ABC Chapter 1

Magna Carta

Known as the Great Charter this document was signed by King John and it eventually led to the development of the British Parliament

Common laws

Laws that are based on tradition or past decisions rather then on written statue

natural rights

Rights that every human being is born with and that the government can not take away

Indentured Servant

Settlers that could not afford their passage to the New World promised to work for 3-7 years in exchange for the passage

Limited Government

This idea began in England and spread to the colonies Governments are based on the rule of law and are restricted by these laws

English Bill of Rights

A document which stated that the monarch in England was not all powerful and that the citizens had certain rights such as speedy trail and the right of petition the legislative body of England that is divided into two chambers of houses the House of Lords and the House of Commons

Representative Government

A form of government which allows the people to choose individuals to make their laws

Quakers

A group of Christian dissenters that believed in the inner light doctrine and settled Pennsylvania for religious freedom

Puritans

A group of Protestant dissenters that disagreed with the Anglican church and settled the New England colonies

Salem Witch Trials

A group of young girls accused several townspeople of being witches and this resulted in the collapse of the Puritan church in the New England colonies

plantations

A large farm that grew cash crops with slave labor found in the Southern colonies

Social Contract Theory

A philosophy which stats there is an agreement between the government and the citizens. The citizens given up some rights to allow the government to maintain control

Salutary Neglect

A policy of England's to ignore the colonists violations of the trade laws as long as England prospered

Gentry

A wealthy landed aristocracy which developed in the southern colonies

Governors

Appointed by the crown or the king to rule or control a colony

Public education

Children in the New England colonies received this in order to read the bible and it was paid for by the tax dollars

Cash Crops

Crops that are in large demand and provide most of the wealth of a colony

Assembly

Elected bodies like the House of Burgesses which made laws for the colonies Modeled after Parliament

Head right system

Gave 50 acres of land to anyone that settled in the Southern colonies

Slaves

Individuals that are treated as property and found in all 13 colonies

Southern Colonies

The colonies of Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia which developed the plantation system

African Americans

These settlers first carne as indentured servants to Virginia and later as slaves to work the cash crops

Women

These settlers were treated as 2nd class citizens in all 13 colonies and they had limited rights

Parliament

The legislative body of England that is divided into two chambers or two houses the House of Lords and the House of Commons

New England Colonies

the colonies of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut founded for religious freedom

Mid-Atlantic

the colonies of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania which had cultural diversity

House of Burgesses

the first legislative assembly in North America founded in Virginia in 1619 and example of limited government

Jamestown

the first permanent English settlement in North America.