Age of Exploration & Colonial America - Key Terms (Vocabulary)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key people, places, concepts, and events from the lecture notes on the Age of Exploration and Colonial America.

Iroquois Confederacy

Alliance of Cayuga, Seneca, Mohawk, Oneida, and Onondaga tribes; located in upstate New York and parts of Canada; notable for the Council of Fifty and influence of women.

Prince Henry the Navigator

Portuguese royal patron known as The Navigator; advanced exploration and navigation for Portugal.

Christopher Columbus

Italian explorer funded by Spain (1492); landed in the Bahamas, thought he reached Asia; his voyage reshaped history, later viewed controversially.

Ferdinand and Isabella

Spanish monarchs who sponsored Columbus’s voyages.

Ponce de León

First European to reach what is now the United States (Florida) in 1513; died in a Native attack in 1521.

Pedro Menéndez de Avilés

Founded St. Augustine (1565); massacred French Protestants; established Catholic control.

St. Augustine

Oldest continuously inhabited European-established city in the United States (founded 1565).

Santa Fe

Founded in 1610; second-oldest permanent European settlement in the United States.

Historiography

Study of how history is written and how interpretations of events change over time.

John Wycliffe

Early reformer, known as the Morning Star of the Reformation; advocated Bible in English, opposition to indulgences, and poverty among clergy.

Protestant Reformation

Movement beginning with Martin Luther (1517) that challenged the Catholic Church and led to Protestant churches.

King Henry VIII

English king who established the Church of England after the pope refused his divorce.

Spanish Armada

Massive Spanish fleet defeated by the English in 1588; storms aided the defeat, sometimes called the Protestant wind.

Jamestown

First permanent English colony in North America (founded 1607); faced the Starving Time; tobacco economy helped save it.

John Smith

Leader at Jamestown; famous motto He that will not work shall not eat; captured by Powhatan and saved by Pocahontas.

Pocahontas

Powhatan’s daughter who aided John Smith and later married John Rolfe, symbolizing fragile colonial-Native relations.

Separatists / Pilgrims

Religious group seeking to break from the Church of England; founded Plymouth in 1620.

Mayflower Compact

Early self-government agreement created by the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower.

Puritans / Massachusetts Bay Colony

Wanted to purify the Church of England; settled in Massachusetts Bay under John Winthrop (1629).

John Winthrop

Governor who described the colony as a City upon a Hill, an example to the world. Led in foudning massachussets

Roger Williams

Founded Rhode Island; advocated separation of church and state and fair Native land purchases.

Anne Hutchinson

Banished from Massachusetts for challenging Puritan leaders and advocating women’s religious roles.

Thomas Hooker

Founder of Connecticut; author of the Fundamental Orders.

Fundamental Orders

Early written constitution establishing representative self-government in Connecticut.

King Philip’s War

1675–76 brutal conflict led by Metacom (King Philip) of the Wampanoag; thousands killed.

Henry Hudson

English explorer who explored the Hudson River; Dutch claimed the surrounding area.

New Amsterdam

Dutch colony on Manhattan; later became New York.

William Penn

Founder of Pennsylvania; Quaker; promoted religious tolerance and equality.

Triangular Trade

Trade network between Europe, West Africa, and the Americas involving manufactured goods, enslaved people, and colonial products.

Middle Passage

Atlantic crossing used to transport enslaved Africans; millions suffered; about 2 million died en route.

John Punch

1640s Virginia enslaved man; first documented lifelong slavery, signaling shift to racial slavery.

Indentured Servants

Laborers who exchanged a period of service for passage to the colonies; temporary, not hereditary.

Enslaved Labor

Permanent, hereditary slavery; a major labor system in the colonies.

Bacon’s Rebellion

1676 rebellion by frontier settlers against Native Americans and colonial authorities; highlighted tensions and shift toward slave labor.

Virginia Slave Codes (1705)

Laws that institutionalized and hardened racial slavery in the Virginia colony.

New England Colonies

NH, MA, CT, RI; small farms, fishing, lumber, shipbuilding, town meetings, emphasis on education (Harvard).

Middle Colonies

NY, NJ, PA, DE; fertile land, breadbasket economy, diverse immigrants, growing trade.

Southern Colonies

MD, VA, NC, SC, GA; plantation system, cash crops (tobacco, rice, indigo), enslaved labor.

City on a Hill

Phrase from John Winthrop describing the Massachusetts Bay Colony as a model Christian society.

Columbus Legacy

Longstanding celebration in some eras; modern critique; Indigenous Peoples’ Day adopted in many states.