Reasons for Exploration & Colonization
This catchy three-word phrase summarizes the primary motivations of European explorers seeking religious expansion, wealth, and national prestige.
What are God, Gold, and Glory?
The Colonial era in American history was characterized by the establishment of this specific number of British colonies along the eastern seaboard.
What is 13?
This year marks the founding of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America.
What is 1607?
Georgia was established to act as a military buffer against Spanish Florida and as a safe haven for this group of people from England.
What are debtors (or the poor)?
Established in Virginia, this body became the first elected legislative assembly in the American colonies.
What is the House of Burgesses?
This economic system encouraged European powers to view colonies primarily as sources of raw materials and strictly controlled markets.
What is mercantilism?
Driven by a desire to practice their faith without government interference, many early migrants came to North America seeking this fundamental opportunity.
What is religious freedom?
In this year, the Pilgrims arrived in North America and signed the Mayflower Compact.
What is 1620?
Founded by William Penn, this colony served as a refuge for Quakers seeking religious freedom.
What is Pennsylvania?
This geographic reality forced American colonists to establish their own local laws to maintain peace and order.
What is the distance from England (or the Atlantic Ocean)?
Unlike the English who focused on cash crops, this European nation built its colonial economy around fur trapping in northern regions.
Who are the French?
The original 13 British colonies were all geographically established along this region of North America.
What is the eastern seaboard (or Atlantic coast)?
Signed aboard a ship in 1620, this agreement is historically significant because it established a foundation for self-government in the colonies.
What is the Mayflower Compact?
Lord Baltimore established this colony to provide a safe haven for English Catholics escaping religious persecution.
What is Maryland?
This unofficial policy of British non-interference allowed colonies to govern themselves with minimal oversight from the King.
What is salutary neglect?
Spanish religious leaders constructed these religious settlements throughout Central and South America to convert native populations.
What are missions?
This major Protestant religious revival swept through the colonies, challenging traditional church practices and emphasizing personal faith.
What is the First Great Awakening?
Jamestown transitioned into a profitable venture primarily through the cultivation of this cash crop, which relied on the labor of enslaved Africans.
What is tobacco?
Roger Williams established this colony dedicated strictly to religious tolerance and the separation of church and state.
What is Rhode Island?
Colonial self-government was heavily influenced by this 18th-century European intellectual movement that emphasized natural rights and individual liberty.
What is the Enlightenment?
Due to salutary neglect and distance from Britain, early colonists began developing these local political systems to manage their own laws and taxes.
What are representative governments?
Due to distance from Britain, early colonists began developing these local political systems to manage their own laws and taxes.
What are representative governments?
As English colonial settlement expanded outward from the initial site at Jamestown, it later grew to include this historic settlement.
What is Williamsburg?
Before being taken over and renamed by the English, this colony was controlled by the Dutch to facilitate the fur trade.
What is New York?
Eligible voters in Virginia elected representatives called by this title to serve in the colony's General Assembly.
What are burgesses?