Unit 2: European Colonization 1607-1754

Vocabulary flashcards covering European colonization patterns, regional colonial economies, mercantilism, native interactions, and colonial cultural movements from 1607 to 1754.

Spain (Colonial Goals)

Focused on wealth extraction of gold/silver, enslaving Native Americans, and converting them to Catholicism through the encomienda system, while implementing a racial caste system.

Encomienda system

A system used by Spain to extract wealth such as gold and silver and convert Native Americans to Catholicism while enslaving them.

France and Dutch (Colonial Goals)

Focused heavily on trade networks, especially fur, and forming military and economic alliances with Native tribes that often involved intermarriage to build positive relationships.

Britain (Colonial Goals)

Sent large waves of permanent families and individual migrants seeking land, economic mobility, and religious freedom, resulting in the displacement and forcing out of Native populations.

New England Colonies

A colonial region consisting of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire whose economy centered on whaling, fishing, and timber.

Middle Colonies

A colonial region consisting of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware whose economy was based on different grains.

Southern Colonies

A colonial region consisting of Maryland, Virginia, The Carolinas, and Georgia whose cash-crop economy produced tobacco, indigo, cotton, and sugar.

Mercantilism

The economic policy where colonies exist to enrich the mother country by providing raw materials and manufactured goods.

Navigation Acts

Laws passed by Britain to regulate and restrict colonial trade, though enforcement remained loose due to a policy of salutary neglect.

Transatlantic Trade

The exchange of goods, rum, and enslaved people across the Atlantic via the brutal Middle Passage.

King Philip’s War 1675

A violent clash sparked by the rapid expansion of British colonists and growing conflict over land and culture with Native Americans.

Pueblo Revolt 1680

A violent clash in 1680 between Native Americans and colonizers caused by conflicts over land and culture.

Self Government

Local political bodies and established self-rule traditions that developed in the colonies due to their distance from Britain.

The First Great Awakening

A 1730-1740s religious revival that emphasized emotional personal faith and challenged traditional clerical authority.

The Enlightenment

An 18th-century intellectual movement emphasizing reason, natural rights, and social contracts, which heavily influenced early American political thought.