Colonial America and Early World History Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering key historical figures, events, concepts, and colonies listed in the lecture notes.

House of Burgesses

The first elected representative assembly in colonial Virginia, established in 1619.

Hernando de Soto

Spanish conquistador who led the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States and explored the Mississippi River.

Salutary Neglect

An unofficial British policy of lenient enforcement of parliamentary laws in the American colonies during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Metacom’s War

An armed conflict between Native American inhabitants of present-day New England and English colonists and their Native American allies from 1675 to 1678.

“Half-Way Covenant”

A form of partial church membership created in New England in 1662 to keep second- and third-generation Puritans connected to the church.

Captain John Smith

English explorer, author, and colonial leader who helped establish the Jamestown settlement in Virginia.

Triangular Trade

A historical transatlantic trade network between Europe, West Africa, and the Americas involving raw materials, manufactured goods, and enslaved people.

Headright System

A land grant system used in colonial Virginia and other colonies to attract settlers by offering land to those who paid for their own or others' passage.

Encomienda System

A Spanish colonial labor system that granted Spanish settlers control over Indigenous labor and tribute in exchange for protection and religious instruction.

William Penn

Quaker leader and founder of the English North American colony Province of Pennsylvania.

Henry VIII

King of England whose desire for an annulment led to the English Reformation and the establishment of the Church of England.

Mayflower Compact

A governing agreement signed in 1620 by the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower, establishing self-government based on majority rule.

Hereditary Aristocracy

A social and political system where nobility, titles, land, and privileges are inherited through family lineage.

Mayan Empire

Mesoamerican civilization noted for its fully developed written language, architecture, mathematics, calendar, and astronomical systems.

John Winthrop

Puritan leader who served as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and delivered the famous 'City upon a Hill' sermon.

Slavery

A system in which human beings are owned as property by others and forced to labor without freedom or compensation.

Bartolomé de Las Casas

Spanish Dominican friar and social reformer who condemned the mistreatment and exploitation of Native Americans under Spanish rule.

Inca Empire

The largest empire in pre-Columbian America, centered in the Andean region of South America.

Great Awakening

A series of evangelical religious revivals that swept through the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s.

Calvinism

A major branch of Protestant theology founded by John Calvin, emphasizing predestination and the absolute sovereignty of God.

Roanoke Colony

An early English settlement off the coast of North Carolina established in the late 16th century that mysteriously disappeared.

Sir William Berkley

Colonial governor of Virginia whose authoritarian policies and Native American relations triggered Bacon's Rebellion.

Enlightenment

An 18th-century intellectual movement in Europe and the Americas emphasizing reason, individualism, science, and freedom from tyrannical authority.

Franscisco Pizarro

Spanish conquistador who led the Spanish expedition that conquered the Inca Empire in South America.

James Olgathorpe

British general and philanthropist who founded the colony of Georgia as a sanctuary for English debtors.

Martin Luther

German monk and theologian whose Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 initiated the Protestant Reformation.

Jonathan Edwards

Colonial preacher and theologian during the First Great Awakening, known for his sermon 'Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God'.

Queen Elizabeth I

Queen of England and Ireland from 1558 to 1603 whose reign marked the rise of English naval power and early colonial ventures.

Reformation

A 16th-century movement in Europe aimed at reforming the Roman Catholic Church, leading to the creation of Protestant denominations.

Proprietary Colony

A North American colony granted by the British Crown to one or more proprietors who possessed full governing rights.

Navigation Acts

A series of English parliamentary laws designed to restrict colonial trade to England in order to enforce mercantilism.

Quaker

A member of the Religious Society of Friends, a Christian movement promoting pacifism, equality, and personal inner light.

Pueblo Revolt

A successful 1680 uprising of Indigenous Pueblo people against Spanish rule in present-day New Mexico.

Columbian Exchange

The widespread movement of plants, animals, culture, diseases, technology, and human populations between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.

Subsistence Farming

A farming method in which farmers produce only enough food to meet the immediate needs of their families, leaving little or no surplus for sale.

George Whitefield

English Anglican preacher who traveled across the American colonies, playing a key role in spreading the First Great Awakening.

Pequot War

An armed conflict between 1636 and 1638 between the Pequot tribe and New England colonists and their Native allies.

Tenochtitlan

The capital city of the Aztec Empire, constructed on Lake Texcoco, which was destroyed during the Spanish conquest.

Salem Witch Trials

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

Mercantilism

An economic policy designed to maximize a nation's exports and minimize imports through government regulation of colonial trade.

Aztec Empire

A powerful Mesoamerican empire in central Mexico conquered by Spanish forces led by Hernán Cortés.

Joint-Stock Company

A business structure in which investors pool capital by purchasing shares to fund ventures, such as colonial settlements, sharing profits and risks.

Roger Williams

Puritan minister banished from Massachusetts who founded Rhode Island on principles of religious freedom and separation of church and state.

Plymouth

The English colonial settlement established in 1620 in present-day Massachusetts by the Separatist Pilgrims.

Iroquois Confederacy

A powerful confederation of Native American tribes in the northeastern region of North America.

Indentured Servitude

A contract labor system where individuals agreed to work for a specified number of years in exchange for transport to the colonies, food, and shelter.

Virginia Company

An English joint-stock company chartered by King James I to establish colonial settlements in North America, including Jamestown.

John Calvin

French theologian and Protestant reformer whose doctrines formed the basis of Calvinism and Puritan theology.

Bacon’s Rebellion

An armed 1676 uprising of Virginia settlers led by Nathaniel Bacon against Governor Sir William Berkley over Indian policy and colonial governance.

Defeat of the Spanish Armada

The 1588 victory of the English fleet over the Spanish navy, which established English naval prowess and paved the way for North American colonization.