Great Britain
an island comprising England and Scotland and Wales
common law
(civil law) a law established by following earlier judicial decisions
law of primogeniture
Common law that established the birthright of the oldest son to inherit the family estate.
joint-stock company
A company made up of a group of shareholders. Each shareholder contributes some money to the company and receives some share of the company's profits and debts.
enclosure movement
practice of fencing or enclosing common lands into individual holdings
divine right
belief that a rulers authority comes directly from god.
Oliver Cromwell
English general and statesman who led the parliamentary army in the English Civil War (1599-1658)
The Restoration
This was the re-establishment of the monarchy in England under Charles II. Both houses of Parliament were restored but the religious tensions still were present in England
Glorious Revolution
the revolution against James II. Pariament wins. Mary and Willliam of Orange rule. Grant the Massachusetts colony their charter back
Toleration Act of 1689
granted Puritans, but not Catholics, the right of free public worship
Jamestown
First permanent English settlement in North America
Powhatan
Indian chief and founder of the Powhatan confederacy of tribes in eastern Virginia
John Smith
Mayor of Jamestown, put all of the lazy people to work during the summer months so that they would have food during the winter
Pocahontas
daughter of powhatan, acted as an intermediary between settlers and Indians
headright policy
A man who came over to Virginia was given 50 acres, and was given an additional 50 for each person he brought or sent over
Sir William Berkeley
Governor of Virginia at the time of Bacon's rebellion
Bacon's Rebellion
1676 - Nathaniel Bacon and other western Virginia settlers were angry at Virginia Governor Berkley for trying to appease the Doeg Indians after the Doegs attacked the western settlements. The frontiersmen formed an army, with Bacon as its leader, which defeated the Indians and then marched on Jamestown and burned the city. The rebellion ended suddenly when Bacon died of an illness.
proprietary colony
A colony owned and ruled by one person who was chosen by a king or queen
Sir George Calvert
founded the colony of Maryland as a refuge for Catholics; also known as Lord Baltimore
Plymouth
a town in Massachusetts founded by Pilgrims in 1620
Separatists
sub-group of the Puritans who vowed to break completely with the Church of England
Mayflower Compact of 1620
Formal agreement made by 41 Pilgrim leaders prior to landing at Plymouth to abide by laws of their own devising.
covenant
An agreement between 2 nations, people,ect.
William Bradford
A Pilgrim, the second governor of the Plymouth colony, 1621-1657. He developed private land ownership and helped colonists get out of debt. He helped the colony survive droughts, crop failures, and Indian attacks.
Puritans
Protestant sect in England hoping to "purify" the Anglican church of Roman Catholic traces in practice and organization.
Massachusetts Bay
Colony settled by the Puritans. It was very strict and eventually becomes the city of Boston.
John Winthrop
As governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony,he was instrumental in forming the colony's government and shaping its legislative policy. He envisioned the colony, centered in present-day Boston, as a "city upon a hill" from which Puritans would spread religious righteousness throughout the world.
Roger Williams
He founded Rhode Island for separation of Church and State. He believed that the Puritans were too powerful and was ordered to leave the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his religious beliefs.
Anne Hutchinson
She preached the idea that God communicated directly to individuals instead of through the church elders. She was forced to leave Massachusetts in 1637. Her followers (the Antinomianists) founded the colony of New Hampshire in 1639.
Thomas Hooker
A Puritan minister who led about 100 settlers out of Massachusetts Bay to Connecticut because he believed that the governor and other officials had too much power. He wanted to set up a colony in Connecticut with strict limits on government.
Pequot War (1637)
The expansion of English settlement led to wars against the native peoples. In this war, 700 Pequots were killed by the colonists and their Indian allies.
King Philip's War (1675—1676)
Series of assaults by King Philip on English settlements in New England. The attacks slowed the westward migration of New England settlers for several decades.
Tuscarora War
War in the Carolinas from 1711 through 1713 between the Tuscarora Indians and the colonists.
Yemassee War
caused by the settlers charging Indians high prices and cheating them
Maryland Toleration Act of 1649
Mandated the toleration of all Christian denominations in Maryland, even though Maryland was founded for Catholics (but majority was protestant)
matrilineal descent
a kinship system in which only the mother's relatives are significant
patroonship
A vast Dutch feudal estates fronting the Hudson River in early 1600s. They were granted to promoters who agreed to settle 50 people on them.
New Netherland
a Dutch colony in North America along the Hudson and lower Delaware rivers although the colony centered in New Amsterdam
Iroquois League
a league of Iroquois tribes including originally the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca (the Five Nations)
Articles of Capitulation
Artilcles written to give New Holland to the Brittish. Becomes New York
Quakers
a Christian sect founded by George Fox about 1660