history us

Anne Hutchinson

A Puritan woman in Massachusetts Bay who challenged the authority of ministers by claiming that individuals could interpret God's will directly, not only through church leaders. Banished in 1637 for her "antinomian" beliefs, she symbolized both the limits of religious tolerance in Puritan New England and the dangers dissent posed to the "city upon a hill."

Atlantic World

The interconnected web of trade, migration, ideas, and empire-building that linked Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Fraser emphasizes that colonial development cannot be understood in isolation but as part of this larger system, where goods like sugar and silver, as well as people (enslaved Africans, indentured Europeans), circulated constantly.

Bacon's Rebellion (1676)

A Virginia uprising led by Nathaniel Bacon against Governor William Berkeley, fueled by anger over Native American policy, land hunger, and elite control of politics. The rebellion revealed tensions between frontier settlers and coastal elites and accelerated the shift from indentured servitude to racial slavery as Virginia's labor system.

Christopher Columbus

The Genoese sailor funded by Spain who sailed west in 1492 seeking a route to Asia but instead encountered the Americas. Fraser highlights Columbus as the initiator of the Columbian Exchange, setting in motion centuries of conquest, colonization, and exploitation.

"City upon a hill"

John Winthrop's phrase from his 1630 sermon describing Massachusetts Bay Colony as an exemplary Christian community. The phrase captured the Puritan mission to be a model society under God, but it also justified intolerance of dissent to preserve unity.

Columbian Exchange

The biological and cultural transfer between the Old World and New World after 1492. Crops like maize and potatoes revolutionized European diets, while Europeans brought horses, cattle, wheat, and devastating diseases like smallpox to the Americas.

Conquistadores

Spanish conquerors like Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro, who toppled Indigenous empires (Aztec, Inca) in the 16th century. They combined military force with alliances, and their actions reshaped the Americas under Spanish rule.

Encomienda System

A Spanish labor system granting settlers authority over Indigenous workers in exchange for "Christianizing" them. In practice, it was coercive and exploitative, resembling slavery, and contributed to the decimation of Native populations.

Enlightenment

An 18th-century intellectual movement stressing reason, science, and natural rights. Colonists drew on Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke to question authority, laying ideological groundwork for challenges to monarchy and traditional hierarchies.

Great Awakening (1730s-1740s)

A series of religious revivals that emphasized personal faith, emotional sermons, and salvation by grace. Preachers like George Whitefield inspired widespread enthusiasm, reshaping colonial religion and promoting ideas of equality and challenge to authority.

Headright System

A land distribution policy used in Virginia and Maryland that granted 50 acres for each person transported to the colony. It encouraged both immigration and the use of indentured servitude.

Indentured Servants

Laborers, often poor Europeans, who worked for a fixed number of years in exchange for passage to America. They were essential to early colonial labor but faced harsh conditions, and their unrest contributed to the turn toward African slavery.

Jamestown (1607)

The first permanent English settlement in North America. Though plagued by starvation and conflict with Powhatan peoples, it survived with help from tobacco cultivation, making it the model of a profit-driven colony.

John Rolfe

A Jamestown settler credited with introducing profitable tobacco cultivation. His marriage to Pocahontas briefly secured peace with the Powhatan, symbolizing fragile cooperation between colonists and Natives.

John Winthrop

The Puritan governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, remembered for articulating the 'city upon a hill' ideal. He embodied both the colony's religious mission and its intolerance of dissent.

King Philip's War (1675-1676)

A devastating conflict in New England between English settlers and Native Americans led by Metacom (King Philip). The war decimated Native power in the region and reinforced English dominance.

Maize

A staple crop first domesticated in the Americas. Its spread northward supported complex Native societies, and after 1492 it became a crucial food source in Europe, Africa, and Asia via the Columbian Exchange.

Maryland Act of Toleration (1649)

A law granting freedom of worship to all Christians in Maryland. While limited, it reflected attempts to manage religious diversity in the colonies.

Mayflower Compact (1620)

A covenant signed by Pilgrims establishing self-government in Plymouth. It reflected the principle of governance by consent and foreshadowed later colonial assemblies.

Mercantilism

An economic theory that colonies existed to benefit the mother country. England's mercantilist policies (like the Navigation Acts) sought to control colonial trade and ensure profit flowed back to the empire.

Middle Passage

The horrific Atlantic voyage that carried enslaved Africans to the Americas. Conditions were brutal, with mortality rates extraordinarily high, and it exemplified the violence of the transatlantic slave system.

Navigation Acts

English laws (1650s onward) regulating colonial trade, requiring goods to pass through English ports and ships. They embodied mercantilism and fostered colonial resentment toward imperial control.

Pequot War (1636-1637)

A conflict between New England colonists and the Pequot tribe, ending in near destruction of the Pequots. The war exemplified the violent dispossession of Native peoples.

Pueblo Revolt (1680)

An uprising of Pueblo Indians in present-day New Mexico against Spanish rule, led by Popé. They expelled the Spanish for over a decade, making it the most successful Native resistance in colonial history.

Roger Williams

A Puritan dissenter who founded Rhode Island after being banished from Massachusetts Bay. He advocated religious freedom, separation of church and state, and fair dealings with Native Americans.

Royal African Company

An English company granted a monopoly over the slave trade in the late 1600s. It expanded the volume of enslaved Africans transported to English colonies.

Salem Witch Trials (1692)

A series of accusations and executions for witchcraft in Massachusetts. Rooted in fear, factionalism, and religious fervor, the trials revealed deep social tensions in Puritan society.

Separatists

Radical Puritans who sought to break entirely from the Church of England. The Pilgrims who founded Plymouth were Separatists seeking religious freedom.

Society of Friends (Quakers)

A religious group founded in England, emphasizing equality, pacifism, and an 'inner light.' Under William Penn, Quakers created Pennsylvania as a haven of religious toleration.

St. Augustine, FL (1565)

The first permanent European settlement in what became the U.S., founded by the Spanish. It served as a defensive outpost and symbol of Spanish presence in North America.

Stono Rebellion (1739)

A slave revolt in South Carolina, in which Africans sought to escape to Spanish Florida. Brutally suppressed, it led to harsher slave codes and restrictions.

Triangular Trade

The three-legged Atlantic system in which raw materials, manufactured goods, and enslaved Africans circulated between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. It embodied the integration of colonies into the Atlantic World economy.

Virginia House of Burgesses (1619)

The first elected legislative assembly in English America. It marked the beginning of representative self-government in the colonies.

William Penn

A Quaker founder of Pennsylvania, he promoted religious tolerance, good relations with Native Americans, and an orderly, prosperous colony.