1) William Berkeley – Governor of Virginia during Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676. He carried a policy of being friendly to Indians and refused to retaliate for their attacks. He stopped the uprising of a Virginian civil war after the death of Bacon. He was a rebel against the King of England.
2) Nathaniel Bacon – Leader of a rebellion (Bacon’s Rebellion) in 1676. He was a 29 year old planter. He and his followers disliked the friendly policy with the Indians. The rebellion could have turned into a Virginia civil war, but Bacon suddenly died of disease and Berkley stopped all attempts.
3) Yarrow Mamout – An African American brought to Maryland. He was a Muslim and eventually bought his own freedom. He settled in Georgetown and lived to be over one-hundred years old.
4) William Bradford – governor of Plymouth Plantation who said that the voyagers had none of the luxuries in the new world that they had in the old world like inns and their friends.
5) Mathew Hopkins – a 17th century English witch hunter who used harsh techniques which included stalking suspects to see if “diabolical” creatures (common animals) would bite the witch and feed on their blood. Also, he would throw suspects into a pond with their arms and legs tied, claiming the innocent would sink, and often drown, and the guilty would float. These methods devastated England, killing hundreds of men women and childen.
6) Indentured servitude – when a person could not pay for the voyage to America, they had some one else pay for them, and to pay back the debt they would be bound to the land for a period of time. These indentured slaves were also known as “white slaves”. The enclosure movement in England displaced many farmers in England. The people in the region tried to grow more tobacco. This would cause an increase in labor. The Indians were dying too fast and Africans were expensive so the plantation owners paid for the farmer’s voyage in return for labor. There were about one hundred thousand brought to the Chesapeake by 1700, more than three quarters of the population in Maryland and Virginia in the 17th century.
7) slave codes – they were used to set the rules of slaves and indentured servants. They also were used in Virginia to state the difference between slaves and indentured servants.
8) headright system – system that encouraged servants to come to the new world. Fifty acres were given to whoever paid for the servants to go, per servant. The plantation owners received this land, not the servants themselves.
9) jeremiads – a sermon or prophesy recounting wrongdoing, warning of doom and calling for repentance. These eventually died out with the new covenant.
10) middle passage – The portion of a slave ship’s journey that carried slaves from Africa to the new world. This middle passage had death rates that went as high as 20% on the journey to America.
11) freedom dues – rewards earned at the freedom of service. The rewards incl uded corn, clothes, and sometimes a small piece of land
12) witch hunting – In Salem, Massachusetts, there was persecution of all people expected to be a witch. Three young girls claimed that they were bewitched. Usually aimed with prejudice and superstition of age in other places, but in Salem every one was suspected.
13) Yankee ingenuity – the unwritten economic way of fending for oneself. For example, penny-pinching traders who were scam artists were dishonest leaving their mark in New England. A popular saying about New England was “to get in, get honor, get honest.”
14) family stability – a stable creation and survival of families and a good family life. Children grew up in nurturing environments and learned manners and obedience from their parents and grandparents. It is said that New England “invented” grandparents.
15) conversions – the testimonial of an individual that they received God’s grace and deserved to be admitted into the Church. Conversions started to decline in the 17th century.
16) Bacon’s Rebellion – a rebellion led by Nathaniel Bacon in 1676. The difficulty of finding a wife caused the unhappy established planters to disfranchise frontiersmen. These frontiersmen were upset with the Indian attacks not being retaliated by Berkley. This rebellion was put to a stop after the sudden death of Nathaniel Bacon. This took place 100 years before the American Revolution.
17) Leisler’s Rebellion – The disagreement of the Lords in New York and the poor merchants caused a bloody rebellion in New York City from 1689-1691.
18) Half-Way Covenant – the puritains allowed the baptism of current members’ unconverted children, but not “full communism” to the church. This weakened the difference between the elect and the other puritians.
19) African American – A descendent from an African parent, but was born in America. African Americans helped mix the many different African cultures brought to the colonies in the slave trade, creating a distinctive slave culture.
20) New England Primer – A school book in early New England schools that taught lessons in social duties and Christian faith. It also taught reading and writing.
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Iroquois League - Five New York area Indian tribes united in a confederation. They kept their independence, but got together in times of war.
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