| qwd | Definition |
| Repeal | To cancel a law |
| Puritans | Religious dissenter who came to the colonies to purify, or reform, the Anglican church |
| Tidewater | Areas of low, flat plains near the seacoast of Virginia and North Carolina |
| Joint-stock company | Investors provide partial ownership in a company organized for profit |
| Egalitarianism | The philosophy or spirit of equality |
| Enlightenment | Movement that spreads the idea that reason and science could improve society |
| Indentured servants | Workers who contracted with american colonist for food and shelter in return for their labor |
| Pilgrims | Colonial puritans who considered themselves people on a religious journey |
| Monarch | King or queen |
| Mercantilism | The theory that a country should sell more goods to other countries than it buys |
| Plantation | A large estate |
| Triangular trade | Pattern of trade that developed in colonial times among the Americans, Africa, and Europe |
| Proprietary colony | Area with owner-controlled land and government |
| Natural rights | Freedoms people possess relating to life, liberty, and property |
| Legislature | A group of people that makes law |
| Precedent | A ruling that is used as the basis for a judicial decision in a later, similar case |
| Colony | A group of people in one place who are ruled by a parent country otherwise |
| 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 religion of land |
| Delegate | A representative to a meeting |
| Compact | An agreement, or contract, among a group of people |
| Common law | A system of laws based on precedent and customs |
| Boycott | The refusal to purchase certain goods |
| Charter | A written document granting land and the authority to set up colonial governments |
| Independence | Self-reliance and freedom from outside control |
| Toleration | Acceptance of other groups, such as religious groups |
| Social contract | An agreement among people in a society with a government |
