unit 1

• Mercantilism

  An economic policy under which nations sought to increase their wealth and power by obtaining large amounts of gold and silver and by selling more goods than they bought

  
• Trans-Atlantic Trade


  Between Europe, Africa, and North America. Europe took slaves from Africa and sent them to the states . Slaves would be the labor force in the colonies to harvest raw materials, and those raw materials would be shipped to Europe to be made into manufactured goods to sell for profit and slaves.

  
• Southern Colonies


  Made money by having slaves grow cash crops on plantations due to rich soil and warm climate. (Maryland, Virginia, Carolinas, Georgia) Due to the need to grow cash crop, slavery grew abundantly as a free labor source. Original intent for Virginia was to find gold and Georgia was a buffer colony from the Spanish.

  
• Native American Relationships in the Colonies


  Depending on the region and time, relationships with the Natives varied. Once general pattern that existed was early peace for an exchange of help, knowledge, or resources with a later betrayal in pursue of their land.

  
• Southern Colonies Government


  Example: House of Burgesses

  
  

  Dominated by large landowners (planters) who played lead roles in representative colonial legislatures.

  
• New England Colonies


  Relied on subsistence farming, fishing, and production of non-farming raw materials (Ex: lumber) for economy. There was not much farmland, so slaves were not needed. Original intent of colonist was religious freedom. Local, direct democracy was the main form of government. (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island)

  
• Mid-Atlantic Colonies


  Known for their diversity, religious tolerance, manufacturing, and wheat production. Even though they produced wheat as a cash crop, slavery was outlawed or not practiced throughout the region. Being in the middle of the colonies led to them becoming the merchant class of traders and sellers. Became government center for Colonies "uniting" against England. (Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, New York)

  
• Quakers


  English dissenters who broke from Church of England, preache a doctrine of pacificism, inner divinity, and social equity, under William Penn they founded Pennsylvania

  
• Pilgrims


  Group of English Protestant dissenters who established Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts in 1620 to seek religious freedom after having lived briefly in the Netherlands. Were the center of the Separatist movement. Signed Mayflower Compact agreeing to help each other in the new world and for self-governance to be agreed upon.
• Separatists


  English Protestants who would not accept allegiance in any form to the Church of England. Included the Pilgrims and Quakers. Wanted their own religion

  
• Puritans


  A religious group who wanted to purify the Church of England. They came to America for religious freedom and settled Massachusetts Bay. Led by John Winthrop, led a strict religious code of conduct in Massachusetts Bay.
• Great Awakening


  Religious revival in the American colonies of the eighteenth century during which a number of new Protestant churches were established. Laid the foundation for individual thinking and independence for the colonists.

  
• Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)


  printer whose success as an author led him to take up politics; he helped draw up the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution; he played a major role in the American Revolution and negotiated French support for the colonists. A prime of example of social mobility in the colonies based on a person's works rather than family status.

  
• Middle Passage


  A voyage that brought enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to North America and the West Indies. While it had a huge negative effect on the African culture and people, it allowed for new music, art, and foodways to be introduced to the colonists.

  
• Foodways


  African contribution to American colonies include yams, okra, and chili peppers.

  
• Indentured Servants


  Colonists who received free passage to North America in exchange for working without pay for a certain number of years, was main form of labor prior to Bacon's Rebellion in 1676

  
• Headright System


  Employed in the tobacco colonies to encourage the importation of indentured servants, the system allowed an individual to acquire fifty acres of land if he paid for a laborer's passage to the colony. Expenses from the importing of indentured servants led to popularity of slavery as the preferred labor force

  
• House of Burgesses


  the first elected legislative assembly in the New World established in the Colony of Virginia in 1619, a representative colony set up by England to make laws and levy taxes but England could veto its legislative acts.

  
• Fundamental Orders of Connecticut


  Set up a unified government for the towns of the Connecticut area (Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield). First constitution written in America.

  
• Mayflower Compact


  1620 - The first agreement for self-government in America. It was signed by the 41 men on the Mayflower and set up a government for the Plymouth colony.