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Jamestown
The very first permanent English colony was established to provide profit for the mother country. It was only after tobacco, an important cash crop was established that Jamestown became a success. Half of the Jamestown settlers were artisans, craftsmen, soldiers, and laborers, including a tailor, a barber, and two surgeons among them. The other half were "gentlemen", men of wealth who did not have a profession, and who may have underestimated the rough work necessary to survive the New World. -
House of Burgesses
The colonial governing body allowed the colonists their first taste of self-government. Representatives from each burgess or district would meet and establish taxes and laws for their area. This had to meet with the royal governor's approval, but colonists still felt they had power. The Virginia House of Burgesses was the first legislative assembly of elected representatives in North America. The house was created by the Virginia Company. -
Mayflower Compact
The Puritans from the Plymouth colony (Mass.) decided to create their own laws, which established the important self-governing principle of majority rule. The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of the Plymouth colony. It was an attempt to establish a temporary, legally-binding form of self-government until such time as the Company could get formal permission from the Council of New England. -
Mercantilism
Economic system that was beneficial to the home/mother country because of favorable trade balance (more exports than imports), accumulation of wealth (especially gold and silver), and colonies that provided raw materials and markets for goods. While many nations applied the theory, one exemplar was France, economically the most important state in Europe at the time. -
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
First written constitution by a colony; limited the power of government; majority rule, consent of the governed (the people), protected minority rights. It has the features of a written constitution, and is considered by some as the first written Constitution in the Western tradition, and thus earned Connecticut its nickname of The Constitution State. -
Triangular Trade
New England merchants traded basic supplies with the West Indies in return for sugar and molasses, (which could be made into rum). Later Africa was added to the route and the leg that transported slaves from the West Coast of Africa to the New England colonies became known as the "Middle Passage". This trade was often done without the involvment of the English government. Triangular trade evolves when a region has export commodities that aren't required in the region where its imports came from. -
Maryland Toleration Act
Law granting religious freedom to all Christians (Protestant and Catholic) living in the Maryland colony (did not include Jewish religion). The Act allowed freedom of worship for all Trinitarian Christians in Maryland, but sentenced to death anyone who denied the divinity of Jesus. -
Navigation Acts
England felt that the American colonies were gaining great profit through overseas trade and wanted a greater share of profit. These acts strictly enforced policies that established Britain as the middleman in colonial trade. Any ships had to pass through English ports and have a majority English or colonial crew on board. English authorities also had approval over which countries could trade with the colonies; this provision seriously lessened colonial profits. -
John Peter Zenger
Accused of sedition and libel by a royal official who took offense to the newpaper man's criticism of limits on free expression. Zenger was put on trial in front of a colonial jury who found him innocent because what he printed was the truth. This decision is the basis for the fundamental American freedom of press. He was a German-American printer, publisher, editor and journalist in New York City. -
Great Awakening
Many colonists began expressing their religious ideas through new churches other than the Church of England or Anglican Church. This direct break with the official religious authority in England shows that colonists began thinking for themselves and choosing to differ from the mother country. Historians and theologians identify three or four waves of increased religious enthusiasm occuring between the early 18th century and the late 19th century. -
French and Indian War
England and France have been warring on and off for over one hundred years. This time around, the American colonists want to expand into the Ohio Valley and Canada. The skirmish gets its name because England and her colonies were fighting against the combined forces of France and her Native American allies. The Natives like the French a lot more than the English because the French are not heavily settled in the area and tended to be trading partners. -
Albany Plan of Union
Benjamin Franklin's attempt to unite volunteers from all colonies to establish a common defense. The plan didn't work but it was the first time colonists planned to unite to defend themselves without the help of England. Representatives of the colonial governments adopted the Albany Plan during a larger meeting known as the Albany Congress. -
Proclamation of 1763
In an attempt to settle the Natives along the frontier, England banned all colonial settlement past the Appalachian Mountains. This policy enraged the colonists who only fought the French and Indian War for more land. The purpose of the proclamation was to organize Great Britain's new North American empire and to stabilize realations with Native North Americans through the regulation of trade, settlement, and land purchases on the Western frontier. -
Stamp Act
England's latest attempt to get money from the colonies comes in the form of a direct tax on a variety of goods. Things ranging from legal documents to decks of cards. The colonies protest by going after custom agents and later organize a more effective boycott of English goods. The purpose of these taxes was to help pay for troops stationed in North America after the British victory in the Seven Years' War. -
Boston Massacre
Tension between colonists and the standing army left over from the French and Indian War has been high. Many citizens feel that the soldiers were spying on them, others resent the competition they present for local jobs. When soldiers begin fighting colonists for jobs, someone shoots into the crowd. When the violence ends, five colonists are dead. To drump up support, Samuel Adams and other patriots dub the skirmish a "massacre". -
Tea Act
In an effort to ease tensions with their American colonists and save their lagging East India Company, the British government passes this act which gives all colonial tea business to the India company but at a much lower price to the consumer. Rather than be grateful, being cut out of their own business outrages the colonists. This is what led Samuel Adams and many others to dress up as Natives and act out the Boston Tea Party. -
Quartering Act
This part of the Intolerable Acts was especially infuriating to the colonists who felt that they should not have to shoulder the responsibility of housing the British Army when they don't want them around in the first place. Few colonists actually had to have their privacy compromised but the idea of possible doing so outraged many. -
Intolerable Acts
In an effort to punish the members of the Boston community for the Boston Tea Party, the British government vows revenge until the damaged tea is completely paid for. Boston is hurt the worst by the closing of the local harbor, but other punishments such as a curfew and Marshall law are put into place which outrage the citizens. Colonists from other areas are incensed by the behavior and these actions serve to distance more than just New Englanders from the crown. -
Lexington & Concord
Fighting between colonial militias (minutemen) and British soldiers occur when Gen. Gage finds out that colonists are stockpiling weapons. When he tries to confiscate the arms he is met with armed resistance. The first shot between the two sides was fired in a crowd and no one is sure who shot first. Colonists officially became the enemy of the British and Boston was now held captive by the British army. -
Olive Branch Petition
A committee of colonists draft a letter to the kind of England asking for an end to fighting and vow obedience if certain demands are met. King George III refuses to even read the letter. The Olive Branch Petition was adopted by the Second Continental Congress in a final attempt to avoid a full-on war between the Thirteen colonies the the Congress represented, and Great Britain. -
Common Sense
A popular pamphlet written by Thomas Paine states that it is obvious that England and her American colonies should not remain united. The two are so vastly different that they can't have common goals and the rule of the monarchy is so oppressive that the colonies will never prosper under British rule. The only "common sense" is to declare independence This helps to persuade some colonists who has been against such actions. -
Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson drafts a document that is a list of complaints against Britain. This list was designed to serve two purposes: one, to notify England and the rest of the world of America's intent and reasons for it, and secondly, it was to rally the colonists behind a great cause by inspiring them to throw off the shackles of oppression.
