Colonizing America
Armada
• a fleet of war ships
Roanoke Island
• Sir Walter Raleigh’s attempted English settlement off of present day North Carolina
• Location of the first European baby born in the Americas named Virginia Dare
• Deserted with only clue to whereabouts of settlers being the word “Croatoan” carved into a gatepost
• Now known as the “Lost Colony”
Charter
• a document that gives the holder the right to organize settlements in an area.
Joint-Stock Company
• a company in which investors buy stock in the company in return for a share of its future profits
Jamestown
• First permanent European settlement in the Americas
• Named for King John I• Near mosquito infested swampland• Lack of good farmland
John Smith
• Experienced hunter and soldier • Got settlers to work • Set up trade with local tribe to get corn• Return to England began the “starving time”
Chief Powhatan
• Leader of the Powhatan tribe• Father of Pocahontas
John Rolfe
• Learned to grow tobacco using seeds from India
• Jamestown colonists were able to make money for their investors from tobacco
Pocahontas
• Daughter of the Powhatan chief• Married John Rolfe• Moved back to England with her husband
Headright
• 50 acres of land given to new colonists
House of Burgesses
• A church in Jamestown where burgesses met to discuss local laws
• the beginning of self government in America
William Tucker
• the first African American born in American colonies
Persecute
• to treat someone harshly because of their beliefs or practices
Dissent
• To disagree or oppose an opinion
Puritans
• People who wanted to reform the Anglican Church
Separatists
• People who wanted to break away from the Anglican Church and create their own church
Pilgrims
• Separatists who made the journey to North America for what they believed to be religious purposes on the Mayflower
Mayflower Compact
• A formal document that provided a plan for law and order to the Plymouth colony
• Declared the Pilgrims loyalty to England
Squanto and Samoset
• Native Americans who became friends with the Pilgrims and taught them how to grow crops and also helped them set up a treaty with the Wampanoag
• Samoset knew English from being kidnapped and brought to England when he was young
Great Migration
• During the 1630’s over 15,000 Puritans moved to Massachusetts to avoid religious persecution
Toleration
• acceptance of different beliefs
King Philip’s War
• Put an end to the Native American power in New England and allowed the colonists to expand without conflict
• King Philip is what the settlers called, Chief Metacomet, the Wampanoag leader
Dutch Colony
• Between northern and southern English colony
• Called New Amsterdam• On Manhattan Island• Dutch West India Company bought Manhattan
Island from the Manhates tribe for a small amount of goods
• Became a major location for trade in America
Patroon
• a landowner in the Dutch colonies who ruled like a king over large areas of land
Duke of York
• Changed New Amsterdam to New York
Proprietary Colony
• a colony in which the owner, or proprietor, owned all the land and controlled the government
• New Amsterdam (New York) was a proprietary colony
William Penn
• Was a Quaker• Founded Pennsylvania • Founded Philadelphia “city of brotherly love”
Quakers
• a religious group who believed that everyone had and “inner light” that could guide them to salvation and that everyone was equal
Pacifists
• people who refuse to use force or fight in wars
Holy Experiment
• According to William Penn; a chance to put Quaker ideals of toleration and equality into practice
Seven Year Passengers
• Criminals from England and prisoners from Scotland and Ireland were sent to the colonies with a chance to work for their release
Indentured Servants
• laborers who agreed to work without pay for a certain period of time in exchange for passage to America
Mason Dixon Line
• The border line between Pennsylvania and Maryland mapped out by British astronomers Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon.
Act of Toleration
• granted Protestants and Catholics the right to worship freely
Nathanial Bacon
• Governor of Virginia called him “The greatest rebel that ever was in Virginia”
Bacon’s Rebellion
• Nathaniel Bacon led his men into Jamestown and burned down the capital, forcing the governor out.
• Showed that settlers were not going to be limited to just the coastline.
Constitution
• a formal plan for government
Georgia
• the last British colony established in America• established as a colony where debtors and
poor people could make a fresh start
Tenant Farmers
• farmer who works land owned by another and pays rent either in cash or crops
