Chapter 3

Glorious Revolution

688. King James II was overthrown and replaced with William and Mary. The GR was important to the colonies because it distracted England enough to allow the colonies to eliminate the Dominion of New England.

John Smith

He was the commander of the Jamestown settlement often given credit for the success of the settlement because he forced the settlers to work ("if you don't work, you don't eat").

Edmund Andros

He was the governor of the Dominion of New England, and was very unpopular. He tried to impose the Anglican Church on New England (quite unpopular with the Puritans!), banning town meetings, and challenging land titles. He was arrested after the collapse of the Dominion of New England.

New Amsterdam/New York

New Amsterdam was taken by the English during the Anglo-Dutch Wars and renamed New York in honor of the King's brother, James, duke of York.

New Netherland

The Dutch established two trading posts in 1614: one on Manhattan Island known as New Amsterdam and one to the north on Hudson River at Albany's present location, known as Fort Orange. Administered by the Dutch West India Company, the colony's administration was corrupt and did not hold the people's loyalty. When the English appeared with warships off the coast of New Amsterdam in 1664, the Dutch colonists surrendered without a shot. The colony had been quite wealthy through the fur trade with the Iroquois.

Dominion of New England

King James II decided to create a super colony to defend against the French and Indians and to make sure that the Navigation Acts were followed. The new colony replaced all of the New England colonies, New York, and New Jersey. The King placed Sir Edmund Andros in charge of the new colony, with Governor Nicholson in charge of the area around New York City. This decision was extremely unpopular with the colonists, who resented the imposition of centralized authority from England. Luckily, the Glorious Revolution broke out in England in 1688, distracting England enough so that Andros was arrested and Nicholson kicked out of power during Leisler's Rebellion in New York City.

Plague of 1616

Known as the "Great Dying," this bubonic plague wiped out somewhere between 75% and 95% of the Native Americans living in New England just before the Pilgrims came. This plague allowed the English to easily spread their settlements with minimal Indian resistance.

Massachusetts Education Act of 1647 (Ye Old Deluder Satan Law)

Laws that created public education in the colonies. Towns with 50 or more people were required to have a public school. Towns with more than 100 families were required to have a grammar school that taught Latin. As you can tell from the title, education was considered important in New England because the Puritans (Congregationalists) felt that everyone needed to be able to read the Bible or else be tricked by Satan!

Act of Trade and Navigation

Laws the prevented the use of foreign shipping between England and the colonies. They started in 1651. The purpose of these laws was to make sure that the English colonies did not trade with the Dutch. To meet this objective, colonists were forbidden to ship their products on foreign ships. Also, some goods, known as enumerated goods (goods not produced in England, like rice), could not be traded with anyone other than England.

Roger Williams

Like Hooker, he was a Puritan minister in Massachusetts. He spoke out about how church and state should be separate, he argued that Puritans should be tolerant of other religions, and he thought that the colonists should be required to bargain fairly for Indian land. The Puritans disagreed with him and saw him as a threat! So, Williams was banished from Massachusetts Bay, and he founded Providence, Rhode Island. Rhode Island went on to be the most tolerant colony of all.

Puritan Women

Women had fewer rights than men. Women's jobs were housework and milking and getting eggs. Many women had multiple children because there were no forms of birth control, and because help was needed on the farm. Adultery was the worst crime anyone could commit, but the punishment on the women who committed adultery was much more severe.

Quebec Founding

Founded by Champlain in 1608, it became the center of New France.

Montreal

Founded in 1642, it was a missionary center for Catholicism.

Puritan ideal

The family was structured very rigidly. The father was in command, the wife did as she was told by the father (ah, the good old days!), and the kids did whatever the parents commanded. If the kids stepped out of line, they were beaten.

Harvard College

The first institute of higher education in the English colonies, it was created in 1636 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Jamestown

The first permanent English colony in the New World, it almost failed because the men on the expedition searched for gold instead of planting crops.

Bacon's Rebellion

(1670s) Freed indentured servants on the western frontier of Virginia demanded the removal of Indians on treaty-protected land. Governor Berkeley refused. Since the freemen had no voice in the House of Burgesses, they had no other choice but to rebel. Their leader was Nathaniel Bacon. Against Berkeley's wishes, the settlers attacked the Indians. Bacon was arrested, but quickly escaped. He and his men attacked Jamestown and burned it to the ground. The rebellion ended when Bacon died of dysentery. Historians consider this event important because it was an example of how colonists were not content with being ruled by a small minority. They demanded political rights and a say in their government. It also showed the Eastern elite that indentured servitude could result in a dangerous population of independent men on the frontier. This led to greater use of African slaves.

Culpeper's Rebellion

(1670s) Like Bacon's Rebellion, Culpeper's Rebellion was a conflict between western settlers and the eastern government that didn't represent them. The rebellion was in North Carolina, and it failed.

General Court

A Massachusetts body that sat in judgment of judicial appeals cases. It also functioned as a bicameral (two house - Senate and House of Representatives) legislature to make the laws. It was formed after the overthrow of the Royal Governor Edmund Andros. While under the new charter, the General Court changed the separately divided areas and connected them, these areas included, Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts Bay Colony, and Maine. In other words, Plymouth ceased being a separate colony and was merged with Massachusetts Bay colony and Maine to form Massachusetts.

Wampanoags

A Native American tribe that lived in Massachusetts. They were in alliance with the English for most of the 17th century, until they realized that the English were brutal and land-hungry. They were the Indians that helped the Pilgrims survive with gifts of food, but eventually fought them in King Philip's War.

Proprietary colony

A colony where one person or a small group of people own the land and have rights to it instead of the state. Examples are Maryland and Pennsylvania

Joint-Stock Company

A company where Englishmen could invest their money in return for a portion of the profits from trade to the New World. The Virginia Company that founded Jamestown was a joint-stock company.

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

A constitution that set up powers and government structure in Connecticut. It was the first written constitution in the American colonies.

Virginia Company

A group of London investors sent ships to the Chesapeake Bay region, where 100 men built a fort and founded Jamestown. The company went bankrupt fighting the Powhatan Indians.

King William's War

A huge war between France and England (among many other countries), it was fought from 1689-1697. The war started when Sir Edmund Andros ordered an attack on French settlements in Penobscot Bay, Maine. It was the first of the major French/English Wars in the colonies. The Abenakis and the Pennacook Indians raided Dover, New Hampshire, killing 20 and capturing 29. They also attacked York, Maine, killing 100 colonists. The war ended as a draw, but peace only lasted five years until the outbreak of the next big French/English war, Queen Anne's War.

Anne Hutchinson

A pioneer settler in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Netherlands and an unauthorized minister of a dissident Puritan discussion group. She held Bible meetings for women and men as well later on. Her own interpretations in her sermons offended the colonial leadership and she was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. She was kicked out for two reasons - she claimed that she had a direct revelation from God (this opposed Calvinist ideas that were the foundation of Puritan belief) and she publically criticized the male leadership of the church. She moved to Rhode Island and was eventually killed by Indians in New York.

Acoma

A pueblo (village) set high atop a great outcropping of rock. The Spanish attacked here under the command of Juan de Onate. Though the Indians resisted, the Spanish succeeded in destroying the town and killing or enslaving its inhabitants. Any surviving warriors had one of their feet chopped off.

"A city upon a hill"

A quote from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount that Winthrop used in a sermon given on the ship Arbella to inspire the colonists. It meant that the Massachusetts Bay Colony was going to be a model of a proper Christian city.

Matriarchy

A system where the leading roles in society are filled by women. Some historians consider Virginia to be an example of matriarchy because so many men died from disease. When the husband died, the wife inherited the property, and married again. When the new hubby died, she inherited his land too! This allowed some women to become quite powerful.

Burning of Wells, Maine

Abenaki Indians and their French allies assaulted Wells in a 2-3 day siege in 1692 during King William's War. The church and a number of buildings were burned. During Queen Anne's War, in 1703, Wells was again attacked. Houses and barns were burned, and 39 people were killed or abducted. Wells survived as the northernmost English outpost, despite these setbacks.

Starving Time

After the colonists at Jamestown stole food from the Powhatan Indians, Powhatan cut off all aid to the colonists and laid siege to the settlement. As a result, the winter of 1609-10 was pretty rough - all but 60 of the settlement's people died. One guy even salted and ate his wife!

Opechancanough

After the death of Powhatan, his brother Opechancanough became the chief of the Powhatan Confederacy of Algonquian tribes. He didn't mess around with diplomacy, as he deeply distrusted the English (for good reason).

Restoration Colonies

After the end of the English Civil War, the kings came back to rule England. The word "restoration" refers to when they came back, and the "Restoration Period" was a time between 1660 and 1685 when King Charles II ruled. Charles rewarded his supporters with lands in the New World. Any colony established during that time was known as a "Restoration Colony." Colonies included Carolina, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Quakers

Also known as the Society of Friends, the Quakers settled primarily in Pennsylvania. Quakers tended to be pacifists and friendly with the Indians. They were persecuted, especially in New England. One Quaker named Mary Dyer was famously hanged on Boston Common in 1660 for the crime of being a Quaker.

Port Royal (French)

An outpost on what is now Nova Scotia, bordering the Bay of Fundy. It was established in part by Samuel de Champlain, and was the first permanent French settlement in the New World.

Beaver Wars

Armed with Dutch weapons, members of the Iroquois nation, including the Mohawk, attacked the French-supported Huron tribe. The motive was to gain control of the fur trade, and the Iroquois were successful. The wars lasted from the late 1630s to the 1690s.

King Philip's War - causes, events, results

Causes - The English at Plymouth kept taking land away from the Wampanoag tribe in southern New England. Finally, in 1675, fighting broke out. Events - The war was a war of attrition. While the Indians did well at first, the colonists slowly wore them down. 16 of New England's 90 towns were completely destroyed and 1.5% of the colonists were killed. This percentage would be like the loss of 4 million Americans in a war today last less than two years. Results - The Wampanoag were decimated, and most of the survivors were sold into slavery.

Hudson's Bay Company

Established in 1670 to break the French monopoly on the fur trade, HBC is one of the oldest corporations in the world. It established fur trading posts around Hudson Bay and James Bay, and spread south and west from there. Needless to say, the establishment of HBC did not help French-English relations!

John Winthrop

He acquired a royal charter from King Charles I for the "Massachusetts Bay Company" and then led a group of English Puritans to the New World in 1630. He was the first governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, and wanted to settle in America to build a "city on a hill."

John Rolfe

He brought tobacco seeds from the Caribbean and planted them in Jamestown. The resultant hybrid soon became very popular in Britain.

Thomas Hooker

He was a Puritan minister who founded the colony of Connecticut after dissenting with Puritan leaders in Massachusetts. He believed that all women church members should have the right of suffrage (the right to vote). This radical idea resulted in him being kicked out of Massachusetts! He founded Hartford, Connecticut and helped create the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut.

Juan de Onate

He was a Spaniard who led 130 mostly Indian and mestizo families to New Mexico and founded Sante Fe in 1598. He brought 20 missionaries with him to convert all of the Pueblo Indians in the area. He ended up slaughtering a lot of Pueblo Indians at Acoma

Squanto

He was an Indian who interpreted for the Pilgrims and Massasoit. He was Massasoit's advisor. He also taught the colonists how to catch eel and plant corn. He taught them how to use fish to fertilize crops.

George Calvert (Lord Baltimore)

He was given a proprietary grant by King Charles I to settle what is now Maryland. The colony was at first a haven for Catholics.

William Penn

He was the English Quaker who founded the Pennsylvania colony. King Charles II owed Penn's father a debt, so he granted him the huge colony.

James I

He was the King of England who issued royal charters for the colonization of the mid-Atlantic region (then known as Virginia) to joint-stock companies. He ruled in the early 17th century.

William Bradford

He was the governor of the Plymouth colony, elected 30 times! His journal, Of Plymouth Plantation, tells us much of what we know about the Plymouth colony. He also wrote the Mayflower Compact.

Massasoit

He was the leader of the Wampanoag Indian tribe. He negotiated a peace treaty with the Pilgrims and prevented the starvation of the colonists by giving them food. He supposedly celebrated the first Thanksgiving, in 1621, with the Pilgrims, according to records left by Governor William Bradford.

Powhatan

He was the powerful leader of a confederacy of Algonquian tribes surrounding Jamestown. He at first saw them as allies and trade partners, but after the English stole food from his tribe, he nearly wiped out Jamestown. He captured John Smith, the leader of the Jamestown settlement.

Samuel de Champlain

In 1605, he helped establish the French outpost of Port Royal on what is now Nova Scotia. Three years later in 1608, he founded the town of Quebec. He sent other agents to live amongst the Indians who helped direct the lucrative furs to Quebec. He also forged an alliance with the Huron Indians, who controlled access to the rich fur territories of the Great Lakes, and were the traditional enemies of the Iroquois (who were allied with the Dutch).

Indentured Servants

In exchange for the cost of their trip to the New World, these people were contracted to work off the price of the journey for a period of four to seven years. Masters had to feed, clothe, and house their servants.

Salem Witch Trials

In several towns in Massachusetts in 1692, nineteen people were hanged for the crime of being a witch, and one man who refused to testify was crushed to death by heavy stones. People accused tended to be those who were widows and women who couldn't have children.

Second Powhatan War

It began with the Indian Massacre of 1622, when Powhatan's brother, Opechancanough, led a group of Algonquians in a war against the colonists. One third of the English settlers were killed in the war, including 25% of them in a single day (Good Friday, 1622). The war lasted until 1632.

Headright Grant

It was a gift of land designed to attract settlers to the English colonies. Anyone who paid his own transportation to the New World received 50 acres of free land, and received 50 more acres for each person he brought with him. Obviously, this caused a lot of emigration to the New World!

Mayflower Compact

It was an agreement by the Plymouth settlers to rule the colony by the will of the majority of male church members. It was written by William Bradford, and it is known as the first document of self-government in North America.

Coureur des bois

It was typical for young men in Canada to take to the woods and become agents of the fur companies or independent traders. Men like these were known as "runners of the woods." Most returned home and took up farming. But others chose to stay in Indian villages, where they married Indian women and raised families. The work of the coureur des bois led to French exploration of much of the North American interior.

Metacomet

Metacomet was a son of Massasoit and chief of the Wampanoag tribe in southern New England. He tried to get along with the English, adopting an English name (King Philip) and dressing in English clothing. At the end of King Philip's War, he was shot and killed by hunters, and his wife and son were sold into slavery. His head was displayed at Plymouth for 20 years.

Freedom dues

Once the indentured servant completed his contract, he was given a gift of land, clothing, or tools by the master so he could start his own life in the New World.

Great Migration

Refers to the time of migration of English settlers (mostly Puritans) between 1620 and 1640 to the New World.

Pocahontas

She was the daughter of Powhatan, rescued John Smith from her father, married John Rolfe, and died of disease while visiting England in 1617.

Sieur de la Salle

Sieur de la Salle was a fur trade commandant. From 1681-82, he navigated the Mississippi River from the upper reaches to its mouth on the Gulf of Mexico. He claimed its entire watershed for France.

Navigation Acts

The English Navigation Acts were a series of laws that restricted the use of foreign shipping for trade between England and its colonies, which started in 1651. Since colonies existed to benefit the mother country, the English Parliament restricted colonial trade with other countries, especially with the French, Dutch, and Spanish. Enumerated goods - goods that could not be produced in England, like sugar and rice - could not be traded with any other country. "The Navigation Acts, while enriching Britain, caused resentment in the colonies and contributed to the American Revolution. The Navigation Acts required all imports either to be sold in England or bought from England no matter what price could be obtained elsewhere. The rationale was the theory of Mercantilism: the more money one country or colony has, the more power it will hold. The colonists resorted to smuggling. Writs of assistance (search warrants) were issued to enforce the Navigation Acts."

Pequot War

The Narragansett tribe of Rhode Island, the Mohegan tribe of Connecticut, and the English teamed up to fight the Pequot tribe of Connecticut and Long Island. The Pequots traded with the Dutch, who were England's main rivals. The English, Narragansetts, and Mohegans nearly completely wiped out the Pequots. During the war, the English horrified their Indian allies with their brutality at Mystic, Connecticut, where the English killed 700 Pequots by burning them alive (Mystic Massacre). Interestingly, the Pequots now own Foxwoods and compete with Mohegan Sun for gamblers!

Chesapeake Settlements

The colonies surrounding Chesapeake Bay, including Virginia and Maryland, had economies based upon tobacco. Since tobacco quickly exhausted the soil and people frequently moved, the settlements were temporary in nature. Few permanent structures, like schools, for example, were constructed. These settlements also maintained close relations with England and tended to be Anglican.

Pope

The leader of the Pueblo Indians. He led a Pueblo rebellion against the Spanish in 1680. He was one of many Pueblo priests whipped publicly for practicing his religion in secret. After the whipping and the execution of yet other priests, he vowed to overthrow the Spanish regime and organized a conspiracy among more than twenty Indian towns. He captured Santa Fe but was later deposed (removed from power) in 1690.

New England Colonial Economy

They made money from fishing, shipbuilding, and lumbering. They engaged in a lot of commerce, too, and towns grew rapidly.

Pilgrims

They were a group of Protestants who wanted to completely separate from the Anglican Church. Think of them as extreme Puritans. In 1620, they sailed on the Mayflower and planted a colony at Plymouth (in southern Massachusetts today).

Puritans

They were a group of strict Protestants who wanted to get rid of all of the Catholic practices in the Anglican Church. This caused them to be persecuted, and many of them came to the New World to freely practice their religion. They founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630 and hypocritically denied any religious dissent.

Maryland Toleration Act of 1649

This act was passed to guarantee religious freedom for Catholics, Protestants, and Anglicans. As Catholics were becoming a minority in Maryland, it was really passed to keep them from becoming persecuted.

Leisler's Rebellion

This rebellion occurred in New York City from 1688-1691. Jacob Leisler and his followers forced Governor Nicholson out of power. They then set up a government based on direct popular representation. Of course, this upset the wealthy aristocrats, and Leisler was removed by the British military, hanged and beheaded.

"Holy experiment"

This term is used to describe the Quaker settlement of Pennsylvania. They felt that they could show the world how well they could function if they lived without persecution.

Society of Inclusion

This term refers to New France and New Spain, where whites and Indians intermarried. It does not apply to the English colonies because they tended to immigrate as families.