Term | Definition |
backcountry | land along a frontier |
debtor | person who cannot pay his or her debts |
charter | official document that gives certain rights to an individual or a group |
town meeting | a meeting in colonial New England during which settlers discussed voting issues |
representative government | political system in which voters elect others to make laws |
toleration | recognition that other people have the right to different opinions |
pilgrim | person who takes a journey for religious reasons |
plantation | large estate farmed by many workers |
Habeas Corpus | the right not to be held in prison without first being charged with a specific crime |
Apprentice | person who learns a trade or craft from a master |
Racism | belief that one race is superior or inferior to another |
Dame school | school run by a woman, usually in her own home |
Bill of Rights | written list of freedoms that a government promises to protect |
Slave Code | Laws that controlled enslaved African Americans; lives and denied them basic rights |
natural rights | rights that belong to every human being from birth |
libel | publishing of false statements that unjustly damage a person's reputation |
Public School | school supported by taxes |
Freedom of the Press | Right of newspapers and other public media to publish articles believed to be accurate |
Gentry | upper class of colonial society |
Legislature | Part of a government that makes laws |