Colonial America and the Jamestown Settlement

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers the initial reasons for English colonization, the conflict over trade routes, the establishment and survival of the Jamestown colony, and the different labor systems used in early America.

13 colonies

The regions of the Americas controlled by the British from the 1600s until the 1770s (the American Revolution).

Southern Colonies

Colonies that developed large plantation economies due to differences in geography, climate, and available resources.

New England

Colonies that developed economies based more on fishing, trade, and small farms.

Silk Roads

Trade routes used by Europeans for more than 1000 years to trade with Asia before being cut off by the Ottoman Empire.

Drake

A British privateer who captured a Spanish treasure ship in 1579, taking 26 tons of raw silver and other treasures worth over 200 million $$ today.

1588

The year England defeated Spain’s navy using "fire ships" as weapons, causing Spain to lose almost 100 ships.

Jamestown, Virginia

The 1st permanent English colony in North America, established in 1607.

The Virginia Company

The business that established Jamestown with the goal to MAKE $$, eventually receiving a monopoly on tobacco imports from King James I.

Indentured Servants

Mostly white, very poor, and often illiterate individuals from England who "chose" to come to America for a better life and were granted freedom after 7 years.

Enslaved People

Black individuals from Africa who were kidnapped, trafficked to America, and forced into permanent labor with no choice.

The Starving Time

A period from 1609-1610 where Jamestown settlers suffered extreme hunger, eating horses, vermin, and in some cases, human corpses.

Tobacco

The colony's primary "Cash Crop"; by 1640, London was importing 1.5 millions pounds of it every year.

Powhatan

Native Americans who provided Jamestown with help, including food and farming knowledge.

John Smith

A leader of Jamestown who helped the colony endure by enforcing discipline and requiring colonists to work.