In 1639 the Connecticut River colony settlers had an open meeting and they established a constitution called the Fundamental Orders. It made a Democratic government. It was the first constitution in the colonies and was a beginning for the other states' charters and constitutions.
Protestant Ethic
Sociological term used to define the Calvinist belief in hard work to illustrate selection in elite group
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.
Navigation Laws
Series of laws passed, beginning in 1651, to regulate colonial shipping; the acts provided that only English ships would be allowed to trade in English and colonial ports, and that all goods destined for the colonies would first pass through England.
The Puritans
A religious group who wanted to purify the Church of England. They came to America for religious freedom and settled Massachusetts Bay.
General Court
a Puritan representative assembly elected by the freemen; they assisted the governor; this was the early form of Puritan democracy in the 1600's. Selected representative assembly in the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Separatists
English Protestants who would not accept allegiance in any form to the Church of England. Included the Pilgrims and Quakers
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.
New England Confederation
New England colonists formed the New England Confederation in 1643 as a defense against local Native American tribes and encroaching Dutch. The colonists formed the alliance without the English crown's authorization.
Calvinism
Protestant sect founded by John Calvin. Emphasized a strong moral code and believed in predestination (the idea that God decided whether or not a person would be saved as soon as they were born). Calvinists supported constitutional representative government and the separation of church and state.
Massachusetts Bay Colony
Colony founded in 1630 by John Winthrop, part of the Great Puritan Migration, founded by puritans. Had a theocratic republic. "City upon a hill
Dominion of New England
1686-1689*An administrative body created by King James II that oversaw British colonies in the New England region*Put in place to implement the Navigation Acts and to assist the colonies in defending themselves against hostile French and Native American forces*The Dominion Governor-in-Chief, Edmund Andros, outlawed town meetings, disputed titles to certain colonial lands, and proselytized on behalf of the Church of England*New England colonists had originally been in favor of some sort of voluntary association, but the Dominion was very unpopular because of these types of impositions
Freeman
Peasants who rented land or worked for pay
Visible Saints
A religious belief developed by John Calvin held that a certain number of people were predestined to go to heaven by God. This belief in the elect, or "visible saints," figured a major part in the doctrine of the Puritans who settled in New England during the 1600's.
Covenant
A solemn agreement between human beings or between God and a human being in which mutual commitments are made.
Protestant Reformation
A religious movement of the 16th century that began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the creation of Protestant churches.
Predestination
Calvinist belief that God long ago determined who would gain salvation
King Philip II
He was king of Spain during 1588. During this year he sent out his Spanish Armada against England. He lost the invasion of England. Philip II was also the leader against the Protestant Reformation.
John Cotton
John Cotton, a puritan who was a fiery early clergy educated at Cambridge University, emigrated to Massachusetts to avoid persecution by the church of England. He defended the government's duty to enforce religious rules. He preached and prayed up to six hours in a single day.
Sir Edmond Andros (1637-1714)
Much-loathed administrator of the Dominion of New England, which was created in 1686 to strengthen imperial control over the New England colonies; established strict control doing away with the town meetings and popular assemblies and taxing colonists without their consent; when word of the Glorious Revolution in England reached the colonists they promptly dispatched Andros back to England
Patronship
Vast Dutch feudal estates fronting the Hudson River in the early 1600's. They were granted to promoters who agreed to settle fifty people on them.
Henry Hudson
An English explorer who explored for the Dutch. He claimed the Hudson River around present day New York and called it New Netherland. He also had the Hudson Bay named for him
William Bradford (1590-1657)
1. Born in Yorkshire, England2. Christian religion - Separatist - separated from Church of England3. Traveled on the Mayflower to the New World in 1620.4. Served as Governor of Plymouth colony from 1622-1656. 5. Also served as chief magistrate, high judge, and treasurer.6. Presided over the local legislature.7. Began to write Of Plymouth Plantation in 1630.
Peter Stuyvesant (1655)
the last Dutch colonial administrator of New Netherland. He was forced to surrender to the English.
Thomas Hooker (1586-1647)
Founder of the State of Connecticut, Father of American Democracy." He led about one hundred people away to begin a new settlement, which is now called Hartford, Connecticut. Later three settlements merged to form the Connecticut Colony. This colony put his principles into practice when it adopted the Fundamental Orders sometimes called the first written constitution.
William Penn
A Quaker that founded Pennsylvania to establish a place where his people and others could live in peace and be free from persecution.
John Winthrop
As governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, Winthrop (1588-1649) 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.
John Calvin (1509-1564)
1. Protestant reformer who wrote "The Institutes of the Christian Religion"2. Believed in the absolute omnipotence of God, the weakness of humanity, and the doctrine of predestination3. Establish Geneva as a model Christian community4. Influenced followers who were known as Huguenots in France, Presbyterians in Scotland, and Puritans in England and the New England colonies5. Advocated that each local congregation have a ruling body composed of both ministers and laymen who carefully supervised the moral conduct of the faithful
Anne Hutchinson
A Puritan woman who was well learned that disagreed with the Puritan Church in Massachusetts Bay Colony. Her actions resulted in her banishment from the colony, and later took part in the formation of Rhode Island. She displayed the importance of questioning authority.
anatomical position