Key Terms

Puritans- a member of a group of English Protestants who in the 16th and 17th centuries thought that the Protestant Reformation under Elizabeth was incomplete and advocated the simplification and regulation of forms of worship.

Joint-stock companies - a company (usually unincorporated) which has the capital of its members pooled in a common fund.

Privateers - An armed ship owned and officered by private individuals holding a government commission and authorized for use in war, esp. in the capture of enemy merchant shipping.

Captain John Smith - English explorer who helped found the colony at Jamestown, Virginia; was said to have been saved by Pocahontas.

Chief Powhatan - was the leader of the Powhatan, a powerful tribe of Virginia Indians , as well as an associated confederacy of numerous tribes

Headrights - A headright is a legal grant of land to settlers. Headrights are most notable for their role in the expansion of the thirteen British colonies in North America.

Virginia House of Burgesses - Burgess originally meant a freeman of a borough or burgh. It later came to mean an elected or appointed official of a municipality, or the representative of a borough in the English House of Commons.

Proprietary colony - a colony given to a proprietor to govern .

Pilgrims - Is erson who journeys to a sacred place for religious reasons. A member of a group of English Puritans fleeing religious persecution who sailed in the Mayflower and founded the colony of Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620.

Squanto - Pawtuxet Indian. He befriended the Pilgrims in Plymouth Colony in 1621 and acted as their interpreter and adviser on planting and fishing.

Anne Hutchison - American colonist (born in England) who was banished from Boston for her religious views.

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut - The Fundamental Orders were adopted by the Connecticut