absentee planters estate owner who collects profits from farming or rent but does not live on the land or help cultivate it

ad hoc created for, concerned with, on specific person

alma mater college or school from which a person graduated

apprentice person bound by legal agreement to work for an employer for a specific length of time in exchange for instruction in a trade, craft, or business






bureaucrat government official, usually appointed, who is deeply devoted to the details of administrative procedures






carrying trade the business of transporting goods across the Atlantic or to and from the Caribbean

charismatic having a spiritual power or personal quality that stirs enthusiasm and devotion in large numbers of people

Congregationalism form of Protestant church government in which the local congregation is independent and self-governing; in the colonies, the Puritans were Congregationalists

corporate colony self-governing colony, not directly under the control of proprietors or the Crown

Creek Confederacy alliance of the Creeks and smaller Indian tribes living in the Southeast






deference yielding to the judgment or wishes of a social or intellectual superior

deism belief that God created the universe in such a way that it could operate without any further divine intervention

demographics statistical data on population

denomination group of religious congregations that accept the same doctrines and are united under a single name

discrimination treatment based on class, gender, or racial category rather than on merit; prejudice






Enlightenment 18th-century intellectual movement that stressed the pursuit of knowledge through reason and repudiated the value religious belief, emotion, or tradition

enumerate to count

established church official church of a nation or colony, usually supported by taxes collected from all citizens, no matter what their religious affiliation






George Whitefield English evangelical preacher of the Great Awakening whose charismatic style attracted huge crowds during his preaching tours of the colonies

Great Awakening series of religious revivals based on fiery preaching and emotionalism that swept across the colonies during the second quarter of the 18th century






insubordination resistance to authority; disobedience

itinerant traveling from place to place






manumit to free from slavery or bondage; to emancipate

middle passage transatlantic voyage of indentured servants or African slaves to the Americas

milliner maker or designer of hats






oratorical related to the art of persuasive and eloquent public speaking






Paxton Boys settlers in Paxton, PN, who massacred Conestoga Indians in 1763 and then marched on Philadelphia to demand that the colonial government provide better defense against the Indians

philosophe any of the popular French intellectuals or social philosophers of the Enlightenment, such as Voltaire, Diderot, or Rosseau

piedmont land lying at the foot of a mountain range

policy course of action taken by a government or a ruler

power of the purse political power that is enjoyed by the branch of government that controls taxation and the use of tax monies

proprietor person who owns something






Regulators frontier settlers in the Carolinas who protested the lack or abuse of government services in their area; the North Carolina Regulators were suppressed by government troops in 1771






salutary neglect British policy of relaxed enforcement of most colonial trade regulations as long as the mainland colonies remained loyal to the government and profitable within the British economy

Scots-Irish Protestant Scottish settlers in British-occupied northern Ireland, many of whom migrated to the colonies in the 18th century

seasoning period during which slaves from Africa were held in the West Indies so they could adjust to the climate and disease environment of the American tropics

social contract theoretical agreement between the governed and the government that defines and limits the rights and obligations of each

sovereignty the ultimate power in a nation or a state

Stono Rebellion 1739 slave revolt in South Carolina; it prompted the colony to pass harsher laws governing the movement of slaves and the capture of runaways

subsistence society society that produces the food and supplies necessary for its survival but does not produce a surplus that can be marketed






tidewater low coastal land drained by tidal streams in Maryland and Virginia

Treaty of Paris 1763 treaty ending the French and Indian War; gave all of French Canada and Spanish Florida to Britain

Trinity in Christian doctrine, the belief that God has three divine aspects – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit






unprecedented unheard of or novel