Key Terms Period 2 Flashcards
Corporate colonies
British colonies whose governments were trading-company charters. In these colonies all political power rested in the members of the company.
Royal colonies
A colony administered by a royal governor and council appointed by the British crown.
Proprietary colonies
A colony in which a person was appointed to lead by the king but had more autonomy. Most of these were run under a colonial charter agreement.
Representative government
Government where people had a say in policy by electing representatives to advocate for their interests
Jamestown
First British colony in North America, established in 1607 in Virginia. It was initially very poorly run with its residents unaccustomed to the rigors of colonial life.
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The king gave Puritans a right to settle and govern a colony in the Massachusetts Bay area. The colony established political freedom and a representative government for those in the church (but persecuted those who weren’t).
Plymouth Colony
Second colony founded in North America by the British by Puritans escaping religious persecution in England. Established by the travelers of the Mayflower in 1620 in what is now Massachusetts.
Mayflower
Ship that carried a group of Puritans (often called the Pilgrims) who were escaping religious persecution in England.
Mayflower Compact
The first agreement for self-government in America. It was signed by the 41 men on the Mayflower and set up a government for the Plymouth colony.
Virginia House of Burgesses
the first elected legislative assembly in the New World established in the Colony of Virginia in 1619, representative colony set up by England to make laws and levy taxes, but England could veto its legislative acts.
Act of Toleration
A legal document that allowed all Christian religions in Maryland; made specifically to allow Catholics to settle in Maryland away from Protestant pushback; however Protestants ‘invaded’ Maryland and repealed this. First example of religious freedom.
Indentured Servants
People who agreed to a term of slavery (usually 6-9 years) in exchange for free passage to the North American colonies. After the term, they were free to make their own fortune
Headright System
The headright system was established in 1617 by the Virginia Company in an attempt to recruit laborers and workers to the colony and more populate Virginia; it granted 50 acres of land to new settlers and 100 acres of land to those who already lived in the colony.
Chesapeake Colonies
Settlements surrounding Chesapeake Bay, Virginia and Maryland. Colonies grew tobacco and other cash crops
Bacon’s Rebellion
Rebellion of poor white and black Virginians against the colonial government’s toleration of Native Americans. The rebels marched on Jamestown and burned the city, driving the governor, Sir William Berkeley, out of town. The rebellion ended suddenly when Bacon died of an illness. Ended the use for indentured servants and started slavery.
Quakers
Protestant religious sect that believed in nonviolence and service as religious expression.
Halfway Covenant
Allowed some political rights for non-Puritans living in Puritan colonies
New England Confederation
New England colonists formed the New England Confederation in 1643 as a defense against local Native American tribes and encroaching Dutch. The colonists formed the alliance without the English crown’s authorization.
Charter of Liberties (1701)
A written constitution for Pennsylvania provided by William Penn. Guaranteed freedom of worship for all and unrestricted immigration.
Mercantilism
An economic system where colonies provided goods to a mother country. It was in the interest of the mother country to expand its colonial possessions to gain more goods and in the interest of settlers who could seek their fortune in the colonies.
Navigation Acts
Series of laws passed by England to regulate trade and enforce mercantilist taxes on the colonies in North America. These acts were rarely enforced and did not significantly impact the colonies.
Triangle Trade
A series of triangular trade routes that carried British manufactured goods to Africa and the Colonies, Colonial products (like tobacco, indigo, sugar, and rice) to Europe, and Slaves from Africa to the New World. Northern Colonies participated in this trade too by shipping slaves south.
Middle Passage
Voyages between West Africa and the Americas where millions of enslaved Africans were brought to the New World. A significant portion would die due to harsh conditions.
Chattel slavery
Slaves would be bought, sold, and owned forever; basically treated as property
