This type of business allowed investors to pool their resources for large-scale ventures, such as establishing colonies in the New World.
Joint-Stock Companies
These colonies, known for their plantation economies, were major producers of cash crops like tobacco, rice, and indigo.
Southern Colonies
John Winthrop described the Puritan settlement of Massachusetts Bay using this metaphor, calling for it to serve as a moral example to the world.
City Upon A Hill
This uprising of Indigenous peoples against Spanish colonizers in present-day New Mexico temporarily drove the Spanish out of the region.
Pueblo Revolt (1680)
This British policy, characterized by lax enforcement of trade regulations, allowed the American colonies to flourish economically and develop independently.
Salutary Neglect
This economic theory focused on maximizing exports and accumulating precious metals to benefit the mother country.
Mercantilism
Known as the “breadbasket” of the colonies, these colonies produced large amounts of grain and had diverse populations.
Middle Colonies
This 1620 agreement among Pilgrims aboard a ship established a form of self-government in Plymouth Colony.
Mayflower Compact
These conflicts, fought between the Iroquois and their French and Native American rivals, were largely driven by competition in the fur trade.
The Beaver Wars (1628-1701)
These two dissenters were banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony for challenging religious orthodoxy and later founded settlements in Rhode Island.
Roger Williams & Anne Hutchinson
Under this system, individuals agreed to work for a set number of years in exchange for passage to the New World.
Indentured Servitude
These colonies were established by Puritans and Pilgrims, with economies based on shipping, fishing, and small farms.
New England Colonies
This Puritan church policy allowed the children of partial members to be baptized, expanding church membership in New England.
Halfway Covenant
This bloody conflict between New England colonists and Native Americans led by Metacom nearly wiped out English settlements in the region, and displaced 40% of natives in the region
King Phillip's War/Metacom's Rebellion (1675-1678)
This religious revival movement of the 1730s and 1740s emphasized emotional spirituality and led to the growth of new Protestant denominations.
First Great Awakening
This policy granted land to colonists who paid for the transportation of indentured servants, encouraging the growth of plantations.
Headright System
These colonies, which included Virginia and Maryland, were heavily dependent on tobacco cultivation.
Chesapeake Colonies
Often considered the first written constitution in America, this document established a framework for government in one of the New England colonies.
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
This was the largest slave uprising in the British mainland colonies, occurring in South Carolina, which led to stricter laws controlling slaves.
Stono Rebellion (1739)
John Locke's theory that these certain rights, including life, liberty, and property, are inherent to all humans and must be protected by governments.
Natural Rights
In this brutal system, enslaved individuals were considered property and could be bought, sold, and inherited like livestock.
Chattel Slavery
Sugar plantations in these Caribbean colonies played a crucial role in the transatlantic trade, fueling the economy of Britain's empire.
British West Indies
This was the first legislative assembly in the American colonies, established in 1619 in Virginia.
Virginia House of Burgesses
This rebellion in Virginia, led by a disgruntled planter after the Powhatan Wars, highlighted tensions between frontier settlers and the colonial government, leading gentry to switch to chattel slavery
Bacon's Rebellion (1676-1677)
This intellectual movement emphasized reason, science, and the power of individuals to improve society and government.
The Enlightenment