Government
What was House of Burgesses?
Representative parliamentary assembly created to govern Virginia, establishing a precedent for government in the English colonies.
What was Calvinism?
Dominant theological credo of the New England Puritans based on the teachings of John Calvin. Calvinists believed in predestination—that only "the elect" were destined for salvation.
What was the English Civil War (1642-1649)?
Armed conflict between royalists and parliamentarians, resulting in the victory of pro-Parliament forces and the execution of Charles I.
Who was John Winthrop (1588-1649)?
First governor of MA Bay Colony; able administrator and devout Puritan; helped ensure the prosperity of the newly established colony and enforce Puritan orthodoxy, taking a hard line against religious dissenters like Anne Hutchinson
What was the Massachusetts Bay Colony?
(founded in 1630) Established by non-separating Puritans, it soon grew to be the largest and most influential of the New England colonies.
What was Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639)?
Drafted by settlers in the Connecticut River Valley, document was the frst "modern constitution" establishing a democratically controlled government. Key features of the document were borrowed for Connecticut's colonial charter and later, its state constitution.
What was predestination?
Calvinist doctrine that God has foreordained some people to be saved and some to be damned. Though their fate was irreversible, Calvinists, particularly those who believed they were destined for salvation, sought to lead sanctified lives in order to demonstrate to others that they were in fact members of the "elect."
What was the Pequot War?
Series of clashes between English settlers and Pequot Indians in the Connecticut River valley. Ended in the slaughter of the Pequots by the Puritans and their Narragansett Indian allies.
Who was Anne Hutchinson (ca. 1591-1643)?
Antinomian religious dissenter brought to trial for heresy in MA Bay after arguing that she need not follow wither God's laws or man's claiming direct revelation from God; banished from the Puritan colony she moved to Rhode Island and later New York where she and her family were killed by Indians
Who were the Quakers?
Religious group known for their tolerance, emphasis on peace, and idealistic Indian policy, who settled heavily in Pennsylvania in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
What was Mayflower Compact (1620)?
Agreement to form a majoritarian government in Plymouth, signed aboard the Mayflower. Created a foundation for self-government in the colony.
What was conversion?
Intense religious experience that confirmed an individual's place among the "elect," or the "visible saints." Calvinists who experienced conversion were then expected to lead sanctified lives to demonstrate their salvation.
What was the King Philip’s War (1675-1676)?
(Metacom's War) Series of assaults by Metacom, King Philip, on English settlements in New England. The attacks slowed the westward migration of New England settlers for several decades.
Who was Roger Williams (ca. 1603-1683)?
Salem minister who advocated a complete break from the Church of England and criticized the MA Bay Colony for unlawfully taking land from the Indians; banished for his heresies, he established a small community in present-day Rhode Island, later acquiring a charter for the colony from England
What were the blue laws?
Also known as sumptuary laws, they are designed to restrict personal behavior in accord with a strict code of morality. Blue laws were passed across the colonies, particularly in Puritan New England and Quaker Pennsylvania.
What was Dominion of New England (1686-1689)?
Administrative union created by royal authority, incorporating all of New England, New York, and East and West Jersey. Placed under the rule of Sir Edmund Andros who curbed popular assemblies, taxed residents without their consent, and strictly enforced Navigation Laws. Its collapse after the Glorious Revolution in England demonstrated colonial opposition to strict royal control.
Who were the Puritans?
English Protestant reformers who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic rituals and creeds. Some of the most devout believed that only "visible saints" should be admitted to church membership.
What was the Tuscarora War (1711-1713)?
Began with an Indian attack on Newbern, North Carolina. After the Tuscaroras were defeated, remaining Indian survivors migrated northward, eventually joining the Iroquois Confederacy as its sixth nation.
Who was William Penn (1644-1718)?
Prominent Quaker activist who founded Pennsylvania as a haven for fellow Quakers in 1681; established friendly relations with neighboring Indian tribes and attracted a wide array of settlers to his colony with promises of economic opportunity and ethnic and religious toleration
Who were the squatters?
Frontier farmers who illegally occupied land owned by others or not yet officially opened for settlement. Many of North Carolina's early settlers were these people who contributed to the colony's reputation as being more independent-minded and "democratic" than its neighbors.
What was salutary neglect (1688-1763)?
Unofficial policy of relaxed royal control over colonial trade and only weak enforcement of Navigation Laws. Lasted from the Glorious Revolution to the end of the French and Indian War in 1763.
What was Antinomianism?
Belief that the elect need not obey the law of either God or man; most notably espoused in the colonies by Anne Hutchinson.
Who were the Yamasee Indians?
Defeated by the South Carolinians in the War of 1715-1716. The Yamasee defeat devastated the last of the coastal Indian tribes in the Southern colonies.
Who was James Oglethorpe (1696-1785)?
Soldier-statesman and leading founder of Georgia. A champion of prison reform, he established Georgia as a haven for debtors seeking to avoid imprisonment. During the War of Jenkins's Ear, he successfully led his colonists in battle, repelling a Spanish attack on British territory.
What is a buffer?
In politics, a territory between two antagonistic powers, intended to minimize the possibility of conflict between them. In British North America, Georgia was established as a buffer colony between British and Spanish territory.