Unit 1-2 (1491-1754) Flashcards
Act of Religious Toleration
Passed by the Maryland Assembly in 1649, granted religious freedom to all Christians. Established the Chesapeake Bay Colony, under Catholic Lord Calvert, as a haven for Catholics in the North America.
Albany Plan (of Union)
1754 plan conceived of by Benjamin Franklin to create a more centralized coloinal government that would establish policies regarding defrense, trade, and territorial expansion, as well as aim to facilitate better relations between colonists and American Indians. THe plan was rejected and never implemented.
Anglicization
Adoption of English customs and traditions. This shaped colonial culture and politics in 18th-Century North America, through the adoption of English legal and social traditions in the colonies
Anglo-Powhatan Wars
Series of conflicts in the 1620s between the Powhatan Confederacy and English settlers in Virginia and Maryland
Anne Hutchinson
Critic of the clerical doctrine of grace who sparked the Antinomian heresy that challenged the spiritual authority of established clergy in the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Antinomianism
A belief that salvation comes from God’s grace alone and not from good works; the elect need not obey the law of neither God nor man; most notably espoused in the colonies by Anne Hutchinson
Aristocracy
Members of the highest class of society, typically nobility who inherited ranks & titles
Atlantic World
The Peoples & Empires around the Atlantic Ocean rim that became interconnected in the 16th Century
Aztec
Spanish word for the Mexica, an indigenous people who built an empire in present-day Mexico in the centuries before the arrival of the Spaniards
Bacon’s Rebellion
1676 uprising in Virginia led by Nathaniel Bacon. Bacon and his followers, a mix of former and current indentured servants, as well as Black slaves, were upset by the Virginia governor’s unwillingness to send troops to intervene in conflicts between settlers and American Indians, and by the lack of representation of Western settlers in the House of Burgesses. Ultimately resulted in a sharper deleniation between Native and white spheres of influence, the decline of indentured servitude and its replacement by chattell slavery as the primary labor force in the MIddle and Southern colonies.
Barbados Slave Code
(1661) The first formal statute governing the treatment of slaves, which provided for harch punishments against offending slaves by masters. Similar statutes were adopted by southern plantation societies on the North American Mainland in the 17th & 18th centuries.
Barbary States
Series of states in North Africa taht used state-sanctioned piracy to gain wealth from other weaker nations i nthe Atlantic World. The pirates would frequently seize American ships and hold the sailors for ransom in the 18th & early 19th Centuries.
Bartoleme de las Casas
Dominican Friar who fought for fairer treatment of indigenous people in Spanish colonies
Battle of Acoma
(1599) Fought between Spaniards under Don Juan de Onate and the Pueblo Indians in present-day New Mexico. Spaniards britally crushed the Pueblo peoples and established the territory as New Mexico in 1609.
Battle of Quebec
(1759) Historic British victory over French forces on the outskirts of Quebec. The surrender of Quebec marked the neginning of the end of French rule in North America.
Benjamin Franklin
Inventor, author, statesman, diplomat in the 1700s; served as colonial agent in England during the early part of the conflict between the colonies and England
Borderlands
Places where 2 or more nations or societies border each other, and where power is dispensed among competing actors, resulting in fluid social relations, hybrod cultures, and the absence of firmly agreed sovereignty. During the colonial era in North America, borderlands were often places where European empires and native American societies engaged with each other, including the Great Lakes and the Missouri Valley regions. Other examples include the vast territory from Texas to California where Hispanic and Anglophone cultures have intermingled for centuries.
Boston Massacre
Inflammatory description of a deadly clash between a mob and British soldiers on March 5, 1770, that became a symbol of British oppression for many colonistst
Boston Tea Party
Dramatic attempt by Boston leaders to show colonial contempt for the Tea Act; Sons of Liberty, dressed as Mohawk Indians dumped British tea into Boston Harbor; triggered similar actions across the colonies
Buffer State/Zone
In politics, a territory betwen 2 antagonistic powers, intended to minimize the possibility of conflict between them. In British North America, Georgia was established as a buffer colony between British and Spanish territory.
Cahokia
Major trading center in the Missisippi River Valley near modern-day St. Louis, from the 7th-13th Centuries
Calvinism
Protestant sect developed in Switzerland by John Calvin, in which civil judges and reformed ministers ruled over a Christian society
Capitalism
An economic system based on private ownership of property and the open exchange goods between property holders on th “free market”. European colonization of the Americas, and in particular, the discovery of vast bullion deposits, helped bring about Europe’s transition to capitalism.
Caravel
A small, swift sailing ship invented by the Portuguese during the 15h Century
Cash Crop
A crop produced for profit rather than subsistence
Casta System
System developed by the Spanish in the 16th Century to administer colonies and their diverse populations; based on racial hierarchy that priveleged Europeans
Cecilius Calvert
2nd Lord of Baltimore who helped found Baltimore Maryland with his father George Calvert
Charter
Legal document granted by a government to some group or agency to implement a stated purpose and spelling out the attending rigths and obligaitons. British colonial charters guaranteed inhabitants all the rights of Englishmen, which helped solidify colonists’ ties to Britain during the early years of settlement.
Chattel Slavery
A system of bondage in which a slave has the legal status of property and so can be bought and sold like property
Chinook
North American Indians who lived in present-day Washington & Oregon, who built extensive plank houses, and structured their society around complex kinship and trade networks
Church of England
National church established by King Henry VIII after he split with the Catholic Church in 1534
Citizenship
An individual’s relatoinship to the state, wherein citizens swear allegiance to that state, and the state in return is obligated to provide rights to those citizens
Civil liberties
Individual rights regarding freedom that are created by a constitution and a political regime
Civil Rights
Idividual rights regarding equality that are created by a constitution and a political regime
Coercion
The act of compelling behavior by threatening harm
Coercive Acts
British Parliament’s retalitation against the Boston Tea Party that was meant to coerce Boston colonists by reducing the colony’s rights to self-governance. Closed the port of Boston until residents paid for the damaged property and moved Massachusetts court cases against royal officials back to England in a bid to weaken colonial authority.
Colonialism
An imperialist system of physically occupying a foreign territory using military, economic institutions, or settlers
Colonization
The process of settling and controling an already inhabited area for the economic or strategic benefit of the colonizer
Colony
Geographic area in one nation under control by another nation and typically occupied at least partly by settlers of that other nation
Columbian Exchange
The massive global exchange of living things, including people, animals, plants, and diseases, between Eastern & Western Hemispheres that began after the voyages of Columbus
Committees of Correspondance
First called by Samuel Adams; formed in Boston, spread throughout the colonies to share information about British abuses of power, particulaly in response to the Sugar Act
Common Law
Law established from custom and the standards set by previous judicial rulings.
Congregational Church
Self-governing Puritan congregations without the hierarchichal establishment of the Anglican Church
Conquistador
15th/16th Century European (usually Spain or Portugal) conquerer of the Americas (esp. Mexico & Peru). Generally part of a corporate entity in Europe
Conservatism
A political ideology that is skeptical of change and supports the current order (status quo)
Constituency
A geographical area that an elected official represents
Constitutional Monrachy
A monarchy limited in its rule by a constitution–in England’s case, the Declaration of Rigths (1698), which formally limited the power of its king.
Consumer Revolution
A process that emerged in the 17th and 18th Centuries, through which status in the colonies became more closely linked to financial success and a refined lifestyle rather than birth and family pedigree. The consumer revolution was spurred by industrialization and increased global trade.
Continental Army
Army created by the Second Continental COngress after the Battles of Lexington and Concord began the American REvolution in 1775c
Continetal Congress
Congress convened in Philadelhpia in 1774 in response to the Coercive Acts. THe delegates hoped to reestablish the freedoms colonists had previously enjoyed under saluatory neglect
Conversion
Intense religious experience taht confirmed an individual’s place among the “elect,” or the “visible saints.” Calvinists who experienced conversion were then expected to lead sanctified lives to demonstrate their salvation
Corporation
A form of business ownership in which the liability of shareholders in a company is limited to their indivisual investments. Joint-stock companies throught which the American colonies were established were an early example.
Cotton Mather
Puritan theologian and “fire-and-brimstone” preacher, who, drawing from the knowledge his slave Onesimus, helped introduce smallpox immunization
Counter-Reformation
Reaction in the Catholic Church triggered by the Reformation that sought change from within and created new monastic and missionary orders, including the Jesuits, who saw themselves as soldiers of Christ
Coup d’etat
A move in which military forces take control of a government by force
Covenant
Puritan belief that an individual’s relationship with God and others rested on mutual respect, duty, and consent
Covenant Chain
The alliance formed between Iroquois leaders and colonists during a meeting in Albany i n1677 in hopes of salvaging their fur trade and preventing future conflict. Became a model for relations between the British Empire and other Native American Peoples
Covenant of Grace
The Christian idea that God’s elect are granted salvation as a pure gift of grace. This doctrine holds that nothing people do in life can erase their sins or earn them a place in heaven.
Covenant of Works
The Christian idea that God’s elect must do good works in their earthly lives to earn their slavation
Coverture
A Principle in English Law that placed wives under the protection and authority of their husbands, so that they did not have independent legal standing
Crispus Attucks
Former slave turned dockworker. During the Boston Massacre, was allegedly at the head of the crowd of hecklers who baited the British troops, was killed when the British troops fired on the crowd.
Crusades
A series of wars undertaken by Christian armies between 1096-1291 CE to reverse the Muslim advance in Europe and win back the holy lands
Currency Act
1764 act of Parliament preventing colonial assemblies from printing paper money or bills of credit, curtailing the ability of local colonial economies to expand.
Daughters of Liberty
Organization of women in the colonies that led the boycott against the Tea Act
Declaratory Act
1766 act announcing Parliament’s authority to pass any law “to bind the colonies and peoples of North America closer to Britain
Deflation
A fall in prices of consumer goods caused by supply exceeding demand
Deism
The Enlightenment-influenced belief that God created the universe and then left it to operate according to natural laws. Deists relied on reason rather than scripture to interpret God’s will
Democracy
A politcal system in which political power is excercised either directly or indirectly by the people
Direct Democracy
Democracy that allows the public to participate directly in government decision making
Dominion of New England
Colonial entity formed when James II consolidated the governments of Massachusetts and the rest of the New England colonies; later included NY and NJ. Established greater control over the colonies by English authorities; resulted in the banning of town meetings, new taxes, and other unpopular policies. The Dominon was dissolved during the Glorious Revolution.
Effigy
A roughly made image or model of a person, typically created in order to be destroyed in an act of protest
Elizabeth I
Protestant Queen of of England for the latter half of the 1500s who presided over the beginnings of English colonial enterprises in America
Embargo
A ban on trade with a particular country
Empire
A single political authority that has a large number of external regions or territories and different peoples under its sovereignty
Enclosure Movements
The privatized use of common land for personal or financial gain by noblemen, who evicted to commoners relied on the land for subsistence. THis led to social conflict, famine, the creation of an industiral working class, and immmigration to America.
Encomienda
The right to extract tribute and labor from the native peoples on large tracts of land in Spanish America; also the name given to the land and village in such tracts
English Civil War
(1642-1651) Series of civil wars fought to determine who should control England’s government
Enlightenment
European intellectual movement from the late 17th Century to the end of the 18th Century that stressed the importance of rational scientific thining and reason, over traditonal religion and superstition, in the pursuit of ultimate truth.
Evangelist
A devout person who aims to convert others to the faith through preaching and missionary work
Feudalism
A social and economic system organized by a hierarchy of hereditary classes. Lower social orders owed lotyalty to the social classes above them, and in return, received protection and land to work
Fort Necessity
Stockade in the Ohio Valley; site of the opening skirmish in the French & Indian War; unsuccessfully defended by George Washington
Freeholds
Land owned in its entirety, without feudal dues or landlord obligations. Freeholders had legal right to improve, transfer, or sell their landed property.
French and Indian War
Colonists’ name given to the 7 Years War in the colonies that strained the relationship of England to its colonies and marked the decline of relationships between Native Americans nad Europeans
Gang Labor
A particularl harch labor system that forced enslaved African Americans to work at a continuous pace throughout the day
Gentility
A refined style of living and elaborate manners that came to be highly prized among well-to-do English families after 1600 and stringly influenced leading colonists after 1700
George Calvert
The 1st Lord of Batlimore who, with his son Cecilius, the 2nd Lord of Baltimore, was instrumental in founding the city of Baltimore
George Grenville
Prime Minister of King George III who increased troops and taxes in the colonies after the French and Indian Wars; made many colonists believe colonial self-rule was under attack
George Whitfield
Anglican cleric and evangelist who was one of the founders of Methodism and the evangelical movement
Globalization
The process of interaction and exchange between peoples and ideas from different parts of the globe, the extension of economic, political, and cultural relationships among nations, through commerce, migration, and communication.
Glorious Revolution
1688 rebellion in which members of Parliament ousted James II from the English throne and replaced him with WIlliam and Mary. Whig politicians forced the new monarchs to accept the Declaration of Rights, creating a contitutional monarchy that enhanced the power of teh House of Commons at the expense of the Crown. The Glorious Revolution led to greater political and commerical sutonomy for the British colonies.
Government
The leadership or elite in charge of running the state
Great Awakening
The first major series of American religious revivals; began in the 1720s and and ended in the 1750s
Headwright System
A grant system develoed in 1618 that allowed new settlers 50 acres of land in a variety of ways; use to increase the populaiton of Virginia and Chessapeake colonies; led to proliferation of indentrtured servants. Allowed large planters to amass huge landholdings as they imported large numbers of servants and slaves.
Hernan Cortez
Spanish explorer who intitiated colonization of the Yucatan penninsula by conquering Tenochtitlan and Moctezuma
House of Burgesses
Organ of government in colonial Virginia made up of an assembly of representatives elected by the colony’s inhabitants
Household Mode of Production
A system of exchanging goods and labor, managed largely through barter, that allowed individual freeholder households to function even as land became more scarce, and they became more specialized in what they produced. Whatever cash was obtained could be used to buy imported goods.
Huguenots
French Protestants who fought for religious liberties and were heavily persecuted during the 16th-17th Centuries in the predominantly Catholic nation of France
Imperialism
The process whereby an empire or nation pursues military, political and/or economic advantage by extending its rule over external territories and populations
Impressment
The act of forcing people to serve in a navy or other military operation; the term is most commonly used in connection with the actions of British fleets against American sailors in the 1800s. Was a major source of tension between America and Britain, and a cause of the War of 1812
Indentured Servitude
The condition of being bound to an employer for a specific period of time (usually 4-5 years), usually in exchange for the cost of passage to a new land and room & board upon arrival. The labor practice was most commonly used in Britain’s American colonies
Indirect Democracy
Democracy in which representatives of the public are responsible for government decision making
Indulgences
Payments to the Catholic Church as penance in exchange for the forgiveness of sins. Was among the most critical issues of the Protestant Reformation
Inflation
Market-wide increase in prices, leading to devaluation of currency
Inquisition
A religious and judicial institution designed to fins and eliminate beliefs that did not align with official Catholic practices. The Spanish Inquisition was first established in 1478
Intolerable Acts
The name by which colonists referred to the Coercive Acts
Iroquois Confederacy
Organization of the Native American nations that traded regularly with the French and English in the early colonial period, but their relationships with the colonists deteriorated during the mid-late 1700s. Included the Mowhak, Georgia, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscacora.
Jacob Leisler
Colonist who raised raised a militia in 1689 and proclaimed himself the head of government in New York
James Oglethorpe
Veteran British General who spearheaded the foudning of Georgia
Jamestown
First colonial settlement of the London Company in North America
Jeremiad
A sermon of despair at society’s lost virtue, usually warning about dire consequences in the world and the afterlife
John Peter Zenger
New York publisher tried for libel, whose case expanded free speech
John Rolfe
English explorer, farmer and merchant. He is best known for being the husband of Pocahontas and the first settler in the colony of Virginia to successfully cultivate a tobacco crop for export
John Smith
World traveler whose leadership helped the Jamestown colony to survive
John Wesley
English cleric, theologian, and evangelist who was a leader of a revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism.
John Winthrop
Governor of Massachussetts Bay Colony who dominated both politics and religion. “Shining City on the Hill”
Joint Stock Company/Corporation
Financial instrument devised by English merchants around 1550 through which colonies were financed and established in the New World. A number of investors pooled capital and received (or lost) shares of stock in their enterprise in proportion to their share of total investment
Jonathan Edwards
New England Congregationalist preacher who was famous for vivid depictions of hell and damnation (“Fire & Brimstone”)
King George III
King of England in 1760 who wanted to reassert the crown’s authority; mentally unstable for most of his reign
King Phillip’s War/Metacom’s War
The most prolonged and deadly encounter between white settlers and Native Americans in the 17th Century. Pitted a coalition of Native Americans led by the Wampanoag leader Metacom against thr New England colonies in 1675-76.
Laissez-faire
Theory devised by French Enlightenment political economists (Physiocrats) meaning “let things alone”. Advocates of Laissez-faire believed that the marketplace should be left to regulate itself, allowing individuals to pursue their own self-interest without any government restraint of interference
Leisler’s rebellion
1689 class revolt by urban articsans and landlss renters in New York, inspired by the Glorious Revolution, and led by merchant Jacob Leisler. Urban artisans and landless renters rebelled against new taxes and centralized rule that had been imposed by King James II.
Libel
A false written statement designed to damage the reputation of its subject
Liberal Democracy
A political system that promotes participation, competition, and liberty while emphasizing individual freedom and civil rights
Liberalism
1) A political tendency that favors evolutionary transformation; 2) (Classical liberalism) An ideological and political system that favors a limited state role in society and the economy, and places a high priority on individual and economic freedom
Loyalists
Colonial supporters of the British during the American Revolution
Market
The Interaction between the forces of supply and demand that allocates resources
Massachusett’s Bay Company
Group of Puritan merchants in England who organized a new colonial venture in America
Mayflower Compact
Document that the Pilgrims signed to establish a government for themselves in the New World
Mercantilism
The dominant European economic theory from the 16th-18th centuries holding that nations were in competition with one another for a finite amount of wealth, and that the state should maximize wealth by limiting its imports and establishing colonies that would serve as sites of extraction, cheap labor, and new markets foro export goods
Mesoamerica
Land area of the Archaic period including the lower portion of modern-day Mexico and Central America where many native societies flourished
Mestizos
A person of mixed European and indigenous American ancestry in the Spanish Empire.In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturally European even though their ancestors are Native American
Metacom
Leader of an attempt by Native Americans in 17th Century New England to drive out English settlers and resist encroachment on their lands
Methodism
A form of Protestantism based on Pietist ideas, founded by Englishman John Wesley
Middle Grounds
Places where European and indigenous cultures interacted and where neither side had a military advantage
Middle Passage
The name given the brutal second leg of route used by slave ships between Africa and the Americas. Historians estimate that 12.5 Africans were carried to slavery along this rout, and 1.8 million Africans died before arriving in the Americas.
Mission System
System established by the Spanish in 1573 in which missionaries, rather than soldiers, directed all new settlements in the Americas
Missionaries
People who travel to foreign lands with the goal of converting its inhabitants to a new religion
Nathaniel Bacon
An English colonist of the Virginia Colony, famous as the instigator of Bacon’s Rebellion of 1676, which collapsed when Bacon died from dysentery.
Nation
A group of people bound together by by a common set of linguistic, historical, and cultural characteristics, as well as political aspirations, the most important of which is self-government
Nation-State
A geographically bounded space encompassing one dominant nation that it claims to embody and represent
Natural Rights
The rights to life, liberty, and property. John Locke argued that political authority was not given by God or a monarch, but was instead derived from social compacts that people entered into to preserve their natural rights.
Navigation Acts
Three acts that Parliament passed in the 1650s-60s to regulate colonial commerce through the prohibition of smuggling, establishment of guidelins fo rlegal commerce, and setting duties on trade items
Neo-Europeans
Term for colonies in which colonists sought to replicate, or at least approximate, economies and social structures they knew at home
New Light Clergy
Colonial clergy who called for religious revivals and emphasized the emotional aspects of spiritual committment. The New Lights were leaders in the Great Awakening.
New York Slave Revolt
An uprising in New York City, in the Province of New York, of 23 Black slaves. They killed nine whites and injured another six before they were stopped. More than 70 black people were arrested and jailed. Of these, 27 were put on trial, and 21 convicted and executed.
Non-Importation Movement
The effort to protest parliamentary legislation by boycotting British goods. This occurred in 1766, in response to the Stamp Act; 1768, after the Townshend duties; and in 1774, after the Coercive Acts.
Old Light Clergy
Colonial clergy from established churches who supported the religious status quo in the early 18th century. Genrally opposed the developments of the Great Awakening.
Original Sin
Christian belief that all humans are bron into sin because of the biblical sin of Adam eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden
Parliamentary system
A political system in which the roles of head of state and head of government are assigned to seperate executive offices (ex., King & Prime Minister)
Patriarchal family
Model of the family in which fathers have absolute authority over wives, children, and servants. Most colonial Americans accepted the patriarchal model of the family, at least as an ideal
Patrick Henry
Virginia politician who led the the fight against the Stamp Act and decleared supporters of Parliamentary taxes to be enemies of the colonies
Patriots
American colonists who favored the movement for independence during hte 1770s
Patronage
The power of elected officials to grant government jobs and favors to their supporters.
Paxton Boys
A group of Pennsylvania fronteirsmen who demanded tax relief and massacred a member of Conestoga
Peace of Paris
1763 peace treaty ending the Seven Years War (French & Indian War). Under its terms, Britain gained control of North America east of the Mississippi River and of present-day Canada.
Peasants
Traditional term for farmworkers in Europe. Some peasants owned land, most leased ofr renter small plots from landlords
Pedro Alvarez Cabral
Portugese explorer who discovered Brazil in 1500
Pequot War
War in Connecticut during 1637 betwen English settlers, their Native allies (the Narragansett) and Pequot nation. The English viewed the Pequot as both a threat and an obstacle to their continued territorial advances.
Pilgrims
Also known as Seperatists, a group of English religious dissenters who established a settlement in Plymouth, MA in 1620. Unlike more mainstream Protestants, the Pilgrims tried to sever all connection with the Church of England
Plantation system
A system of production characterized by unfree labor producing cash crops for distant markets. The plantation complex developed in sugar-producing areas of the Mediterrranean world and was transferred to the Americas, where it took hold in tropical and subtropical areas, including Brazil, the West INdies, and southeastern North America. In addition to sugar, the plantation complex was adapted to produce tobacco, rice, indigo, and cotton.
Planters
White Southern Slave holders who owned the largest plantations and forged a distinct culture and economy around the institution of slavery.
Plymouth Plantation
First Pilgrim settlement in Massachusetts
Pocahontas
A Native American woman belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia
Political Economy
The power relations that mutually constitute the production, distribution and consumption of resources in a given society
Political Ideology
The basic values held by an individual about the fundamental goals of politics and the ideal balance of freedom and equality
Poltics
The struggle in any group for power that will give on e or more persons the ability to make decisions for the larger group
Pontiac
Ottowa chief who led a coalition of native nations to war against the British from 1763 to 1766; achieved some gains including pressuring the British to restrain their settlers from the trans-appalchian west, but eventually was undermined by internal divisions, disease, and the brutal violence of settlers and the British military
Pope
Native American religious leader who led a successful uprising against the Spanish in 1680
Powhatan
Chief of the Powhatan Confederacy and father of Pocahontas
Powhatan Confederacy
Large and powerful confederation of Algonquin-speaking American Indians in Virginia. The Jamestown settlers had a complicated and often combative relatoinship with the leaders of the Powhatan Confederacy
Predestination
Religious belief that God has pre-determined who is worthy of salvation, and thus it could not be be earned through good works or penance. Foundation of the Covenant of Grace.
Primogeniture
The right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent’s entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relative.
Proclamation of 1763
Attempt by England to reduce violence between Native Americans and English colonists by legally barring settlement beyond the Appalachian mountains
Proprietary Colonies
A type of colonial administration in English America during the 17th century. In the English overseas possessions, all land belonged to the Crown, which held ultimate authority over their management.
Protestant Reformation
The schism in the Catholic Church that began in 1517 with Martin Luther and led to new forms of Christianity and new denominations under the genral umbrella of Protestantism (Calvinism, Lutheranism, Puritanism, etc)
Pueblo Revolt
1680 uprising of Pueblo Indians against Spanish forces in New Mexico that led to the Spaniard’s temporary retreat from the area. The uprising was sparked by mistreatment and the suppression of Pueblo culture and religion
Puritan Migration
The mass migration of Puritans from Europe to New England during the 1620s and 1630s
Puritans
A dissident sect of Protestants of England that wished to “purify” the Church of England of its Catholic ceremomies and practices, as well as its political and economic domination by the pope. Religious principles emphasized the importance of an individual’s relationship with God developed through Bible study, prayer, and introspection.
Quakers
Epithet used for members of the Society of Friends religious sect (because of their tradition of bodily “quaking” during religious ceremonies). Their belief that God spoke directly to each individual through an “inner light” and that neither the Bible nor ministers were essential to discovering God’s Word put them in conflict with both the Church of England and orthodox Puritans.
Quebec Act
(1774) Allowed the French residents of Quebec to retain their traditional political and religious institutions, and extend the boundaries of the province southward towards the Ohio River. Mistakenly perceived by the colonists to be part of Parliament’s response to the Boston Tea Party.
Radicalism
Political ideology that favors dramatic, often revolutionary change
Reactionary
Person or group who seek to restore the institutions of a real or imagined earlier order
Redemptioners
Inednutred servants in the Middle Colonies in the 18th Century who borrowed money from shipping agents to cover the costs of transport to America, but did not sign a contract before leaving Europe. Loans tat were repayed or “redeemed” by colonial employers. Redemptioners worked for their “redeemers” for a set number of years.
Regulators
Landowning protesters who organized in North and South Carolina in the 1760s and 1770s to demand that the eastern-controlled government provide western disctricts with more courts, fairer taxation, and greater representation in the assembly.
Republic
Representative political system in which citizens govern themselves by electing representatives, or legislators, to make key decisions on the citizens’ behalf
Republicanism
Political theory in 18th Century England & America that celbrated active participation in public life by economically
Requerimento
A legal document issued by the Spanish crown in 1513 to justify the Spanish conquest of territory in the Americas.
Revival
A renewal of religious enthusiasm in a Christian congregation. In the 18th century, revivals were often inspired by evangelical preachers who urged their listeners to experience a rebirth.
Revolution
Public seizure of the state in order to overturn the existing government and regime
Roanoke
The first English colony attempted in North America
Roger Williams
Controversial minister who established the Rhode Island colony wherre people of different faiths could worship without interference
Royal colony
In the English system, a royal colony was chartered by the crown. The colony’s governeor was appointed by the crown and served according to the instrucitons of the Board of Trade
Saluatory neglect
British colonial policy from around 1700-1760, during the reigns of George I & George II that relaxed supervision of internal colonial affairs as long as the North American colonies produced sufficient raw materials and revenue. By realxing their supervision of internal colonial affairs, royal bureaucrats inadvertently assisted the rise of self-government in North America
Sedition
Language or behavior aimed at starting a rebellion against a governement
Separate Spheres
Widespread social belief that emerged in the late 1700s and early 1800s that men and women had seperate roles and should occupy separate places in society. According ot this belief, men should occuly the social public s[here and work, while women belonged in the domestic private sphere, caring for their family and household.
Seven Years War
(1754-1763) A global conflict between England, France, and Spain. Began in the colonies, where it was known as the French & Indian War, erupted in Europe in 1756, and ended with a French voctory in 1763. France ultimately ceded all of its North American territories to England and Spain, but the enormous cost of the war crippled the British economy, leading to increased taxation on its colonies.
Slave Codes
Laws passed in the British colonies/American states that: defined slavery as a distinct status based on racial identity, passed on through future generations; granted white slave holders absolute authority over enslaved people; restricted or eliminated enslaved peoples’ rights to speech, property, free movement and legal representation. Enacted largely due to slaveholders’ fears of rebellion, particularly after Bacon’s Rebellion.
Society
Complex human organizatoin, a collection of people bound by shared institutions that defined how human relations should be conducted
South Atlantic System
A new agricultural and commercial order that produced sugar, tobacco, rice, and other tropical and subtropical products for an international market. Its plantation societies were ruled by European planter-merchants and worked by by hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans.
Sovereignty
The authority to govern; can be derived from several possible sources (popular, hereditary, aristocratic)
Sovereignty
The ability of a state to carry out actions or policies within a territory independently from external actors or internal rivals
Squatter
Someone who settles on land he or she does not own or rent. Many 18th Century migrants settled on land before it was surveyed and entered for sale, requesting the first right to purchase the land when sales began.
Stono Rebellion
1739 uprising by enslaved Africans and African Americans along the Stono River in South Carolina. A group of slaves armed themselves, plundered 6 plantations, and killed more than 20 colonists. In its aftermath, White fear of slave revolts in. creased dramatically.
Subsistence Farming
Farmers who grow crops for their own needs rather than profits.
Suffrage
The right to vote
Sugar Act
The British act of 1764 designed to stop sugar smuggling in the colonies by lowering taxes on molasses but enforcing their payment and forcing compliance with trade laws
Tariff
A tax on imported goods
Tenancy
The rental of property. To attract tenants in the Hudson River Valley, Dutch and English manorial lords granted long tenancy leases, with the right to sell improvements–houses and barns, for example, to the next tenant.
The Peoples & Empires around the Atlantic Ocean rim that became interconnected in the 16th Century
Benjamin Franklin’s 1754 proposal for a “general government” to manage relations between the colonies and and Native Americans; rejected by the colonies at the beginning of the French & Indian War
Theocracy
A form of government in which political power is believed to derive from a deity, and in which religious and governmental structures are intertwined
Toleration
The allowance of different religious practices. Lord Baltimore persuaded the Maryland Assembly to enact the Toleration Act (1649), which granted all Christians the right to follow their beliefs and hold church services. The crown imposed toleration on the Massachusetts Bay Colony in its new royal charter in 1691.
Town Meeting
System of local government in New England in which all male heads of households met regularly to elect selectmen; levy local taxes; and regulate markets, roads, and schools
Treaty of Tordesillas
Signed in Tordesillas, Spain, on 7 June 1494, and ratified in Setúbal, Portugal, divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between the Portuguese Empire and the Spanish Empire, along a meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde islands, off the west coast of Africa
Triangular Trade
A simplified description of the complex treade networks of the Atlantic World; the triangle metaphor refers to the trade in rum, enslaved people, and sugar, between New England, Africa, and the West Indies
Tuscarora Wars
War launched by Tuscarora Indians from 1711 to 1715 against European settlers in North Carolina and their allies from the Yamasee, Catawba, and Cherokee nations. The Tuscaroras lost their lands when they signed the peace treaty and many joined the Iroqois Confederacy to the North
Tyranny
An unjust or oppressive form of rule
Veto
The right to block a decision made by a governing body
Virginia Company
An English trading company chartered by King James I on 10 April 1606 with the object of colonizing the eastern coast of America. The coast was named Virginia, after Elizabeth I, and it stretched from present-day Maine to the Carolinas
Virginia House of Burgesses
The first elected legislature in what would become the United States
Virginia Resolves
Term used for a group of resolutions passed by the Virginia legislature declaring only the colonies’ governments had the right to tax colonists; first appearance of the notion of “taxation without representation”
Virtual Representation
British political theory holding that members of Parliament represented all British subjects, not just those from the specific region that had elected them
Walking Purchase
1737 treaty that allowed Pennsylvania to expand its boundaries at the expense of the Delaware Indians. The treaty, likely a forgery, allowed the British to add territory that could be covered by foot in a day and a half.
WiIliam Penn
Outspoken Quaker who led the colony of Pennsylvania after receiving a royal land grant
William Berkley
Royal governor of Virginia during Bacon’s Rebellion
WIlliam Bradford
An English Puritan Separatist, moved to Holland to escape persecution from King James I of England, and then emigrated to the Plymouth Colony on the Mayflower in 1620.
William Pitt
Leading English Seceratary of state and Prime Minister who led England’s war efforts during the Seven Years War
Yamasee War
A Pan-American Indian War from 1715 to 1717 led by the Yamassee who intended, but failed, to oust the British from South Carolina
Yeoman Farmer
Southern independent landowners who were not slaveholders. Although yeoman farmers had connections to the South’s plantation economy, many realized that their interests were not always aligned with those of the planter elite. The Yeoman farmer was the central, archetypal figure of the Jeffersonian vision of republican democracy.
Zenger Trial
One of the most important events in shaping American thinking toward freedom of speech prior to and after the adoption of the First Amendment.
