Religion
Protestant Queen of England, whose forty-five year reign from 1558 to 1603 firmly secured the Anglican Church and inaugurated a period of maritime exploration and conquest; "Virgin Queen"
Elizabeth I
Legal principle that the oldest son inherits all family property or land. Landowner's younger sons, forced to seek their fortunes elsewhere, pioneered early exploration and settlement of the Americas.
Primogeniture
English joint-stock company that received a charter from King James I that allowed it to found the Virginia colony
Virginia Company
Last-ditch effort by the Indians to dislodge Virginia settlements. The resulting peace treaty formally separated white and Indian areas of settlement
Second Anglo-Powhatan War
Translated as "runners of the woods," they were French fur-trappers, also known as "voyageurs" (travelers), who established trading posts throughout North America. The fur trade wreaked havoc on the health and folkways of their Native American trading partners
Coureurs de bois
French Protestant dissenters; granted limited toleration under the Edict of Nantes
Huguenots
English courtier and adventurer who sponsored the failed settlements of North Carolina's Roanoke Island in 1585 and 1587. Once a favorite of Elizabeth I, he fell out of favor with the Virgin Queen after secretly marrying one of her maids of honor. He continued his colonial pursuits until 1618, when he was executed for treason
Sir Walter Raleigh
First permanent English settlement in North America founded by the Virginia Company
Jamestown
Series of clashes between the Powhatan Confederacy and English settlers in Virginia. English colonists torched and pillaged Indian villages, applying tactics used in England's campaigns against the Irish
First Anglo-Powhatan War
Colonial governor who imposed harsh military rule over Jamestown after taking over in 1610. He also applied harsh "Irish" tactics during the war against the Indians, sending troops to torch their villages and seize provisions
Lord De La Warr
Decree issued by the French crown granting limited toleration to French Protes tants. Its repeal in 1685 prompted a fresh migration of Protestant Huguenots to North America
Edict of Nantes
Spanish fleet defeated in the English Channel in 1588. The defeat of the Armada marked the beginning of the decline of the Spanish Empire
Spanish Armada
Short-term partnership between multiple investors to fund a commercial enterprise; such arrangements were used to fund England's early colonial ventures
joint-stock company
Chief of the Powhatan Confederacy and father to Pocahontas. At the time of the English settlement of Jamestown in 1607, he was a friend to John Smith and John Rolfe. When Smith was captured by Indians, he left Smith's fate in the hands of his warriors. His daughter saved John Smith, and the Jamestown colony. Pocahontas and John Rolfe were wed, and there was a time of peace between the Indians and English until his death
Powhatan
Along with Deganawidah, legendary founder of the Iroquois Confederacy, which united the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca tribes in the late sixteenth century
Hiawatha
Absolute monarch; King of Scotland; highly religious; became King of England in 1603 when Queen Elizabeth I died; he supported overseas colonization, granting a charter to the Virginia Company in 1606 for a settlement in the New World. He also cracked down on both Catholics and Puritan Separatists, prompting the latter to flee to Holland, and later North America
James I
English sea captain who completed his circumnavigation of the globe in 1580, plundering Spanish ships and settlements along the way
Sir Francis Drake
Legal document granted by a government to some group or agency to implement a stated purpose, and spelling out the attending rights and obligations. British colonial charters guaranteed inhabitants all the rights of Englishmen, which helped solidify colonists' ties to Britain during the early years of settlement
charter
Daughter of Chief Powhatan, she "saved" Captain John Smith in a dramatic mock execution and served as a mediator between Indians and the colonists. In 1614, she married John Rolfe and sailed with him to England, where she was greeted as a princess, and where she passed away shortly before her planned return to the colonies
Pocahontas
The Dutch colony, located along the Hudson River area, that was established by the Dutch West India Company.
New Netherland
Movement to reform the Catholic Church launched in Germany by Martin Luther
Protestant Reformation
Sir Walter Raleigh's failed colonial settlement off the coast of North Carolina
Roanoke Island
English adventurer who took control of Jamestown in 1608 and ensured the survival of the colony by directing gold-hungry colonists toward more productive tasks. He also established ties with the Powhatan Indians through the Chief's daughter, Pocahontas, who had "saved" him from a mock execution the previous year
Captain John Smith
English colonist whose marriage to Pocahontas in 1614 sealed the peace of the First Anglo-Powhatan War
John Rolfe
Bound together 5 tribes-- the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cayu gas, and the Senecas--- in the Mohawk Valley of what is now New York state
Iroquois Confederacy