Early American and Colonial History Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering key historical terms, people, events, and concepts from early European exploration and colonial North America.

Sky Woman

A central figure in Iroquois creation stories who fell from the sky world and helped create the earth on the back of a giant turtle.

Beringia

The land bridge connecting Siberia and Alaska that early humans crossed to migrate into the Americas during the Ice Age.

Crusades

A series of medieval religious wars waged by European Christians to reclaim control of the Holy Land from Muslim rule, which helped stimulate European trade with Asia.

Constantinople

The capital of the Byzantine Empire whose capture by the Ottoman Turks in 1453 disrupted overland trade routes to Asia and prompted European maritime exploration.

Treaty of Tordesillas

A 1494 agreement mediated by the Pope that divided newly discovered lands outside Europe between Spain and Portugal.

Popé's Rebellionm

An 1680 indigenous uprising of Pueblo people led by Popé that temporarily drove Spanish colonizers out of modern-day New Mexico.

Henry VIII

The King of England whose desire to annul his marriage led to a break with the Catholic Church, initiating the English Reformation.

English Reformation

The 16th-century religious movement in which England severed ties with the Roman Catholic Church and established the Church of England under the monarch.

Elizabeth I

The Queen of England from 1558 to 1603 who solidified Protestantism, defeated the Spanish Armada, and supported initial English colonial efforts in North America.

Richard Hakluyt

An English writer and promoter who strongly advocated for the colonization of North America to expand trade, spread Protestantism, and challenge Spanish dominance.

Roanoke

The first attempt at permanent English settlement in North America, established off the coast of North Carolina, which mysteriously disappeared by 1590.

Spanish Armada

A massive naval fleet sent by Spain in 1588 to invade England, which was famously defeated by English forces and storms.

John Rolfe

An early Jamestown colonist who successfully introduced profitable tobacco cultivation to Virginia and married Pocahontas.

John Smith

An English soldier and explorer who took leadership of the Jamestown colony in 1608, establishing strict discipline to ensure survivor colonization.

Pocahontas

The daughter of Powhatan who fostered relations between the Powhatan Confederacy and the Jamestown settlers, and married John Rolfe.

Joint-Stock Company/Colony

A business entity where multiple investors pooled capital to fund colonial settlements in exchange for shared risk and potential profits.

Headright System

A Virginia policy that granted 50 acres of land to anyone who paid their own passage or the passage of an indentured servant to the colony.

House of Burgesses

The first elected representative legislative assembly in the American colonies, created in Virginia in 1619.

Good Friday Massacre

A major 1622 surprise attack launched by Powhatan leader Opechancanough against Virginia settlers, killing roughly a third of the English population.

Samuel de Champlain

A French explorer who established the settlement of Quebec in 1608 and is known as the Father of New France.

"City upon a Hill"

A phrase from John Winthrop's 1630 sermon describing Massachusetts Bay Colony as a Puritan model community for the rest of the world to look up to.

Great Migrations

The mass migration during the 1630s of over 20,000 English Puritans to New England seeking religious freedom and economic opportunities.

Mayflower Compact

A 1620 agreement signed by Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower establishing a civil body politic and rule by majority consent.

Pilgrims

A group of English Separatist Puritans who fled religious persecution in England and established Plymouth Colony in 1620.

Act of Religious Toleration

A 1649 Maryland law ensuring religious freedom for all Christian denominations in the colony, passed to protect Catholics against Protestant dominance.

English Civil War

A conflict from 1642 to 1651 between English Parliamentarians and Royalists over governance and royal authority, temporarily halting colonial expansion.

Restoration

The period starting in 1660 when the English monarchy was restored under King Charles II, leading to the chartering of new Proprietary Colonies.

Glorious Revolution

The 1688 bloodless overthrow of King James II of England, replacing him with William and Mary and establishing parliamentary supremacy.

Quakers

Members of the Religious Society of Friends who believed in the Inner Light, pacifism, gender equality, and religious tolerance, key to Pennsylvania's founding.

Half-Way Covenant

A 1662 Puritan policy offering partial church membership to grandchildren of full members without requiring a personal conversion experience.

Salem Witch Trials

A series of trials and executions in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 resulting from mass hysteria and accusations of witchcraft.

Bacon's Rebellion

An 1676 armed rebellion of Virginia backcountry settlers led by Nathaniel Bacon against Governor William Berkeley over Indian policies and political grievances.

Nathaniel Bacon

A Virginia colonist and leader of Bacon's Rebellion who organized armed opposition against Governor William Berkeley in 1676.

William Berkeley

The long-serving colonial governor of Virginia whose friendly Native American trade policies and refusal to retaliate against raids provoked Bacon's Rebellion.