| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| American Indians | The indigenous peoples of North America who had established societies, economies, and political systems before European contact. |
| Atlantic coast | The eastern coastal region of North America where early British colonies were established during the 17th century. |
| Atlantic slave trade | The transatlantic commercial system in which enslaved Africans were forcibly transported to the Americas to provide labor for colonial economies. |
| British colonies | Settlements established by Britain along the Atlantic coast of North America from the early 17th century onward. |
| British colonizers | European settlers and administrators from Britain who established colonies in North America with specific economic and political objectives. |
| colonization | The process of establishing settlements and political control over a territory and its indigenous populations. |
| colonization patterns | The different methods and approaches used by European powers to establish and organize settlements in North America based on their imperial goals and local conditions. |
| Dutch colonizers | European settlers and administrators from the Dutch Republic who established colonies in North America with specific economic and political objectives. |
| French colonizers | European settlers and administrators from France who established colonies in North America with specific economic and political objectives. |
| Great Britain | The European nation that established colonies in North America and engaged in political, social, cultural, and economic exchanges with its colonial settlements. |
| imperial goals | The political, economic, and territorial objectives that European powers sought to achieve through colonization in North America. |
| regional differences | Variations in environmental, economic, cultural, and demographic characteristics among British colonies along the Atlantic coast. |
| slavery | The institution of forced labor in which people were held as property and exploited for economic gain in the British colonies. |
| Spanish colonizers | European settlers and administrators from Spain who established colonies in North America with specific economic and political objectives. |
| transatlantic exchanges | Commercial, religious, philosophical, and political interactions and transfers between the British colonies and Great Britain. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| agriculture | Farming and cultivation of land as the primary economic focus of English colonial settlements. |
| conversion to Christianity | The religious transformation of Native Americans to Catholic Christianity as a central goal of Spanish colonization. |
| English colonization | The establishment of English colonies in North America characterized by large-scale migration, agricultural settlement, and displacement of Native Americans. |
| enslaved Africans | Africans forcibly brought to Spanish colonial territories to labor in plantation agriculture and mining operations. |
| fur trade | The commercial exchange of animal furs between European colonists and American Indians, a primary economic focus of French and Dutch colonial efforts. |
| intermarriage | The practice of marriage between European colonists and American Indians, used by French and Dutch colonizers to build relationships and economic ties. |
| religious freedom | The ability to practice one's faith without persecution, a motivation for many European migrants to English colonies. |
| social mobility | The ability of individuals to move up or down in social and economic status within a society. |
| Spanish colonial society | The hierarchical social structure in Spanish colonies that incorporated Native Americans, Africans, and Europeans into a system based on subjugation and conversion to Christianity. |
| subjugating native populations | The Spanish practice of conquering and controlling American Indian peoples to extract wealth and labor from colonial territories. |
| trade alliances | Economic and diplomatic partnerships formed between French and Dutch colonists and American Indian nations to facilitate the exchange of goods like furs. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| British West Indies | British colonies in the Caribbean that developed plantation economies based on staple crop production and enslaved African labor. |
| cereal crops | Grain crops such as wheat and corn exported by the middle colonies as staple products. |
| Chesapeake colonies | British colonies in the Chesapeake region that developed prosperous economies based on tobacco cultivation using indentured servants and enslaved labor. |
| colonial legislatures | Elected assemblies in the colonies that exercised governmental authority and were unusually democratic for the era. |
| cultural and religious autonomy | The ability of enslaved Africans to develop and maintain their own cultural practices and religious traditions despite enslavement. |
| elite planters | Wealthy landowners in southern colonies who exercised local authority and dominated elected colonial assemblies. |
| enslaved Africans | Africans forcibly brought to Spanish colonial territories to labor in plantation agriculture and mining operations. |
| indentured servants | Laborers who agreed to work for a set period in exchange for passage to the colonies, initially used extensively in the Chesapeake region. |
| middle colonies | British colonies that supported economies based on cereal crop exports and attracted diverse European migrants with greater cultural, ethnic, and religious diversity. |
| mixed economy | An economic system combining agriculture and commerce, characteristic of the New England colonies. |
| New England colonies | British colonies in New England settled primarily by Puritans, characterized by small towns, family farms, and mixed economies of agriculture and commerce. |
| plantation economy | An economic system based on large-scale cultivation of staple crops for export, dependent on enslaved African labor, characteristic of southern colonies and the British West Indies. |
| Puritans | Religious group that initially settled the New England colonies seeking to establish communities based on their religious principles. |
| self-governing institutions | Colonial political bodies that exercised local authority with minimal British interference, including town meetings and elected assemblies. |
| staple crops | Primary export crops grown in colonies for commercial profit, such as tobacco, rice, and indigo. |
| tobacco | A labor-intensive cash crop exported by the Chesapeake and North Carolina colonies as a primary source of wealth. |
| town meetings | Participatory assemblies in New England colonies where colonists gathered to make decisions and elect representatives to colonial legislatures. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Atlantic economy | An interconnected economic system in which goods, enslaved Africans, and American Indians were exchanged between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. |
| colonial economies | Economic systems in European colonies focused on acquiring, producing, and exporting valuable commodities and exploiting labor sources. |
| commodities | Raw materials or goods produced in the colonies that were valued in Europe and exported for profit. |
| demographic shifts | Significant changes in the size, composition, and distribution of American Indian populations caused by disease and other factors. |
| epidemic diseases | Infectious diseases introduced by Europeans to American Indian populations, causing widespread death and demographic collapse. |
| mercantilism | An economic policy pursued by European nations, including Britain, to accumulate wealth and power through controlling trade and acquiring colonies. |
| sources of labor | The enslaved Africans and American Indians exploited by European colonizers to produce commodities and generate wealth. |
| trade networks | Established routes and connections through which goods and people were exchanged across the Atlantic between continents. |
| transatlantic trade | The exchange of goods, people, and resources between Europe, Africa, and the Americas through extensive trade networks. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| accommodation | The process by which one group adapts to or accepts practices and customs of another group, often as a result of interaction or conflict. |
| alliances | Formal or informal agreements between groups to cooperate, support, or defend each other against common enemies. |
| colonization | The process of establishing settlements and political control over a territory and its indigenous populations. |
| conflict | Disagreement or armed struggle between groups, often arising from competition over land, resources, or political authority. |
| Metacom's War | A military conflict in New England (1675-1678) between British colonists and American Indian groups led by Metacom, also known as King Philip's War. |
| Pueblo Revolt | A 1680 uprising by Pueblo Indians against Spanish colonial rule in the Southwest, resulting in temporary Spanish withdrawal and later Spanish accommodation of American Indian culture. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Atlantic slave trade | The transatlantic commercial system in which enslaved Africans were forcibly transported to the Americas to provide labor for colonial economies. |
| British West Indies | British colonies in the Caribbean that developed plantation economies based on staple crop production and enslaved African labor. |
| chattel slavery | A system of slavery in which enslaved people were treated as property that could be bought, sold, and inherited, becoming the dominant labor system in southern colonies. |
| covert resistance | Hidden or indirect forms of resistance to slavery that were not openly visible. |
| family systems | The structures and relationships within enslaved families that people worked to preserve despite slavery's attempts to separate them. |
| gender systems | The social roles and relationships between men and women that enslaved people maintained within their communities. |
| indentured servants | Laborers who agreed to work for a set period in exchange for passage to the colonies, initially used extensively in the Chesapeake region. |
| overt resistance | Direct, open forms of resistance to slavery that were visible and confrontational. |
| plantation systems | Large-scale agricultural enterprises in the Chesapeake and southern Atlantic coast that relied heavily on enslaved African labor to produce cash crops. |
| racial system | A legal and social hierarchy based on race that defined status and rights, including laws prohibiting interracial relationships and enslaving the descendants of African American mothers. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Anglicization | The process by which British colonial societies adopted English cultural practices, institutions, and values over time. |
| Enlightenment | An intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason, individual rights, and limited government. |
| Enlightenment ideas | Intellectual concepts from the European Enlightenment emphasizing reason, individual rights, and scientific thinking that influenced colonial thought. |
| First Great Awakening | A religious revival movement in the American colonies during the early 18th century that emphasized personal conversion and emotional religious experience. |
| frontier defense | The protection and security of colonial borders and settlements, a source of disagreement between colonists and British leaders. |
| imperial control | The authority and power exercised by the British Empire over its colonies and colonial subjects. |
| intellectual exchange | The sharing and discussion of ideas and knowledge among different groups of people. |
| liberty | The concept of individual freedom and rights, a central idea in Enlightenment political thought and colonial ideology. |
| pluralism | The coexistence of diverse religious, ethnic, and cultural groups within a society. |
| Protestant evangelicalism | A form of Protestantism emphasizing personal conversion, biblical authority, and active missionary work that spread throughout the colonies. |
| religious independence and diversity | The freedom of colonists to practice different religions without state control, a characteristic of colonial society. |
| self-government | The right and ability of a people to govern themselves through their own chosen representatives and institutions rather than being ruled by an external authority. |
| territorial settlements | Disputes and agreements regarding the boundaries and control of land between European powers and colonists. |
| trade | Commercial exchange of goods, a key area of conflict between colonial interests and British imperial policy. |
| transatlantic print culture | The circulation of printed materials, newspapers, and books across the Atlantic Ocean that connected colonial and European intellectual communities. |
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| American Indians | The indigenous peoples of North America who had established societies, economies, and political systems before European contact. |
| Atlantic slave trade | The transatlantic commercial system in which enslaved Africans were forcibly transported to the Americas to provide labor for colonial economies. |
| British colonizers | European settlers and administrators from Britain who established colonies in North America with specific economic and political objectives. |
| colonization patterns | The different methods and approaches used by European powers to establish and organize settlements in North America based on their imperial goals and local conditions. |
| cultural factors | The beliefs, practices, and traditions of colonizers that influenced the development and character of colonial societies. |
| demographic factors | Population characteristics such as size, composition, and distribution that shaped colonial societies and their development. |
| Dutch colonizers | European settlers and administrators from the Dutch Republic who established colonies in North America with specific economic and political objectives. |
| economic factors | The systems of production, trade, and labor that shaped colonial development and differentiated regions from one another. |
| environmental factors | Geographic and climate conditions that influenced colonial settlement patterns, economic development, and social structures. |
| French colonizers | European settlers and administrators from France who established colonies in North America with specific economic and political objectives. |
| imperial goals | The political, economic, and territorial objectives that European powers sought to achieve through colonization in North America. |
| migration patterns | The movement of people from one geographic location to another, including the causes and consequences of such movements over time. |
| regional differences | Variations in environmental, economic, cultural, and demographic characteristics among British colonies along the Atlantic coast. |
| resource competition | The struggle between European colonizers and American Indians for control of land, furs, and other valuable resources in North America. |
| Spanish colonizers | European settlers and administrators from Spain who established colonies in North America with specific economic and political objectives. |
| system of slavery | The institutionalized practice of enslaving people, developed in the English colonies to reflect their specific economic, demographic, and geographic needs. |
| transatlantic commercial exchanges | Trade and economic interactions between the British colonies and Great Britain that strengthened economic ties and interdependence. |
| transatlantic philosophical exchanges | The sharing of intellectual ideas and Enlightenment thought between the British colonies and Great Britain. |
| transatlantic political exchanges | The transmission of political ideas, governance concepts, and constitutional principles between the British colonies and Great Britain. |
| transatlantic religious exchanges | The transmission of religious ideas, movements, and practices between the British colonies and Great Britain. |