03 Colonial Ways of Life, 1607-1763 Flashcards
cash crop
crop grown primarily for market
plantations
large commercial estates where many workers lived on the land and cultivated the crops for the landowner
indentured servant
person who agreed to work for an employer in the colonies in exchange for passage to America
Eliza Lucas
discovered suitable conditions for growing indigo, which became an important cash crop for South Carolina
gentry
the wealthy landowners in the South
subsistence farming
system of farming in which farmers produce only enough crops to feed themselves and their families
William Berkeley
governor of Virginia
Royal African Company
English trading company that engaged in the slave trade
Middle Passage
the journey of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to America
slave code
a set of laws that formally regulated slavery and defined the relationship between enslaved Africans and free people
Grand Banks
a shallow region in the Atlantic Ocean teeming with fish
fall line
the area where rivers descend from a high elevation to a lower one, causing waterfalls
town meetings
meetings in New England in which town residents met to discuss problems and issues
selectmen
men chosen to manage the affairs of New England towns
meetinghouse
the name given to Puritan churches
bills of exchange
credit slips used by New England and English merchants
triangular trade
a three-way trade established by New England merchants
artisans
skilled workers who manufactured various goods
entrepreneurs
businesspeople who risk their money to earn a profit
capitalists
people who invest their money in new businesses
mercantilism
a set of ideas about the world economy and how it works
Charles II
King of England who wanted to generate wealth for England by regulating trade in the colonies
James II
King of England who continued to assert royal authority over American colonies
Dominion of New England
a royal province created from the merger of Connecticut and Rhode Island with Massachusetts and Plymouth
