APUSH Chapter 2: American Experiments 1521-1700

Chattel Slavery

A system of bondage in which a slave has the legal status of property and so can be bought and sold like property.

Neo-Europes

Term for colonies in which colonists sought to replicate, or at least approximate, economies and social structures they knew at home.

Encomienda

A grant of Indian labor in Spanish America given in the 16th century by the Spanish kings to prominent men. Encomenderos extracted tribute from these Indians in exchange for granting them protection and Christian instruction.

Columbian Exchange

The massive global exchange of living things, including people, animals, plants, and diseases, between the Eastern and Western Hemisphere that began after the voyages of Columbus.

Outwork

A system of manufacturing, also known as putting out, used extensively in the English woolen industry in the 16th and 17th centuries. Merchants bought wool and then hired landless peasants who lived in small cottages to spin and weave cloth, which the mer

Mercantilism

A system of political economy based on government regulation. Beginning in 1650, Britain enacted Navigation Acts that controlled colonial commerce and manufacturing for the enrichment of Britain.

House of Burgesses

Organ of government in colonial Virginia made up of of an assembly of representatives elected by the colony's inhabitants.

Royal Colony

In the English system, a royal colony was chartered by the crown. The colony's governor was appointed by the crown and served according to the instructions of the Board of Trade.

Freeholds

Land owned in its entirely, without feudal dues or landlord obligations. Freeholders had the legal right to improve, transfer, or sell their landed property.

Headright System

A system of land distributions, pioneered in Virginia and used in several other colonies, that granted land, usually 50 acres, to anyone who paid the passage of a new arrival. By this means, large planters amassed huge landholdings as they imported large

Indentured Servitude

Workers contracted for service for a specified period. In exchange for agreeing to work for four or five years or more without wages in the colonies, indentured workers received passage across the Atlantic, room and board, and status as a free person at t

Pilgrims

One of the first Protestant groups to come to America, seeking a separation from the Church of England. They founded Plymouth, the first permanent community in New England, in 1620.

Puritans

Dissenters from the Church of England who wanted a genuine Reformation rather than the partial Reformation sought by Henry VIII. The Puritans' religious principles emphasized the importance of an individual's relationship with God developed through Bible

Joint-Stock Corporation

A financial organization devised by English merchants around 1550 that facilitated the colonization of North America. In these companies,a number of investors pooled their capital and received shares of stock in the enterprise in proportion to their share

Predestination

The Protestant Christian belief that God chooses certain people for salvation before they were born. 16th century theologian John Calvin was the main proponent of this doctrine, which became a fundamental tenet of Puritan theology.

Toleration

The allowance of different religious practices. Lord Baltimore persuaded the Maryland assembly to enact the Toleration Act, 1649, which granted all Christians the right to follow their beliefs and hold church services. The crown imposed toleration on Mass

Covenant of Works

The Christian idea that God's elect must do good works in their earthly lives to earn their salvation.

Covenant of Grace

The Christian idea that God's elect are granted salvation as a pure gift of grace. This doctrine holds that nothing people do can erase their sins or earn them a place in heaven.

Town Meeting

A system of local government in New England in which all male heads of households met regularly to elect select men, levy local taxes, and regulate markets, roads, and schools.

Philip II

An ardent Catholic, most powerful ruler of Spain because of gold and silver from Mexico and Peru made Spain the wealthiest nation in Europe. He was determined to root out challenges in the Catholic Church. One was in the Spanish Netherlands, a collection

Francis Drake

A famous Elizabethan "sea dog" a rough devoutly Protestant farmer's son who took to the sea and became a scourge to Philip's American interests. In 1577, he ventured into the Pacific to disrupt Spanish shipping to Manila. He lost three ships and 100 men,

Opechancanough

The Indian War of 1622, an assault led by Opechancanough. In 1607, he had attacked some of the first English invaders; subsequently, he "stood aloof" from the English settlers and "would not be drawn to any Treaty" and he resisted English proposals to pla

Lord Baltimore

Settles Catholics in Maryland. King Charles I, in 1632 granted lands bordering the vast Chesapeake Bay to Catholic aristocrat Cecilius Calvert, Lord Baltimore. Maryland became a refuge for Catholics, who were subject to persecution in England. Maryland gr

John Winthrop

The Puritan exodus began in 1630 with the departure of 900 migrants led by John Winthrop, a well educated country squire who became the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Calling England morally corrupt and "overburdened with people" Winthrop

Roger Williams

The Puritan minister in Salem, a coastal town north of Boston. He opposed the decision to establish an official religion and praised the Pilgrims' separation of church and state. He advocated toleration, arguing that political magistrates had authority ov

Anne Hutchinson

The wife of a merchant and mother of seven, she held weekly prayer meetings for women and accused various Boston clergymen of placing undue emphasis on good behavior. She denied salvation could be earned through good deeds. She declared that God "revealed

Metacom

Metacom, Chief of the Wampanoags, also known as King Philip. The English population has increased and outnumbered Indians by three to one. English multiplied to 55,000 and Indians dropped to 16,000. Metacom believed coexistence looked dim. In 1675, he for