Colonial America Founding Era Flashcards
Puritans
sought to “purify” Christian religious practices, and constituted a threat to the Church of England. A subset of these Puritans, known as Separatists, sought to leave the Church of England entirely.
The Church of England had been founded by English monarch Henry VIII, so that he could divorce his wife, free from papal interference. As the religious embodiment of the King, any threat to the Church of England was a threat to the King himself.
Pilgrims
Eiropean settlers of the Plymouth colony. In present day Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. They are referred to as pilgrims because their journey was religious-based.
Jamestown
City in Virginia
The first permanent English Settlement in the Americas. 1607
Mayflower Compact
The first governing document of the Plymouth colony. It was written by the male passengers of a ship.
Bacon’s Rebellion
After Virginia’s governor, William Berkeley, failed to respond to Indian attacks on the frontier, impoverished farmer Nathaniel Bacon led a group of former indentured servants and blacks in an attack on Jamestown in 1676, burning it to the ground.
Bacon and his followers were aggrieved that political power in the colonial government was in the hands of a few wealthy landowners. The rebellion collapsed when Bacon died of dysentery.
King Phillip’s War
In 1675, Phillip led a war on the settlers in which 2000 settlers lost their lives.
Philip was a chief of the Wampanoag tribe, and his attack on the rapidly expanding New England settlements marked the last large-scale Indian resistance to colonization in New England.
English Civil War
(1642–1651) was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians (“Roundheads”) and Royalists (“Cavaliers”) over, principally, the manner of England’s government. The first (1642–46) and second (1648–49) wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third (1649–51) saw fighting between supporters of King Charles II and supporters of the Rump Parliament. The war ended with the Parliamentarian victory at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651.
Glorious Revolution
During the Revolution of 1688, Catholic King James II was deposed, and Protestants William and Mary were named by Parliament as co-regents. By deposing King James II, and naming monarchs of their choosing, Parliament demonstrated a willingness to act independently of the British monarchy.
French and Indian War
(1754-1763) was fought by the British against France and Indian tribes that were allied to the French. The war was fought mainly for control of the colonial frontier. Victory in the war gave the English control of Canada and the entire Mississippi River valley.
Benjamin (Ben) Franklin
Most famous American Enlightenment figure. Admired on both sides of the Atlantic, invented bifocals and a centralized stove, experimented with electricity, published an influential newspaper, and wrote the famous Poor Richard’s Almanack, as well as numerous essays, including Fart Proudly.
was also one of the founders of the University of Pennsylvania, the first secular university in the colonies.
Stamp Act
required the purchase of a revenue stamp for newspapers, advertisements, and legal documents.
The first direct tax on the American colonies, the stirred colonial anger because Americans felt they were being taxed without any say.
Writs of Assistance
Search warrants that allowed the British agents to search wherever they pleased and without having to pay for the damage.
James Otis
Lawyer against British policy, especially Writs of Assistance and Taxation without Representation.
Boston Massacre
British troops taunted to a quarrel with the Americans, shooting at the crowd and killing 5 Americans. The British troops were tried and were defended by attorney John Adams.
Boston Tea Party
The Tea Act lowered the price of British tea, but purchasing the tea would have required the American colonists to recognize the British government’s power to tax the colonies.
To protest the British government’s actions, Americans disguised as Indians boarded the ship carrying the tea on December 16, 1773, and threw the cargo overboard.
