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Chapter 2
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Enlightenment | movement that spread the idea that reason and science could improve society |
| Monarch | king or queen |
| Legislature | a group of people that makes laws |
| Precedent | a ruling that is used as the basis for a judicial decision in a later, similar case |
| Common Law | a system of law based on precedent and customs |
| Natural Rights | freedoms people possess relating to life, liberty, and property |
| Social Contract | an agreement among people in a society with a government |
| Colony | a group of people in one place who are ruled by a parent country elsewhere |
| Joint-Stock Company | investors provide partial ownership in a company organized for profit |
| Charter | a written document granting land and the authority to set up colonial governments; or a government document granting permission to organize a corporation |
| Compact | an agreement, or contract, among a group of people |
| Proprietary Colony | area with owner-controlled land and government |
| Royal Colony | a colonial area of land controlled directly by a king or other monarch |
| Religious Dissenters | those who followed a religious faith other than the official region of England |
| Puritans | religious dissenter who came to the colonies to purify, or reform, the Anglican Church |
| Pilgrims | colonial Puritans who considered themselves people on a religious journey |
| Toleration | acceptance of other groups, such as religious groups |
| Indentured Servant | workers who contracted with American colonists for food and shelter in return for their labor |
| Plantation | a large estate |
| Triangular Trade | pattern of trade that developed in colonial times among the Americans, Africa, and Europe |
| Tidewater | areas of low, flat plains near the seacoast of Virginia and North Carolina |
| Egalitarianism | the philosophy or spirit of equality |
| Mercantilism | the theory that a country should sell more goods to other countries than it buys |
| Boycott | the refusal to purchase certain goods |
| Repeal | to cancel a law |
| Delegate | a representative to a meeting |
| Independence | self-reliance and freedom from outside control |