Chapter 2–3 Vocabulary Flashcards: Transformations of North American Colonies and the British Atlantic World ( ENGLISH )

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the notes on Transformations of North America and the British Atlantic World (1521–1763). Each card defines a term central to understanding colonization, labor systems, governance, economy, and intercultural encounters.

Chattel slavery

A system in which people are treated as property to be bought and sold; Virginia’s 1662 statute tied a child’s status to the mother, shaping hereditary slavery.

Elizabeth Key

A mixed-race woman (English father, African mother) who won freedom in 1656, illustrating how status could derive from paternal status before the 1662 statute shifted to maternal lineage.

Encomienda

A Spanish colonial grant allowing conquistadors to extract tribute and labor from Indigenous communities in the Americas.

Columbian Exchange

The global transfer of plants, crops, animals, and diseases between the Old World and the Americas, reshaping ecosystems and populations.

Mercantilism

An economic doctrine where a nation seeks to accumulate wealth (gold/silver) through a favorable balance of trade and state support for industry and colonial commerce.

Navigation Acts

English laws (1651, 1660, 1663, etc.) restricting colonial trade to English or colonial ships and routes to England, enforcing mercantilist goals.

Headright system

Land grant of about 50–100 acres given to settlers or those who paid passage for others, encouraging settlement and land accumulation.

Indentured servitude

Contract labor for typically 4–5 years in exchange for passage, room, and board; many died or remained landless, later supplanted by slavery in some regions.

Freeholds

Land owned outright by individuals (often 50–100 acres per freeman under headright rules), foundational to settlement economies.

Plantation colonies

Colonies organized around large-scale plantations producing crops like tobacco, sugar, or cotton, relying on enslaved or coerced labor.

Neo-Europes

Colonies in the temperate zones (e.g., New England, New Netherland, New France) modeled on European social/economic patterns.

Columbian Exchange (map context)

The referenced exchange including crops, animals, and diseases that transformed global populations and environments.

Enslaved Africans

The primary labor force on many Atlantic plantations; their arrival, lives, and resistance shaped the Atlantic world.

South Atlantic System

The Atlantic plantation economy (sugar, tobacco, rice) centered in Brazil and the Caribbean, built on enslaved labor and global trade networks.

Middle Passage

The brutal Atlantic crossing of enslaved Africans to the Americas, with high mortality and horrific conditions.

Stono Rebellion (1739)

A major slave uprising in South Carolina that led to harsher slave laws and tightened control over enslaved people.

Powhatan

Leader of the Powhatan Confederacy; father of Pocahontas; key figure in early Virginia-English relations.

Opechancanough

Powhatan’s brother and successor who led a major 1622 attack on English settlers, initiating years of conflict.

Pocahontas

Daughter of Powhatan; mediator between Powhatan and Jamestown; married John Rolfe in 1614; became a symbol in colonial mythology.

Jamestown

The first permanent English settlement in Virginia, founded 1607, marked by harsh beginnings and eventual growth.

Lord Baltimore (Maryland)

Cecilius Calvert, founder of Maryland; established a Catholic refuge and proprietary colony along the Chesapeake.

Toleration Act (Maryland, 1649)

Protection of Christians’ rights to practice their religion in Maryland, reducing persecution of Catholics.

Puritans

English Protestants seeking to reform and purify the Church of England; formed New England colonies with Congregational governance.

Pilgrims

Separatists who founded Plymouth Colony (1620) and used the Mayflower Compact to govern themselves.

Mayflower Compact

Pledge by Pilgrims to self-govern in a civil body politic, early example of self-government in America.

Roger Williams

Puritan minister who advocated religious freedom and fair treatment of Native Americans; founded Rhode Island.

Anne Hutchinson

Puritan dissenter banished for challenging church authority; emphasized personal revelation and grace.

Congregationalism

Puritan church governance where each congregation governs itself, a model for New England towns.

Predestination

Calvinist belief that God has already chosen who will be saved; central to Puritan theology.

Covenant of Works

Puritan belief that salvation could be earned through obedience and good deeds.

Covenant of Grace

Puritan belief that salvation is God’s gift, not earned by works.

Town meeting

Local New England governance where male landowners gathered to vote on laws and community decisions.

Dominion of New England

James II’s 1686-1689 attempted consolidation of New England colonies under a royal governor (Andros).

Glorious Revolution

1688-1689 overthrow of James II in England; established a constitutional monarchy under William and Mary and reshaped colonial governance.

Salutary neglect

British policy of relaxed enforcement of trade laws in the early to mid-18th century, enabling colonial self-government.

Iroquois Covenant Chain

A series of alliances and diplomatic relationships between the Iroquois Confederacy and British colonies in the Northeast.

St. Augustine/Florida as a theater of imperial conflict

Site of Spanish-English clashes; featured in imperial wars and colonies’ frontier struggles.

Predominant slave regions (Chesapeake vs. South Carolina)

Chesapeake: indentured servitude transitions to lifelong slavery; South Carolina: slave labor dominates rice and plantation life.

Rice and indigo in the Carolinas

Key crops that drove slave-based plantation economies and altered demographics in the South.

Proprietorships and Royal Colonies

Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, etc., were proprietary; others like Virginia became royal colonies under direct crown control.

Joint-stock corporation

A company owned by shareholders (e.g., Virginia Company) used to fund colonization and manage settlements.