CHAPTER 3 VOCABULARY
Martin Luther
German friar who began the Protestant Revolution in 1517 with his 95 Thesis being nailed to the
Catholic Wittenberg Cathedral
John Calvin French Protestant reformer who's religious teachings formed the basis for Puritanism, Scottish
Presbyterianism, French Huguenots, and members of the Dutch Reformed Church. He argued in his "Institutes of the
Christian Religion" 1536 that humans were inherently weak and wicked, and believed in an all knowing, all powerful God,
who predestined select individuals for salvation.
Calvinism
Dominant theological credo of the New England Puritans based off the teachings of John Calvin. The
belief in predestination, that only "the elect" were destined for salvation
Institutes of the Christian Religion 1536 John Calvin's basic Latin doctrine that described his protestant views,
including God the all-powerful, weak and wicked humans, and predestination
Predestination
Calvinist doctrine that God has foreordained some people to be saved and some to be dammed.
Though their fate was irreversible, Calvinists, particularly those who believed they were destined for salvation, sought to
lead sanctified lives in order to demonstrate to others that they were in fact members of the "elect"
Conversion intense religious experience that confirmed an individual's place among the "elect" or the "visible saints".
Calvinists who experienced this were then expected to lead sanctified lives to demonstrate their salvation.
Puritans
English Protestant reformers who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic rituals and creeds.
Some of the most devout believed that only the "visible saints" should be admitted to church membership. These
reformers believed in predestination
Separatists small group of Puritans who sought to break away entirely from the Church of England; after initially
settling in Holland, a number of English Separatists made their way to Plymouth Bay, Massachusetts in 1620
Mayflower Compact 1620 Agreement to form a majoritarian government in Plymouth, signed aboard the
Mayflower. It created a foundation for self-government in the colony
William Bradford
Erudite leader of the Separatist Pilgrims who left England for Holland, and eventually sailed the
Mayflower to establish the first English colony in Massachusetts. His account of the colony's founding, "Of Plymouth
Plantation", remains a classic of American literature and an indispensable historical source.
Massachusetts Bay Colony 1630
Colony established by non-separating Puritans that soon grew to be the largest
and most influential of the New England colonies
Great Migration
1630-1642 migration of 70k refuses from England to the North American colonies primarily New
England and the Caribbean, the 20k migrants who came to Massachusetts largely shared a common sense of purpose- to
establish a model Christian settlement in the New World
John Winthrop
First governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony. An able administrator and devout Puritan who
helped ensure prosperity of the colony and enforce Puritan orthodoxy, taking a hard line against religious dissenters like
Anne Hutchinson
Freemen
adult males who belonged to the Puritan Congregations, which in time came to be called the
Congregational Church. Only Puritans, the visible saints, were considered ____ and were eligible for church membership
John Cotton Puritan Citadel educated at Cambridge University who immigrated to Massachusetts Bay to avoid
persecution and devote his time to learn to defend the government's duty to enforce religious rules
"Day of Doom" 1662 poem written by clergyman Michael Wigglesworth who described the fate of the dammed and was
popular among the Puritans
Anne Hutchinson
Antinomian religious dissenter brought to trial for heresy in Massachusetts Bay after arguing that
she need not follow God's laws or man's, and claiming direct revelation from God. Banished from the Puritan colony, she
moved to Rhode Island and then New York, where she and her family were then killed by Indians
Roger Williams
Salem minister who advocated a complete break from the Church of England and criticized the
Massachusetts Bay Colony for unlawfully taking land from the Indians. Banished for his heresy, he established a small
community in present day Rhode Island, later acquiring a charter for the colony from England.
CHAPTER 3 VOCABULARY
Fundamental Orders 1639 Drafted by settlers in the Connecticut River Valley, this document was the first modern
constitution, establishing a democratically controlled government. Key fetters of the document were borrower for
Connecticut's colonial charter, and later, its state constitution.
Pequot War 1636-1638
series of clashes between English settlers and Pequot Indians in the Connecticut River
valley. Ended in the slaughter of the Pequot’s by the Puritans and their Narragansett Indian allies
Metacom (King Phillip)
Wampanoag chief (son of Massasoit) who led a brutal campaign against Puritan
settlements in New England between 1675 and 1676. Though he himself was eventually captured and killed, and his wife
and son sold into slavery, his assault halted New England's westward expansion for several decades.
King Phillip's War 1675-1676
Series of assaults by Metacom (King Phillip) on English settlements in New
England. The attacks slowed the westward migration of New England settlers for several decades.
English Civil War 1642-1651 Armed conflict between royalists and parliamentarians, resulting in the victory of proParliament forces and the execution of Charles I
Charles II
He assumed the throne with the restoration of the English monarchy in 1660. He sought to establish firm
control over the colonies, ending the period of relative independence on the American mainland.
Dominion of New England 1686
Administrative union created by royal authority, incorporating all of New
England, New York, and East and West Jersey. Placed under the rule of Sir Edmund Andros who curbed popular
assemblies, taxed without consent, and strictly enforced the Navigation Laws. Its collapse after the Glorious Revolution in
1689 demonstrated colonial opposition to strict royal control.
Navigation Laws
series of laws passed, beginning in 1651, to regulate colonial shipping; the acts provided that only
English ships would be allowed to trade in English and colonial ports, and that all goods destined for the colonies would
first pass through England
Sir Edmund Andros Much loathed administrator of the Dominion of New England, which was created in 1686 to
strengthen imperial control over the colonies. He established strict control, got rid of town meetings and popular
assemblies, and taxed the people without their consent. When word of the Glorious Revolution reached the colonists, they
promptly dispatched him back to England
Glorious (or Bloodless) Revolution 1688 Relatively peaceful overthrow of the unpopular Catholic monarch James
II, replacing him with Dutch William III of Orange and Mary II (James II's daughter). William and Mary accepted
increased Parliamentary oversight and new limits on monarchial authority.
William III and Mary II
Protestant rulers of the Netherlands that dethroned the unpopular and despotic Catholic
James II in England during the Glorious Revolution in 1689
Salutary neglect
1688-1763 unofficial policy of relaxed royal control over colonial trade and only weak
enforcement of Navigation Laws. Lasted from the Glorious revolution to the end of the French and Indian war in 1763
Henry Hudson
English explorer who ventured into New York Bay and up the Hudson River for the Dutch in 1609
in search of a Northwest Passage across the continent
Patroonships vast tracts of land along the Hudson River in New Netherlands granted to wealthy promoters in exchange
for bringing fifty settlers to the property
Duke of York Catholic English monarch who reigned as James II from 1685 until he was deposed during the Glorious
Revolution in 1689. When the English seized New Amsterdam in 1664, they renamed it in the Duke's honor to
commemorate his support for the colonial venture
William Penn Prominent Quaker activist who founded Pennsylvania as a haven for fellow Quakers in 1681. He
established friendly relations with neighboring Indian tribes and attracted a wide array of settlers to his colony with
promises of economic opportunity, and ethnic and religious toleration. Known as "the first American advertising man"
Blue/sumptuary laws
Laws designed to restrict personal behavior in accord with a strict code of morality. These
laws were passed across the colonies, particularly in Puritan New England and Quaker Pennsylvania