The “lost colony” of Roanoke was initially settled in 1585, two decades before the Jamestown Settlement. Historians are unsure of exactly what happened to the colony and its inhabitants who vanished with little evidence of their fate.

The Virginia Company was a joint-stock venture, similar to a modern corporation. Wealthy investors in London bought shares in the company, giving it the money needed to start and supply a colony. The investors hoped the company would be profitable (the goal was to find raw materials such as gold and silver).

The Jamestown colony suffered high mortality rates and their initial attempts at agriculture failed. They finally achieved a profitable return with tobacco cultivation.

The headright system was a successful plan to help increase the population of the Jamestown colony. More people meant a larger labor force, more farms, and a greater potential for profit for the Virginia Company.

The House of Burgesses was Virginia’s colonial legislature. Its members were elected by the people of Virginia to represent their interests. This was the first example of this type of assembly in the New World.

In 1620 the Mayflower carried 102 passengers and 30 crew members from England to the Cape Cod Bay. The location where they landed is now called Plymouth Harbor and the city is Plymouth, Massachusetts.

The Plymouth colony was created as a place for Puritan Separatists to worship their own version of Christianity that was free from the control and oversight of the Church of England.

Pilgrim leader William Bradford needed the Mayflower Compact to ensure the mix of Puritan and non-Puritan colonists would have law and order in their new colony.

The Wampanoag was a confederacy made up of several Native American tribes. Squanto, and the Wampanoag leader Massasoit, were vital to the Pilgrims’ survival. With help from the Wampanoag, the Pilgrims were able to learn agricultural techniques and other methods for taking advantage of the area’s natural resources.

Life for Catholics in England was growing increasingly difficult. Calvert seized the opportunity to create a colony where he could entice Catholics to settle and, in turn, create a profitable farming economy.

Britain was losing out on potential profits because of the Dutch East India Company’s success in New Amsterdam. By taking over the colony and its ports, England was able to profit from the harbors while economically crippling a European competitor.

Once they had successfully secured their colonial foothold in the region, the New England settlers had little use for the Native Americans, who had once been their key to survival. King Philip’s War would be one of many examples in a long line of British betrayals of the Native Americans.

Nathaniel Bacon was able to successfully mobilize planters in the western reaches of the Virginia territory to fight back against the governor’s unwillingness to protect them from Native American raids. The raid successfully ousted the governor and led to the expansion of the western frontier to further settlement.

Penn’s “holy experiment” sought to create a land where he and other Quakers could live freely, equally, and peacefully.

England was happy to allow Oglethorpe to ease the burden imposed by the growing poor population on the British prison system. As an added bonus, the colony’s location would also serve as a much needed buffer between the British colonies and the Spanish colonies to the south.

Triangular trade is trade among three ports or regions. In the colonies, African slaves were put to work growing cash crops such as sugar, tobacco, and cotton. These crops were exported to Europe. European goods were then sent to Africa, where they were used to purchase African slaves. The slaves were then then shipped West, from Africa to the Americas. This movement of goods created a triangular pattern across the Atlantic Ocean.

The Native Americans and French colonies developed a shared respect for each other based on strong trading relations. The French needed Native American support for basic survival and resources in the colonies. The Native Americans needed access to the manufactured goods and weapons the French could provide them. In contrast, the British routinely swindled the Native Americans out of their lands and resources.

Despite the name, the French and Indian War was a fight for colonial dominance in the New World. Indians were active participants on both sides of the conflict.

While the French were very successful early in the conflict, the British were able to overcome the French forces in North America thanks to sheer numbers and an alliance with the powerful Iroquois Confederation.

Pontiac mobilized several tribes to strike against British settlements and forts in an effort to reclaim lands they believed to be their own. The resulting Proclamation of 1763 banned British settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains; however, colonists widely disregarded the law.