APUSH Chapter 2

Joint-stock companies

The joint stock company was the predecessor of these early enterprises and a few select investors dubbed "adventurers" were able to increase their capital. Joint-stock companies were also an early step towards Capitalism and departing from mercantilism by allowing for more flexible investments and broader participation in colonial ventures, reflecting their significance in Europe and later America

Virginia Company

A joint-stock company established in 1606 to finance the settlement of Jamestown, it played a crucial role in the early colonization of North America. It was charted by King James I in 1606 with the goal of establishing English settlements on the eastern coast of North America.

Jamestown

Founded in 1606 as the first official English colony in North America, Jamestown was initially a joint-stock company whose main cash crop was tobacco, which the colony heavily profited off of after John Rolfe cultivates it. The Head-system was also a big factor within the colony as it was a land grant policy created in 1618 by the Virginia Company to solve labors and population shortages. Tensions here with the Native Americans were positive at first but later tensions cut off trade. Also used for defense against potential Native American attacks

Head-right system

A land grant policy that granted 50 acres of land for each person or “head” whose journey to the colony was paid for. This was significant because wealthy colonists who paid for travel costs for poor immigrants would later have indentured servants because those immigrants had to repay their sponsor for funding their trip to the New World.

Tobacco

Tobacco was a major cash crop that was heavily cultivated in Virginia and saved the Jamestown colony from total failure, it was significant because the sweet strain cultivated by John Rolfe created a massive boom in European demand turning Jamestown into a highly profitable enterprise.

Virginia House of Burgesses

A representative government authorized by the Virginia Company and made up of settlers. It was huge because it was the first representative government completely unrelated to the English crown. And is basically a small stepping stone to create an independent government from Britain.

The Great (English) Migration

Many Puritans moved to the New World for religious and ideological freedom, sought to escape religious persecution and political autocracy under King Charles I and the church of England.70,000 refugees left England and only 20,000 came to Massachusetts, many were attracted to the warm and fertile West Indies. The Great English Migration fits into the theme of Migration and settlement due to the desire of economic growth as most Puritans came to the sugar rich isle of Barbados instead. This was significant because it resulted in a society that deeply shaped American education, religion, and democratic tradition.

Puritans

English reformists who undertook a total purification of English Christianity. Many of these Puritans came from commercially depressed districts and Calvinism provided Spiritual comfort. Puritans are also an example of American and National Identity because they would soon settle into the New England territory. They were important because they laid the early groundwork for American self-government, education, and cultural exceptionalism.

Separatists

A small group of Puritans who vowed to break away completely from the Church of England. King James I threatened to terrorize and harass the separatists off of the land for fear that they might defy him as their political leader. They fit into migration and settlement because they would leave England after facing religious persecution. They established the Plymouth Colony in 1620 and also pioneered forms of self-governance in the colonies such as the Mayflower compact. Similar to the Puritans

The Mayflower Compact

Drafted by Puritans it was the first written framework of self-government in the American colonies. Stated that as a Pilgrim they would elect a legislative body, assembly, and was the first example of a representative government in the new world. The Mayflower compact was an early form of government in the colonies that laid the groundwork for self-governance that would later influence American political institutions. 

Act of Toleration

Granted toleration to all Christians but it also threatened the death penalty towards Jews and Atheists for not believing in Jesus’ divinity. Maryland’s act of toleration was one of the earliest developments of religious freedoms in North America. Though in retrospect it wasn’t that progressive because even though it granted some religious freedom it definitely wasn’t tolerant towards non-believers.

Rodger Williams

A Puritan minister banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635 for believing that the government shouldn’t force people to follow a religion. he founded Rhode Island based on religious freedom and separation of church and state, the colony was also tolerant towards Indians, and Anne Hutchinson who was also kicked out of Massachusetts for believing that good morals were irrelevant if you were saved. She helps find Portsmouth and Rodger Williams finds Providence which combines to create Rhode Island.

Providence

Founded by Rodger Williams after he was kicked out of Massachusetts for believing that the government cannot force people to follow a specific religion, later becomes the capital of Rhode Island, provided religious tolerance and was friendly towards Indians. Anne Hutchinson was also kicked out of Massachusetts for believing that good morals didn’t matter as long as you were saved, and she helps find Portsmouth. Providence and Portsmouth combine to create the colony of Rhode Island. Rhode Island was a special colony because of its progressive ideals and the separation of church and state.

Anne Hutchinson

Kicked out of Massachusetts Bay colony for starting antinomianism, the belief that as long as you were saved by God you weren’t obligated to live a moral life. She later aids the finding of Portsmouth which forms with Providence to become the colony of Rhode Island. Anne Hutchinson is an example of early resistance towards the colonial government.

Antinomianism

The claim that living a holy life isn’t a perfect sign of salvation and that those who are saved are exempt from obeying God’s law or mans. Antinomianism was significant because it exposed how strict Puritan religion was and challenged colonial authority by opposing the city on a hill image that the Puritans had crafted for Massachusetts.

Thomas Hooker

Thomas Hooker was a Puritan minster who founded the Connecticut colony after he voluntarily left Boston, Massachusetts over disagreements with voting rights. In 1639 he inspired the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut which is regarded as the first written constitution in America and served as a foundational model for future American Constitutional government by being an early representative government. New Haven eventually joins Hartford to form the Connecticut colony.

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

Served as the foundational governing framework for the Connecticut colony that largely derived its power from the people and is widely celebrated as the first written constitution in America

The Middle Colonies

The Middle Colonies were Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. They were known from having fertile land, a diverse group of European immigrants, good, deep harbors that allowed for large ships to dock easily, and tolerant attitudes for religion. As well as rich soil, tons of corn and wheat, large farms, more indentured servants, later need for slaves. Small manufacturing, and bigger cities such as Philadelphia and New York.

William Penn

William Penn founds Pennsylvania and most of the population consists of Quakers. They believed that men and women were equal and were extremely religiously tolerant. He drafts the Charter of Liberties which granted religious freedom to everyone who lives within Pennsylvania

Quakers (Religious Society of Friends)

A 17t century Protestant Christian group that believed God speaks directly to every person through an “inner light”, rejecting formal clergy, rituals, and social hierocracies. They were especially significant because they had radical beliefs such as religious toleration and the belief that men and women were equal.

Philadelphia

Founded by William Penn in 1682 and was originally designed as a refuge for Quakers. Emphazsizing religious tolerance, representative government, and peaceful relations with Native Americans. Grew into a massive commercial seaport and was a crucial economic and cultural center. It was also known as being the major breadbasket for the Middle Colonies as it exported massive quantities of wheat, grain, and flour to the West Indies and Europe, anchoring the agricultural surplus of the middle region.

Frame of Government of Pennsylvania

A constitution for Pennsylvania written by William Penn to govern his colony as a safe haven for Quakers and any other people group. Established representative assembly, freedom of worship for all believers in God.

Charter of Liberties

The Charter of Liberties was a 1701 constitutional document written by William Penn that granted religious freedom to all who lived in the colony of Pennsylvania as well as establishing a representative and tolerant government for the Pennsylvania colony. One of the most progressive and liberal constitutional frameworks in North America

Mercantilism

Mercantilism was the economic system where the mother country regulates colonial commerce to maximize their own wealth and national power by extracting wealth from their colonies overseas. This was the exact economic logic that Britain used to exercise their control over the colonies in British North America.

Navigation Acts

English laws that stitched England’s international belongings closer to the mother colony by restricting American trade with countries who weren’t ruled by Britain. The navigation laws were significant because it hindered Americans from being able to potentially profit from trading with other countries, creating early distaste for the British crown from colonists

Salutary Neglect

The unofficial British policy of loosely enforcing trade laws and taxes in the American colonies. The policy ended after the French and Indian war as Britain had massive war debt and wanted the colonies to pay for their own defense. This would also impact the road to the American revolution as Britain continued to tax more goods going to the colonies

Dominion of New England

Enforced from London and accepted the entirety of New England, later including New York and East and West Jersey. The goal was to build up colonial defenses in case of war with the Indians. It was a strategic move to protect the New England territory. Also used as a royal super-colony created by King James II that merged the New England colonies—and later New York and New Jersey—into a single administrative unit to strip away local self-rule and strictly enforce imperial trade laws such as the Navigation Acts.

Transatlantic Trade

It was part of the Triangular trade network connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Ships carried European manufactured goods to Africa, enslaved people across the ocean, and raw cash crops (like sugar, tobacco, and rice) back to Europe. The Transatlantic trade grew in popularity after the Encomienda system went out of style due to most Native American workers dying from disease or running away

Middle Passage

The gruesome sea voyage that transported millions of Africans to the American colonies during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Very little survived the conditions and were able to be sold at auctions. The Middle passage also connected America to the Old World because it was a part of the greater Transatlantic slave trade connecting Europe, West Africa, and the Americas. Many died from disease, faced extreme overcrowding, and high mortality rates.

New England Confederation

 The New England Confederation was created to provide a joint defense against Native American attacks (such as King Philip's War), Dutch expansion, and to settle inter-colonial disputes. Unlike the dominion of New England this was created by colonists without authorization from the British crown

Metacom’s War (King Philip’s War)

Slowed the westward march of English settlement in New England for decades but drastically reduced the numbers of the New England Indians and their threat towards the English. King Philip’s war was special because it was the Native American’s last major attempt to push the English settlers out of their native lands. However, once the Indians lose the war they essentially back off of the European settlers for awhile.

Bacon’s Rebellion

An uprising led by Nathaniel Bacon against Governor William Berkley that began over frontier lands and the desire to kick Native Americans off of their lands, leading to the burning of Jamestown. Bacon’s Rebellion was significant because it challenged the social hierarchy of the wealthy colonial governors and the poor frontier farmers.

Pueblo Revolt (Pope’s Rebellion)

A successful uprising of Indigenous Pueblo people that drove Spanish colonizers out of present-day New Mexico for over a decade that started because of the Spanish outlawing the Pueblo’s traditional religious practices and replacing them with Catholic ones. The rebels killed hundreds of Spanish colonists and priests, destroyed Catholic missions, and forced the remaining settlers to flee south.

Indentured servitude

A colonial labor system where mostly poor European migrants worked for a set period of four to seven years in exchange for transatlantic passage, food, shelter, and basic needs. Significant because overtime indentured servitude was slowly phased out in favor of permeant labor institutions such as chattel slavery.

Slave Codes/Laws

Laws based on racism that made slaves and their children the property of their masters for life. Some colonies even made it illegal to teach a slave how to read or write. The Slave codes were the first major laws in the colonies influenced on racial prejudice as they reduced chattel slaves as mere property instead of human beings and made slavery hereditary.

Headright system

Employed by Virginia and Maryland in order to importation of workers.  These terms stated that whoever paid for a labor’s passage could acquire fifty acres of land. Because many wealthy land farmers paid for poor immigrant voyages, the poor immigrants whose journey was paid for would usually become indentured servants in order to pay off their debt.

The Half-way Covenant

A 1662 Puritan church arrangement in colonial New England that allowed partial church membership for the children and grandchildren of church members who had not yet experienced a personal conversion. Basically helped kickstart the great awakening in a sense

The Great Awakening

a wave of intense evangelical religious revivals that swept through the British American colonies during the 1730s and 1740s.This movement emphasized emotional, personal salvation and a direct relationship with God over formal church ritual and strict institutional authority

Zenger Trial

A legal case from 1734-1735 involving the printer John Peter Zenger who was jailed for publishing articles criticizing Royal Governor William Cosby. A jury later acquitted Zenger by stating that truthful statements cannot be considered libel. The Zenger trial stands out because it was an early colonial challenge of royal power.

The Enlightenment

A 17th- and 18th-century transatlantic intellectual movement that emphasized human reason, science, and individualism over blind obedience to traditional authority, monarchy, or religion. Enlightenment writers such as John Locke would later be a massive ideological inspiration for America’s revolution as he would argue that everyone has natural rights and the government is indebted to the people to protect said rights

Spanish Armada

The devastating route the Spanish Armada took that was halted by the ‘protestant winds’ would mark the beginning of the end for Spain’s New World Empire but it wouldn’t collapse until centuries later. The Spanish Armada is an example of America in the World because its defeat paved the way for England to begin building their own empire in the Americas.

First Anglo-Powhatan War

The first Anglo-Powhatan war was caused by growing tensions between the settlers and the Native Americans, especially when the settlers started raiding their food supply. But it ended in 1614 with the marriage of Pocahontas to John Rolfe. One of the earliest examples of tensions between the European settlers and Native Americans over the Europeans taking over their lands.

Second Anglo-Powhatan War

In 1644 the Indians made a last-ditch effort to get rid of the Virginians but were again defeated. The peace treaty in 1646 destroyed the chance of transitioning the native peoples into society peacefully. This was significant because it drew a racial line between the white Europeans and Native Americans by implying that they were too inferior to ever integrate into society normally alongside the colonists.