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Mercantilism
An economic policy adopted by many European kingdoms in the 17th century. Trade, colonies, and the accumulation of wealth as the basis for a country's military and political strength. -
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Early Problems in Jamestown
Do to the location of Jamestown, in a swampy location, many settlers died of dysentery and malaria. When conflict arose between the settlers and the Native Americans, trade stopped and many went hungry. -
Jamestown
The first permanent settlement from England in the Americas. The settlement is named after King James 1 and is located in Virginia. -
Headright System
Virginia's attempt to attract immigrants through offers of land. Each immigrant who paid for his own passage or any plantation owner who paid for an immigrant's passage would get 50 acres of land. -
House of Burgesses
The first representative assembly in America. Created by the colonists in Jamestown, Virginia. -
Slavery
A Dutch ship brought a group of indentured servants to Virginia. They were black Africans. These slaves were not hereditary slaves and their children were born free. -
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Triangular Trade
The English trade in enslaved Africans had been monopolized by a single company, the Royal African Company. When the monopoly ended, many New England merchants entered the lucrative slave trade. -
Plymouth
A settlement in New England, more specifically Massachusetts, founded by a group of English Puritans in 1620. This group would be known as the Pilgrims and sailed on the Mayflower boat. -
Mayflower Compact
Signed by the Pilgrims on the Mayflower. The Mayflower Compact was an early form of colonial self-government and a rudimentary written construction. In the Massachusetts Bay Colony, all freemen- male members of the Puritan Church-had the right to participate in yearly elections of the colony's governor, his assistants, and a representative assembly. -
The First Thanksgiving
A feast with friendly Native Americans to celebrate a good harvest. Located in Plymouth. -
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Massachusetts Bay Colony
A group of Puritans gained a royal charter for the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629. In 1630, about a thousand Puritans led by John Winthrop sailed to the Massachusetts shore. After a civil war in the 1630s, some 15,000 settlers fled to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This movement would be known as the Great Migration. -
Maryland
King Charles 1 subdivided the Virginia colony. He chartered a new colony on either side of the Chesapeake Bay and granted control of it to George Calvert (Lord Baltimore). -
Cecil Calvert
The son of Lord Baltimore. Know as the second Lord Baltimore. He set about implementing his father's plan. -
Slave Laws - Massachusetts
Massachusetts became the first colony to reorganize the enslavement of "lawful" captives. -
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New England Confederation
Four New England colonies (Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut, and New Haven) formed a military alliance known as the New England Confederation. The confederation was directed by a board composed of two representatives from each colony. The confederation lasted until 1684. -
New York
The Duke of York (the future James III) was granted the lands lying between Connecticut and Delaware Bay. James dispatched a force that easily took control of the Dutch colony. The colony was renamed New York. -
Rhode Island
After fleeing southward to Narragansett Bay, Roger Williams, a respected Puritan minister, and some followers founded the settlement of Providence in 1636. The settlement recognized the rights of the American Indians and paid them for use of their land. The settlement was also tolerant of other religions. Ann Hutchinson was banished from the Bay colony and founded the colony of Portsmouth in 1638. In 1644, Williams was granted charter to join the two colonies to become Rhode Island. -
Act of Toleration
Calvert persuaded the Maryland assembly to adopt the Act of Toleration, the first colonial statue granting religious freedom to all Christians. -
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Navigation Acts
Trade to and from the colonies could be carried only by English or colonial-built ships, which could be operated only by English or colonial crews. All goods imported into the colonies, except for some perishables, had to pass through ports in England. Specified or "enumerated" goods from the colonies could be exported to England only. -
Economic Problems
Tobacco prices began to fall due to overproduction. When the House of Burgesses attempted to raise tobacco prices, the merchants of London retaliated by raising their own prices on goods exported to Virginia. -
Halfway Covenant
People could become partial church members even if they had not had felt a convention. -
Slave Laws - Virginia
Virginia enacted legislation stating that children automatically inherited their mother's enslaved status for life. -
Slave Laws - Maryland
Maryland declared that baptism did not affect the enslaved person's status, and that white women could not marry African American men. -
Connecticut
Thomas Hooker led a group of Boston Puritans into the Connecticut River Valley and founded the colony of Hartford in 1636. In 1639, the colony drew up the first written constitution in American history, the Fundamentals of Connecticut. In 1637, John Davenport started a second settlement, New Haven. In 1665, New Haven joined Hartford to form the colony of Connecticut. -
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King Philip's War
A chief of the Wampanoags named Metacom-known as King Philip- united many tribes in southern New England against the English settlers. In a vicious war, thousands were killed on both sides, and dozens of towns and villages were burned. King Philip was killed and most American Indian resistance in New England ended. -
Bacon's Rebellion
A series of raids and massacres led by Nathaniel Bacon, an impoverished gentleman farmer. The group go volunteers succeeded in defeating Sir William Berkeley's forces and burned the Jamestown settlement. -
New Hampshire
The last colony to be founded in New England was New Hampshire. King Charles II separated New Hampshire from the Bay colony in 1679 and made it a royal colony, subject to the authority of an appointed governor. -
Pennsylvania
In 1681, the royal family repaid a debt to William Penn in the form of a grant of American land for a colony he called Pennsylvania, to Penn's woods. -
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Dominion of New England
James II combined New York, New Jersey, and the various New England colonies into a single unit called the Dominion of New England. The Glorious Revolution in 1688 succeeded in disposing James II and replaced him with two new sovereigns, William and Mary. Jame's fall brought an end to the Dominion. -
New Jersey
James split the territory of New York in 1664. In 1674, East New Jersey and West New Jersey were given too proprietors. In 1702, the two Jerseys were combined into a single royal colony: New Jersey. -
Delaware
Penn granted the lower three counties of Pennsylvania their own assembly. Delaware would become its own separate colony. -
The Carolinas
Charles II granted a huge tract of land between Virginia and Spanish Florida to eight nobles, who in 1663 became the. lord proprietors of the Carolinas. In 1729, two royal colonies, South Carolina and North Carolina, were formed from the original grant. -
Georgia
The last British colony and the only one to receive direct financial support from the government of London. Georgia would house the debtors of England. Georgia was the smallest and poorest of the 13 colonies. -
Increased Demand for Slavery
Reduced Migration: Increases in wages in England reduced the supply of immigrants to the colonies.
Dependable workforce: Large plantation owners were disturbed by the political demands of small farmers and indentured servants. Slavery would provide a stable labor force under their control.
Cheap labor: As tobacco prices fell, rice and indigo became the most profitable crops. To grow such crops a large land area and many inexpensive, relatively unskilled field hands.