Unit 1 Vocab Flashcards
Coureurs de bois
“Wood runners” or independent fur traders who ventured into the forests to live and trade with natives.
Filles du roi
“Kings daughters” orphaned girls and widows.
Indentured servants (engagés)
Agreed to work for three years in return for food, lodging, small salary, and return passage to France.
West India company
Created in 1621 by the Dutch; taking control of slave trading posts and occupying parts of Brazil, then moving into the Caribbean and North America.
New Amsterdam
Established on Manhattan Island by Peter Minuit and a company of Protestant refugees.
The Hudson River
A corridor between New Amsterdam and Fort Orange which became the heart of the New Netherland Colony.
In 1638, how many Africans lived in New Amsterdam?
About 100, or almost 1/3 of the city’s population.
What happened in 1645?
Governor Willem Kieft ordered a massacre which was rather gruesome.
Governor Peter Stuyvesant…
Antagonized Susquehannock natives along the Delaware River by seizing a small Swedish colony.
In 1606, several English merchants petitioned…
King James I for a charter incorporating two companies to attempt New world settlement.
Joint-stock companies
Sold shares to investors to raise money for colonization.
Malarial mosquitoes
Were incredibly harmful to the colonists, leaving only 38 of them alive by January 1608.
Headright system
Gave 50 acres to anyone who paid his own way to Virginia and an additional 50 acres for each person (head) brought with them.
House of Burgesses
The first legislative body in English America, set a precedent for the establishment of self-government in other English colonies.
Pocahontas
Married colonist John Rolfe, was Powhatans daughter, helped seal peace in 1614.
Proprietary colony
The sole possession of Calvert and his heirs.
Puritans
Believed queen Elizabeth’s reforms of the Church of England didn’t do enough, mostly about ensuring the church members were saved.
Act for Religious Toleration
The fist law in America to call for freedom of worship for Christians. (Brought no peace)
Separatists
Concluded that the Church of England would never change and left it to form their own congregations.
Pilgrims
Thought of themselves as spiritual wanderers.
Slave codes
Laws that declared slavery to be a lifelong condition that passes from slave parents to their children.
Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina
Plan to ensure the colony’s stability. Linked property ownership and political rights to a hierarchical social order.
Quakers
Rejected formal theology and educated ministry, focusing instead on the importance of the “inner light” or Holy Spirit within them.
Frame of government
William Penns 1682 plan for the government of Pennsylvania. It created weak legislature and strong executive. Contained provision for religious freedom.
