2 Colonization and the Atlantic World Free Online FlashCards

What characterized Indigenous societies in the Americas before European arrival?

They governed diverse communities, cultivated crops, hunted and fished, and maintained extensive trade and political networks.

What did Powhatan’s political network connect?

It connected multiple communities in the Chesapeake.

How did Indigenous nations exercise agency during colonization?

They negotiated, traded, formed alliances, resisted, and adapted; they continued to shape events rather than simply serving as obstacles to colonization.

What were European powers seeking in the Americas?

They sought land, wealth, trade routes, and strategic advantage.

What were major effects of European colonization in the Americas?

It brought trade and new technologies, but also warfare, land loss, forced labor, and devastating epidemics.

Why is Jamestown historically significant?

Founded in Virginia in 1607, Jamestown survived and became England’s first lasting mainland colony.

What different purposes motivated the founding of English colonies?

Some colonies aimed to generate profit; others were founded by groups seeking religious communities or land.

Which crop became a major Chesapeake export?

Tobacco became a major export in the Chesapeake.

How did colonial economies differ by region?

Southern colonies grew rice and indigo on plantations. New England relied on farming, fishing, shipbuilding, lumber, and trade; Middle Colony farms produced grain.

What kinds of goods moved through the Atlantic colonial economy?

Ships carried European manufactured goods, colonial food and raw materials, and Caribbean sugar and molasses.

What was the aim of British imperial trade policies?

British imperial policies aimed to channel colonial trade to benefit the empire, although colonial commerce also crossed imperial boundaries.

What was the Middle Passage?

The Middle Passage was the deadly ocean crossing during which Europeans forcibly transported millions of African people across the Atlantic.