European Colonization and British Colonial Development (1607-1754)

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, people, places, and concepts related to European colonization, regional development of the British colonies, and early political institutions between 1607 and 1754.

European Colonization in North America

Period (1607-1754) when Spain, France, the Netherlands, and Britain founded settlements in North America for religion, power, and profit.

Spanish Colonization

Catholic-driven effort dominated by male settlers who founded scattered forts and missions from Florida to California.

St. Augustine (1565)

First permanent European settlement in North America, founded by Spain in Florida.

Santa Fe (1610)

Capital of Spanish New Mexico and a center for missionary activity among Pueblo peoples.

Father Junípero Serra

Franciscan priest who began the California mission system in 1769.

French Colonization

Sparse settlements of traders and missionaries who forged alliances and intermarried with Native peoples.

Quebec (1608)

First permanent French settlement in North America, founded by Samuel de Champlain.

Samuel de Champlain

Explorer called the “Father of New France” for establishing Quebec.

Louis Jolliet & Jacques Marquette (1673)

Explorers who mapped the upper Mississippi River for France.

Robert de La Salle (1682)

French explorer who claimed the Mississippi basin, naming it Louisiana.

New Orleans (1718)

French port city that became a prosperous trade center at the mouth of the Mississippi.

Dutch West India Company

Joint-stock firm granted control of New Netherland for economic gain.

Henry Hudson (1609)

Englishman sailing for the Dutch; his voyage established Dutch claims to the Hudson River valley.

New Amsterdam

Dutch settlement at the mouth of the Hudson; later became New York City.

John Cabot (1497)

Italian explorer whose voyage gave England its earliest claim to North America.

Corporate Colony

English colony run by a joint-stock company, e.g., Jamestown (1607).

Royal Colony

Colony ruled directly by the crown, e.g., Virginia after 1624.

Proprietary Colony

Colony granted to individuals by the king, e.g., Maryland, Pennsylvania.

Jamestown (1607)

First permanent English settlement in North America, founded by the Virginia Company.

Virginia Company

Joint-stock company that financed Jamestown.

Captain John Smith

Leader who enforced discipline and helped Jamestown survive its first five years.

John Rolfe

Jamestown planter who perfected tobacco cultivation and married Pocahontas.

Headright System

Virginia policy granting 50 acres to anyone paying passage of a settler or servant.

Tobacco

Cash crop that saved Virginia’s economy but intensified labor demands.

Separatists (Pilgrims)

English Protestants who sought a completely independent church and founded Plymouth (1620).

Mayflower Compact (1620)

Plymouth agreement to enact laws by majority rule—an early form of self-government.

Puritans

Moderate English dissenters who aimed to reform the Church of England; founded Massachusetts Bay (1630).

John Winthrop

Puritan governor who proclaimed Massachusetts Bay a “city upon a hill.”

Great Migration (1630s)

Mass migration of about 15,000 Puritans to New England due to turmoil in England.

Maryland

First proprietary colony, intended as a refuge for English Catholics (1632).

Act of Toleration (1649)

Maryland law granting religious freedom to all Christians while penalizing denial of Jesus’ divinity.

Protestant Revolt (late 1600s)

Uprising that repealed Maryland’s Act of Toleration and restricted Catholic rights.

Roger Williams

Banished Puritan minister who founded Rhode Island on principles of religious freedom and fair dealings with Natives.

Anne Hutchinson

Dissenter who advocated antinomianism; founded Portsmouth (1638) in Rhode Island.

Antinomianism

Belief that faith alone, not deeds, assures salvation; challenged Puritan authority.

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639)

First written constitution in America, establishing representative government in Hartford.

Halfway Covenant (1662)

Puritan policy allowing partial church membership for those lacking a conversion experience.

Restoration Colonies

Proprietary grants (Carolinas, NY, NJ, PA, DE) created after the monarchy’s restoration in 1660.

South Carolina

Restoration colony noted for rice plantations and heavy enslaved African labor.

Charleston

Principal port and rice-export center of South Carolina, founded 1670.

North Carolina

Restoration colony of small, self-sufficient tobacco farms with fewer slaves and democratic leanings.

William Penn

Quaker proprietor who founded Pennsylvania as a “Holy Experiment” in tolerance and representative government.

Quakers (Society of Friends)

Radical Protestant sect promoting equality, pacifism, and inner light; persecuted in England.

Frame of Government (1682-83)

Pennsylvania’s constitution guaranteeing elected assembly, liberty of conscience, and immigration freedom.

Delaware (1702)

Lower three counties granted their own assembly but shared governor with Pennsylvania.

Georgia (1732)

Last British mainland colony, intended as a debtor haven and buffer against Spanish Florida.

James Oglethorpe

Founder of Georgia who initially banned slavery and rum.

Virginia House of Burgesses (1619)

First elected legislative assembly in the English colonies.

Town Meetings

New England gatherings where male residents debated and voted on local issues.

Transatlantic Trade

Commercial exchange linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas; generated wealth for mother countries.

Mercantilism

Economic theory that colonies exist to enrich the parent nation through controlled trade.

Indentured Servant

Laborer bound by contract to work for a set term in exchange for passage to America.

Enslaved Africans

People forcibly transported to the Americas and deprived of freedom to provide labor, especially on plantations.

Representative Government

Political system in which colonists elected assemblies to make laws, reflecting English traditions of self-rule.

Limits to Colonial Democracy

Exclusions of women, landless men, servants, enslaved people, and Natives from political participation.