Unit 1 - Key Terms & People Flashcards
Headright System
A system by which individuals (usually landowners) would receive a certain amount of land for each person that they brought into the colony.
House of Burgesses
The lower house of the colonial Virginia government. Established in 1619, it was the first legislature in the New World made up of representatives elected by eligible voters.
John Smith
A swashbuckling soldier of fortune with rare powers of leadership and self-promotion who was appointed to the resident council to manage Jamestown.
Puritans
An English religious group that sought to purify the Church of England; founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony under John Winthrop in 1630.
Pilgrims
Puritan separatists who broke completely with the Church of England and sailed to the New World aboard the Mayflower, founding Plymouth Colony on Cape Cod in 1620.
Mayflower Compact
Document signed in 1620 aboard the Mayflower before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth; the document committed the group to majority-rule government.
John Winthrop
Puritan leader and governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony who resolved the use of the colony as a refuge for persecuted Puritans and as an instrument of building a “wilderness Zion” in America.
Dissenters
Protestants who belonged to denominations outside of the Anglican Church.
Pequot War
An armed conflict in 1637 that led to the destruction of one of New England’s most powerful Native American groups.
Roger Williams
New England’s most prominent advocate for religious toleration.
Anne Hutchinson
A midwife and the daughter of a clergyman, Anne Hutchinson began holding religious meetings in her home in Massachusetts in 1634. She attracted followers who believed that most ministers were not adhering strictly enough to Puritan theology. She was placed on trial in 1637 for sedition.
Mercantilism
Policy of Great Britain and other imperial powers of regulating the economies of colonies to benefit the mother country.
Navigation Act
Law passed by English Parliament to control colonial trade and support the mercantile system, 1650-1775; enforcement of the act led to resentment from the colonists.
Quakers
Religious group in England and America whose members believed all persons possessed the “inner light” or spirit of God; they were early proponents of abolition of slavery and equal rights for women.
William Penn
Envisioned Pennsylvania as a place where those facing religious persecution in Europe could enjoy spiritual freedom, and colonists and Native Americans could live in harmony.