Crusades
Holy wars
Magna Carta
A legal document written by English lords in 1215 that stated certain rights and limited the power of the King
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
Calvinism
Set of beliefs that the Puritans followed. In the 1500's John Calvin, the founder of Calvinism, preached virtues of simple worship, strict morals, pre-destination and hard work. This resulted in Calvinist followers wanting to practice religion, and it bro
Conreur de bois
(roamers of the woods) European settlers who lived with and learned from the Native Americans.
Huguenots
French Protestants. The Edict of Nantes (1598) freed them from persecution in France, but when that was revoked in the late 1700s, hundreds of thousands of Huguenots fled to other countries, including America. User-contributed
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
Oligarchy
form of government in which a few people have the power
Mayflower Compact
This document was drafted in 1620 prior to settlement by the Pilgrims at Plymouth Bay in Massachusetts. It declared that the 41 males who signed it agreed to accept majority rule and participate in a government in the best interest of all members of the c
Roger Williams
A dissenter, Roger Williams clashed with Massachusetts Puritans over the issue of separation of church and state. After being banished from Massachusetts in 1636, he traveled south, where he founded the colony of Rhode Island, which granted full religious
Great Puritan Migration
Many Puritans migrated from England to North America during the 1620s to the 1640s due to belief that the Church of England was beyond reform. Ended in 1642 when King Charles I effectively shut off emigration to the colonies with the start of the English
Halfway Covenant
A Puritan church policy of 1662, which allowed partial membership rights to persons not yet converted into the Puritan church; It lessened the difference between the "elect" members of the church from the regular members. Women soon made up a larger porti
City on a Hill
John Winthrop wanted Massachusetts Bay Colony to be a Puritan model society based on Christian principles. Puritans tried to live perfect lives.
William Penn
Penn, an English Quaker, founded Pennsylvania in 1682, after receiving a charter from King Charles II the year before. He launched the colony as a "holy experiment" based on religious tolerance.
Proprietary colonies
Colonies in which the proprietors (who had obtained their patents from the king) named the governors, subject to the king's approval.
Harvard College
the first American college, established in 1636 by Puritan theologians who wanted to create a training center for ministers. The school was named for John Harvard, a Charleston minister, who had left it his library and half his estate
House of Burgesses
the first elected legislative assembly in the New World established in the Colony of Virginia in 1619, representative colony set up by England to make laws and levy taxes but England could veto its legistlative acts.
Patroonships
vast estates along the Hudson River established by the Dutch. Most failed.
Pilgrims
English Puritans who founded Plymouth colony in 1620
Puritans
A religious group who wanted to purify the Church of England. They came to America for religious freedom and settled Massachusetts Bay.
Indentured Servants
colonists who received free passage to North America in exchange for working without pay for a certain number of years
Bicameral Legislature
a lawmaking body made up of two chambers or parts
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.
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.
Headright System
Headrights were parcels of land consisting of about 50 acres which were given to colonists who brought indentured servants into America. They were used by the Virginia Company to attract more colonists.
John Smith
Helped found and govern Jamestown. His leadership and strict discipline helped the Virginia colony get through the difficult first winter.
John Winthrop
Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, envisioned colony as a "city upon a hill
Thomas Hooker
Clergyman, one of the founders of Hartford. Called "the father of American democracy" because he said that people have a right to choose their magistrates.
John Rolph
(c. 1585 - 1622) was one of the early English settlers of North America. He is credited with the first successful cultivation of tobacco as an export crop in the Colony of Virginia and is known as the husband of Pocahontas
Pocahantas
Indian woman saved the life of John Smith and married John Rolfe
Lord Baltimore
(Calvert)Founded the colony of Maryland and offered religious freedom to all Christian colonists. He did so because he knew that members of his own religion (Catholicism) would be a minority in the colony.
Fundamental Orders of Conneticut
a set of laws that were established in 1639 by a Puritan congregation who had settled in the Connecticut Valley and that expanded the idea of representative government.
Act of Toleration
a 1649 Maryland law that provided religious freedom for all Christians
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
The "holy experiment
name for William Penn's idea that people of different nationalities and religious beliefs could live peacefully together in his Pennsylvania colony