Colonial America Flashcards

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Mayflower Compact

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An agreement made by Pilgrims in 1620 to govern themselves and make decisions as a group in their new colony.

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Southern Colonies

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Colonies like Virginia and Georgia known for large farms (plantations), warm climate, and cash crops like tobacco and rice.

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Encomiendas

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A Spanish system where colonists were given land and Native laborers in exchange for 'protecting' and converting them to Christianity.

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Columbian Exchange

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The exchange of plants, animals, diseases, and goods between Europe, Africa, and the Americas after Columbus’s voyages.

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Mercantilism

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An economic system where colonies existed to benefit the mother country by providing raw materials and buying finished goods.

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New England Colonies

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Northern colonies (like Massachusetts and Rhode Island) known for small farms, shipbuilding, and religious communities.

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Middle Passage

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The brutal sea journey that enslaved Africans were forced to take from Africa to the Americas.

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Indentured Servitude

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A system where people worked for a set number of years in exchange for passage to the Americas, then gained freedom.

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Middle Colonies

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Colonies like New York and Pennsylvania are known for religious diversity, trade, and fertile farmland.

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Plantation System

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A farming system in the South where large estates grew cash crops using enslaved labor.