III and Mary II

Monarchs who ruled after the Glorious Revolution, strengthening parliamentary authority.

New Amsterdam

Dutch colonial settlement later seized by the English and renamed New York (1664).

William Penn

Founder of Pennsylvania, a haven for Quakers, based on religious tolerance and good relations with Natives.

Indentured servants

Laborers who worked for several years in exchange for passage to the New World; common in early Virginia.

Bacon’s Rebellion (1676)

Rebellion in Virginia led by Nathaniel Bacon against Governor Berkeley over land and Native policy; exposed tensions between rich planters and poor settlers.

Middle passage

The brutal transatlantic voyage that brought enslaved Africans to the Americas.

Slave codes

Laws defining the status of enslaved people and the rights of masters, making slavery lifelong and hereditary.

Congregational Church

Puritan church government in New England based on self-governing congregations.

Salem Witch Trials (1692)

Series of trials in Massachusetts accusing people of witchcraft; reflected religious fervor and social tensions.

William Berkeley

Governor of Virginia whose policies favoring elites and Native relations sparked Bacon’s Rebellion.

Nathaniel Bacon

Virginia planter who led a revolt against Governor Berkeley in 1676.

Paxton Boys (1764)

Pennsylvania frontiersmen who attacked Native communities, protesting Quaker leniency toward Indians.

Regulator Movement (1760s–1770s)

Backcountry settlers in North Carolina who protested corruption and lack of representation.

Triangular trade

Transatlantic trade system involving raw materials, manufactured goods, and enslaved Africans between Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

Molasses Act (1733)

British law taxing molasses imports from non-British colonies; widely evaded through smuggling.

Great Awakening (1730s–1740s)

Religious revival in the colonies emphasizing emotional preaching and personal salvation; leaders included Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield.

Poor Richard’s Almanac

Publication by Benjamin Franklin featuring practical advice, proverbs, and wisdom.

Royal colonies

Colonies directly controlled by the crown with governors appointed by the king.

Proprietary colonies

Colonies granted to individuals/groups who governed with the king’s approval (e.g., Maryland, Pennsylvania).

Jonathan Edwards

Preacher during the Great Awakening known for sermons stressing God’s power and human sinfulness.

Benjamin Franklin

Colonial intellectual, inventor, and diplomat; author of Poor Richard’s Almanac and key figure in colonial unity.