| A | B |
|---|
| colony | group of people who move to a new land and are ruled by the government of their native land |
| New France | area colonized by France in North America |
| New Netherlands | a Dutch colony in North America (1613–64), comprising the area along the Hudson River and the lower Delaware River in North America. |
| New Spain | the former Spanish possessions in the Western Hemisphere, at one time including South America (except Brazil), Central America, Mexico, the West Indies, Florida, and most of the land in the U.S. west of the Mississippi River. |
| Laws of the Indies | code of laws that stated how the Spanish colonies should be organized and ruled |
| Missions | religious settlements run by Catholic priests and friars |
| Peninsulares | highest social class in New Spain; born in Spain and held most important jobs in Spanish colonies |
| Creoles | second highest social class in New Spain; born in the Americas to Spanish parents |
| Mestizos | people of mixed Spanish and Indian background |
| Encomienda | right to demand labor or taxes from Native Americans living on the land in Spanish colonies |
| coureurs de bois | "runners of the woods" trappers and traders in New France |
| Les fillies du Roi | young girls sent to New France by King Louis XIV to marry the men who lived there and to help populate the colony |
| patroon | land owner in New Netherland |
| Pilgrims | Members of the group that separated from the Church of England, sailed to America, and founded the Plymouth Colony. |
| charter | Written contract issued by a government giving the holder the right to establish a colony. |
| Jamestown | First permanent English settlement in North America. |
| indentured servant | Person who sold his or her labor in exchange for passage to America. |
| House of Burgesses | First representative assembly in the American colonies. |
| Mayflower Compact | Agreement established by the men who sailed to America on the Mayflower, which called for laws for the good of the colony and set forth the idea of self-government. |
| Quaker | Person who believed all people should live in peace and harmony; accepted different religions and ethnic groups. |
| Middle Passage | the forced voyage of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. |
| triangular trade | the transatlantic system of trade in which goods, including slaves, were exchanged between Africa, England, Europe, the West Indies, and the colonies in North America |
| plantation system | method of land management practiced in the South utilizing slave labor and overseers |
| New England Colonies | the English colonies of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire |
| Middle Colonies | the English colonies of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware |
| Southern Colonies | the English colonies of Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina |
| Puritans | group of early English settlers who came to America to escape religious persecution. Established the Massachusetts Bay Colony |
| Toleration | willingness to let others practice their own customs and beliefs |
| Cash Crop | crops sold for money |
