The Early Colonization of the Americas (P.R. Chapter 6)

A comprehensive series of vocabulary flashcards designed to help students prepare for exams on the early colonization of the Americas.

Joint-stock companies

Corporate businesses with shareholders organized to settle and develop lands in North America.

Pueblo people

Indigenous people of the desert southwest known for building multistory stone houses.

Columbian exchange

The exchange of plants, animals, foods, diseases, and ideas between the Old and New Worlds.

Spanish Encomienda System

System where colonists controlled a group of Natives, converting them to Christianity and using them for labor.

Racial Caste System

Hierarchy in colonial society: Europeans at the top, followed by Mestizos, Zambos, and full-blooded Africans.

Disease

The principal factor that led to the defeat of Native populations by Europeans.

God, Gold, and Glory

Motivations that drove European exploration and colonization.

Bacon’s Rebellion

A 1676 uprising in Virginia led by Nathaniel Bacon against Governor Berkeley's policies.

Indentured servitude

Labor system where individuals worked for a period in exchange for passage to America and land.

Headright System

Land grant system offered by the Virginia Company to attract settlers.

House of Burgesses

The first legislative assembly in American colonies established in 1619.

Mayflower Compact

An agreement among Pilgrims to form a government based on the consent of the governed.

Puritanism

Religious reform movement aiming to purify the Church of England.

Separatists

Puritans who abandoned the Church of England, believing it was beyond reform.

City Upon a Hill

A phrase used by John Winthrop to describe the ideal society the Puritans aimed to create.

Covenant

A key concept among Puritans emphasizing a moral legal agreement, both religious and political.

Halfway Covenant

An agreement to allow the baptism of children of baptized parents, which diluted Puritan membership. Still had to be “gift of God’s grace” to vote.

The First Great Awakening

A religious revival in the 1730s-1740s emphasizing intense spiritual experiences.

Enlightenment

An intellectual movement in Europe that emphasized reason and individualism over tradition.

Mercantilism

Economic theory advocating for trade balance and government regulation of the economy.

Molasses Act of 1733

Tax on imported sugar aimed at protecting British merchants from colonial competition.

Navigation Acts

Laws to regulate colonial trade and enable England to collect taxes.

Fundamental Orders

Regarded as the first written constitution in British North America, established in Connecticut.

Act of Toleration (1649)

Maryland law protecting the religious freedom of most Christians.

Stono Uprising

A significant slave rebellion in 1739 in South Carolina against slaveholders.

Coureurs du bois

French fur traders who lived among and often intermarried with Native Americans.

Jamestown

The first permanent English settlement in North America, founded in 1607.

Tobacco

The cash crop that drove the economy in Virginia and led to the expansion of slavery.

Goose Creek Men

Wealthy planters in the early colonial South who held power and influenced governance.

Georgia

A colony founded by James Oglethorpe as a buffer between Spanish Florida and the Carolinas.

Slavery

Forced labor system that became predominant in Southern colonies for agricultural production.

Triangular Trade

Trading system between the colonies, Europe, and Africa involving slaves, raw materials, and goods.

Chesapeake

Region around Jamestown known for tobacco cultivation and plantation economy.

New England Confederation

An early attempt at a collective government among some New England colonies.

New Amsterdam

Dutch settlement that later became New York City after English takeover.

The Powhatan Confederacy

A group of Native American tribes that interacted with the settlers at Jamestown.

English Calvinists

Puritans who sought to purify the Church of England from within.

Roger Williams

A controversial Puritan minister who advocated for separation of church and state.

Anne Hutchinson

A Puritan woman who challenged gender roles and church authority, leading to her banishment.

Black Codes

Laws passed in the South to restrict the rights of freed African Americans.

Population Growth in Colonies

Significant increase in the colonial population due to immigration and high birth rates.

Women’s Roles in Colonies

Women were primarily responsible for domestic duties and had limited legal rights.

Children's Roles in Colonies

Child labor was common, often prioritized over education.

Slave Society in the South

The structure of Southern society heavily dependent on slavery for agriculture.

New York's Growth

Characterized by its diversity and focus on trade due to fertile land.

The Lower South

Region focused on cash crops with significant plantation economies.

Plymouth Colony

The first successful English colony in America founded by the Pilgrims in 1620.

Virginia Company

Joint-stock company that financed the establishment of Jamestown.

Sparsely populated French settlements

French colonies in America that were few in number and relied on alliances with Natives for trade.

Spanish Colonization

Characterized by conquest, enslavement, and conversion of Native populations.