Chapter 4 The 13 English Colonies Vocabulary

Charter a document issued by a government that grants special rights to a person or company

Representative Government a government in which voters elect people to make laws for them

Pilgrims a person who makes a religious journey; English Separatists or those who wanted to separate from the English Church, settled in Plymouth, Mass.

Puritans Religious group who settled in Massachusetts and wanted to Purify or reform (make it more scritct) the Church of England

Toleration Willingness to let others practice their own customs and beliefs

Town Meeting Meeting in which citizens discuss and vote on local community issues

Proprietor Man who owned a proprietary colony

Proprietary Colony English colony in which the King gave land to a man in exchange for a yearly payment or to pay a debt

Royal Colony Colony under the control of the English King

Quaker Protestant reformers who believed that all people were equal in God’s eyes and who were despised by others in England

Backcountry a frontier region along the Appalachian mountains from Pennsylvania to Georgia

Debtor a person who owes money

Indentured Servant Person who agreed to work without pay for 7-10 years in exchange for passage to the Colonies

Middle Class In the 13 English colonies, people who were skilled crafts workers and small farmers

Gentry highest social class in the colonies

Triangular Trade Colonial trade routes between New England, Africa and West Indies

Cash Crop Crop sold for money (tobacco, indigo, rice)

Plantation Large farming estates in the South that required many workers (slaves)

Subsistence Farming farming that produces enough food for the family with a small amount left to trade

Self-Sufficient Able to supply one’s needs without external assistance—plantations