Northwest passage
A waterway through and around North America
Charter
Legal document giving certain rights to a person or company
Representative government
Political system in which voters elect representatives to make laws for them
House of burgesses
Representative assembly in colonial Virginia
Persecution
Mistreatment or punishment of a group of people because of their beliefs
Pilgrims
In the 1600’s, English settlers who sought religious freedom in the Americas
Mayflower compact
A 1620 agreement for ruling the Plymouth colony
Puritans
Group of religious Protestants who settled the Massachusetts bay colony
Religious tolerance
Willingness to let others practice their own beliefs
Town meetings
Meeting in colonial New England where settlers discussed and voted on the issues
Proprietary colony
English colony in which the king gave land to proprietors in exchange for a yearly payment
Royal colony
Colony under the direct control of the English crown
Quakers
Protestant reformers who believe in the equality of all people
Cash crops
Crop sold for money at market
Missions
Religious settlement run by catholic priest and Friars