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 |
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 governmnet |
colony | a group of people in one place who are ruled by a parent country elsewhere |
joint stock company | investors provide part ownership in a company organized for profit |
charter | a written document granting land and the authority to set up colonial governments or governments granting documents |
compact | It also refers to something small or closely grouped together, like the row of compact rental cars you see when you wanted a van. |
proprietary colony | were grants of land in the form of a charter, or a license to rule, for individuals or groups. They were used to settle areas rapidly with British subjects at the proprietors' expense during the costly settlement years. |
religious dissenters | those who followed religious faith other than the official religion of England |
Puritans | group of people who grew discontent with the church of England and worked towards religion |
pilgrims | Puritans who considered themselves on a religious journey |
toleration | the practice of tolerating something, in particular differences of opinion or behavior. |
indentured servant | workers contracted with American colonists for food and shelter in return for labor |
plantation | a large estate |
triangular trade | trade developed among the Americas, Africa, and Europe |
tidewater | low flat plains near the seacoast of Virginia and North Carolina |
egalitarianism | |
mercantilism | a country should sell more goods than it buys |
boycott | refusal to purchase certain goods |
repeal | to cancel law |
delegate | a representative to a meeting |
independence | self-reliance freedom from outside control |
precedent | ruling used as basis for judicial decision in later similar case |
royal colony | a colony as NY administered by a royal governor and council appointed |