Charter
the right to organize settlements in an area, from King James I.
joint-stock company
when people buy stock in a company and the company gives back some of its profits.
Burgesses
elected representatives to an assembly
Headright
a 50-acre grant of land given to colonial settlers who paid their own way to america
House of Burgesses
Burgesses came together to form an assembly that had the right to make local laws for the colony
Virginia Company
English joint-stock company that received a charter from King James I that allowed them to found the Virginia colony.
Dissent
disagreement
Persecute
to mistreat a person or group on the basis of their beliefs
Puritan
Protestants who wanted to reform the Anglican Church
Pilgrim
a person who takes a religious journey
Separatist
Protestants who wanted to leave the Anglican Church in order to create their own churches
Mayflower Compact
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.
Toleration
acceptance of other religious groups
Massachusetts Bay Company
a group of Puritans that received a royal charter to establish a colony north of Plymouth
Great Migration
a movement of 15,000 Puritans to Massachusetts during hard economic times
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
the first written constitution in America, and it described the organization of representative government in detail
Patroon
landowner in the Dutch colonies who ruled over large areas of land
Proprietary colony
a colony in which the owner or proprietor owned all the land and controlled the government.
Pacifist
people who refuse to use force or to fight in wars
Quakers
believed that every individual had an "inner light" that could guide him or her to salvation.
Indentured servants
agreed to work without pay for a certain period of time
Act of Toleration
granted Protestants and Catholics the right to worship freely
Bacon's Rebellion
the settlers were not willing to be restricted to the coast.
Debtors
people who owe money
Tenant farmers
A poor farmer who did not own land and had to live on and work the land of others
Missions
religious settlements
Constitution
A written plan of government
Subsistence farming
farming in which only enough food to feed your family
Plantation
farming in which only enough food to feed your family
Triangular trade
A system in which goods and slaves were traded among the Americas, Britain, and Africa
Middle passage
A voyage that brought enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to North America and the West Indies
Diversity
variety