Unit 2 Terms Flashcards
Headright System
A land-grant policy that promised fifty acres to any colonist who could afford passage to Virginia, as well as fifty more for any accompanying servants. The headright policy was eventually expanded to include any colonists- and was also adopted in other colonies.
House of Burgesses
The first elected assembly in colonial America, established in 1619 in Virginia. Only wealthy landowners could vote in its elections.
Puritans
English religious group that sought to purify the Church of England; founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony under John Winthrop in 1630.
John Winthrop
Puritan leader and governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony who resolved to use the colony as a refuge for persecuted Puritans and as an instrument of building a “wilderness Zion” in America
Mayflower Compact
Document signed in 1620 aboard the MayflowIer before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth; the document committed the group to majority-rule government.
Dissenters
Protestants who belonged to denominations outside of the established Anglican Church
Pequot War
An armed conflict in 1637 that led to the destruction of one of New England’s most powerful Indian groups.
Half-way Covenant
A 1662 religious compromise that allowed baptism and partial church membership to colonial New Englanders whose parents were not among the Puritan elect
English Liberty
The idea that English people were entitled to certain liberties, including trial by jury, habeas corpus, and the right to face one’s accuser in court. These rights meant that even the English king was subject to the rule of law.
Act Concerning Religion (or Maryland Toleration Act)
1649 law that granted free exercise of religion to all Christian denominations in colonial Maryland.
King Philip’s War
A multiyear conflict that began in 1675 with an Indian uprising against white colonists. Its end result was broadened freedoms for white New Englanders and the dispossession of the region’s Indians.
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 the English Parliament to control colonial trade and bolster the mercantile system, 1650-1775; enforcement of the act led to growing resentment by colonists.
Society of Friends (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.
Plantation
An early word for a colony, a settlement “planted” from abroad among an alien population in Ireland or the New World. Later, a large agricultural enterprise that used unfree labor to produce a crop for the world market.