50 Chapter 1 Alien Encounters: Europe in the Americas
Key Terms
antinomianism A religious doctrine that affirmed
that individuals who possessed saving grace were
exempt from the rules of good behavior and from
the laws of the community. In puritan New England,
such beliefs were generally regarded as heresy, 39
Arminianism A religious doctrine that held that
good works and faith could lead to salvation. In
puritan New England, this was regarded as heresy
akin to Catholicism because it implied that God’s
will was contingent on the acts of man, 35
Columbian Exchange The transfer of plants, ani-
mals, and diseases from Europe, Africa, and Asia
to and from the Americas after Columbus’s fateful
voyage in 1492, 27
conquistadores The Spanish term for “conquerors,”
specifically the explorers, adventurers, and soldiers
who crushed the native peoples of the Americas, 22
encomiendasystem A feudal labor arrangement,
imposed in the Spanish colonies of the Americas,
by which Spanish settlers were granted a certain
number of Indian subjects who were obliged to
pay tribute in goods and labor, 22
joint-stock companies Businesses in which
investors pooled capital for specific purposes, such
as conducting trade and founding colonies.
Examples include the English joint-stock compa-
nies that founded the Virginia, Plymouth, and
Massachusetts Bay colonies, 30
Mayflower Compact An agreement, signed aboard
theMayfloweramong the Pilgrims en route to
Plymouth Plantation (1620), to establish a body
politic and to obey the rules of the governors they
chose, 35
predestination The Calvinist belief, accepted by
New England puritans, that God had determined
who would receive eternal grace at the dawn of
time; nothing people did during their lifetime
could alter their prospects of salvation, 35
Protestant Reformation A religious movement of
the sixteenth century initially focused on eliminat-
ing corruption in the Catholic Church; but under
the influence of theologians Martin Luther and
John Calvin, it indicted Catholic theology and
gave rise to various denominations that advanced
alternative interpretations, 30
puritans A term, initially derisive, referring to
English religious dissenters who believed that the
religious practices and administration of the
Church of England too closely resembled those of
the Catholic Church; many migrated to
Massachusetts Bay after 1630 to establish a reli-
gious commonwealth based on the principles of
John Calvin and others, 35
Quakers Adherents of a religious organization
founded in England in the 1640s who believed
that the Holy Spirit lived in all people; they
embraced pacifism and religious tolerance, and
rejected formal theology. In the decades after
1670, thousands of Quakers emigrated to New
Jersey and Pennsylvania, 42
Treaty of Tordesillas Negotiated by the pope
in 1494, this treaty resolved the territorial
claims of Spain and Portugal; in the Western
Hemisphere Portugal was granted Brazil, while
Spain was granted nearly all of the remaining
lands, 22Review Questions
1.Why did Columbus choose to embark on his 1492
voyage and what was his “great error”?
2.What factors accounted for the ease with which
Spain imposed its will upon the Indians of south
and central America?
3.What accounted for the Indian susceptibility to
European diseases? Why do scholarly estimates of
Indian population losses vary so greatly?
4.What reasons prompted English peoples to come
to the Americas? How did they choose different
settlements on the Atlantic coast?
5.Why did Europeans so often treat Indians with
such brutality? In what ways did Europeans and
Indians interact positively?