Period 2: 1607–1754

2.1 2.2

Four Colonizers, Four Strategies

Syllabus

2.1 Contextualizing Period 2

Learning Objective	Preview: Unit 2 Key Concepts
Unit 2.A Explain the context for the colonization of North America from 1607 to 1754.	KC-2.1 Europeans developed a variety of colonization and migration patterns, influenced by different imperial goals, cultures, and the varied North American environments where they settled. They competed with each other and American Indians for resources. KC-2.1.I Spanish, French, Dutch, and British colonizers had different economic and imperial goals involving land and labor that shaped the social and political development of their colonies as well as their relationships with native populations. KC-2.1.II In the 17th century, early British colonies developed along the Atlantic coast, with regional differences that reflected various environmental, economic, cultural, and demographic factors. KC-2.1.III Competition over resources between European rivals and American Indians encouraged industry and trade and led to conflict in the Americas. KC-2.2 The British colonies participated in political, social, cultural, and economic exchanges with Great Britain that encouraged both stronger bonds with Britain and resistance to Britain’s control. KC-2.2.I Transatlantic commercial, religious, philosophical, and political exchanges led residents of the British colonies to evolve in their political and cultural attitudes as they became increasingly tied to Britain and one another. KC-2.2.II Like other European empires in the Americas that participated in the Atlantic slave trade, the English colonies developed a system of slavery that reflected the specific economic, demographic, and geographic characteristics of those colonies.

Learning Objective

Preview: Unit 2 Key Concepts

Unit 2.A
Explain the context for the colonization of North America from 1607 to 1754.

KC-2.1 Europeans developed a variety of colonization and migration patterns, influenced by different imperial goals, cultures, and the varied North American environments where they settled. They competed with each other and American Indians for resources.
- KC-2.1.I Spanish, French, Dutch, and British colonizers had different economic and imperial goals involving land and labor that shaped the social and political development of their colonies as well as their relationships with native populations.
- KC-2.1.II In the 17th century, early British colonies developed along the Atlantic coast, with regional differences that reflected various environmental, economic, cultural, and demographic factors.
- KC-2.1.III Competition over resources between European rivals and American Indians encouraged industry and trade and led to conflict in the Americas.
KC-2.2 The British colonies participated in political, social, cultural, and economic exchanges with Great Britain that encouraged both stronger bonds with Britain and resistance to Britain’s control.
- KC-2.2.I Transatlantic commercial, religious, philosophical, and political exchanges led residents of the British colonies to evolve in their political and cultural attitudes as they became increasingly tied to Britain and one another.
- KC-2.2.II Like other European empires in the Americas that participated in the Atlantic slave trade, the English colonies developed a system of slavery that reflected the specific economic, demographic, and geographic characteristics of those colonies.

2.2 European Colonization

Thematic Focus	Learning Objective	Historical Developments
MIG Migration and Settlement — Push and pull factors shape immigration to and migration within America, and the demographic change as a result of these moves shapes the migrants, society, and the environment.	Unit 2.B Explain how and why various European colonies developed and expanded from 1607 to 1754.	KC-2.1.I.A Spanish efforts to extract wealth from the land led them to develop institutions based on subjugating native populations, converting them to Christianity, and incorporating them, along with enslaved and free Africans, into Spanish colonial society. KC-2.1.I.B French and Dutch colonial efforts involved relatively few Europeans and relied on trade alliances and intermarriage with American Indians to build economic and diplomatic relationships and acquire furs and other products for export to Europe. KC-2.1.I.C English colonization efforts attracted a comparatively large number of male and female British migrants, as well as other European migrants, all of whom sought social mobility, economic prosperity, religious freedom, and improved living conditions. These colonists focused on agriculture and settled on land taken from Native Americans, from whom they lived separately.

Source: College Board AP Course and Exam Description

Period 2 runs from 1607 to 1754 - from Jamestown to the eve of the Seven Years' War. Its central question is why European colonies turned out so differently from one another.

Imperial goals, migration and local conditions helped shape different colonial patterns:

Spain extracted wealth from the land, developing institutions built on subjugating 征服 native populations - the encomienda system carried over from Period 1.
France and the Netherlands sent relatively few Europeans and relied on trade alliances 贸易同盟 with American Indians, especially in fur 毛皮.
Britain attracted a comparatively large number of male and female migrants 男女移民, who came to settle and farm rather than only to extract.

Agricultural settlement increased British demand for Native land and contributed to displacement and conflict. This is a broad comparison, not a rule that British colonists never traded or made alliances. French, Dutch, British and Spanish colonies all formed alliances with Native groups; trade, cooperation and conflict could coexist. Native communities pursued their own diplomatic and economic goals.

Imperial goals and migration shaped relationships; each empire also made Native alliances — Four empires, four goals - and how the goal predicted the relationship with American Indians

Try it — explain the different strategies. These are teaching summaries, not historical quotations. A colony has few European settlers and depends on Native partners for furs. Another has many farming settlers seeking additional land. A third extracts resources through institutions that subjugate Native communities. Match the patterns to French/Dutch, British and Spanish colonization. Explain the link between each economic goal and its relationships; do not only name an empire.

Worked reasoning. French and Dutch fur exports relied on Native trading partners and diplomatic relationships. British agricultural settlement increased demand for land and contributed to displacement and conflict. Spanish resource extraction relied on institutions that controlled Native labour and society, alongside conversion and other goals. These are patterns with variation, not complete accounts of every colony.

Transfer — test a universal claim. A student says, "Only French and Dutch colonists made Native alliances; British settlers never did." Use the course evidence that all four empires allied with Native groups to explain why the claim fails. A British alliance does not erase land conflict, and a French trading alliance does not establish that French colonization was always peaceful. Identify the place, period and purpose before generalising.

Explore

Match each empire to what it came for

One variable — what the empire wanted — predicts the relationship it had with American Indians.

Vocabulary Train

English
subjugating/ˈsʌbdʒuːɡeɪtɪŋ/
trade alliances/treɪd əˈlaɪənsɪz/
fur/fɜː/
male and female migrants/meɪl ænd ˈfiːmeɪl ˈmaɪɡrənts/

2.3

The Regions of British Colonies

Syllabus

2.3 The Regions of British Colonies

Thematic Focus	Learning Objective	Historical Developments
GEO Geography and the Environment — Geographic and environmental factors, including competition over and debates about natural resources, shape the development of America and foster regional diversity. The development of America impacts the environment and reshapes geography, which leads to debates about environmental and geographic issues.	Unit 2.C Explain how and why environmental and other factors shaped the development and expansion of various British colonies that developed and expanded from 1607 to 1754.	KC-2.1.II.A The Chesapeake and North Carolina colonies grew prosperous exporting tobacco—a labor-intensive product initially cultivated by white, mostly male indentured servants and later by enslaved Africans. KC-2.1.II.B The New England colonies, initially settled by Puritans, developed around small towns with family farms and achieved a thriving mixed economy of agriculture and commerce. KC-2.1.II.C The middle colonies supported a flourishing export economy based on cereal crops and attracted a broad range of European migrants, leading to societies with greater cultural, ethnic, and religious diversity and tolerance. KC-2.1.II.D The colonies of the southern Atlantic coast and the British West Indies used long growing seasons to develop plantation economies based on exporting cash crops. They depended on the labor of enslaved Africans, who often constituted the majority of the population in these areas and developed their own forms of cultural and religious autonomy. KC-2.1.II.E Distance and Britain’s initially lax attention led to the colonies creating self-governing institutions that were unusually democratic for the era. The New England colonies based power in participatory town meetings, which in turn elected members to their colonial legislatures; in the southern colonies, elite planters exercised local authority and also dominated the elected assemblies.

Source: College Board AP Course and Exam Description

The four British colonial regions compared by geography, economy, labour system and society — Regional patterns: environment, markets, migration and law interacted; no single factor determined society

British North America was not one place. Four regions developed distinct societies.

The Chesapeake 切萨皮克 and North Carolina grew prosperous exporting tobacco 烟草, a labour-intensive crop. Labour came first from indentured servants 契约仆役 and increasingly from enslaved Africans.
The New England colonies, initially settled by Puritans 清教徒, developed around small towns with family farms 家庭农场, a mixed economy, and unusually high life expectancy.
The middle colonies supported a flourishing export economy based on cereal crops 谷物, and attracted the broadest range of European migrants, producing the most ethnically and religiously diverse 族群与宗教多元 region.
The colonies of the southern Atlantic coast and the British West Indies used long growing seasons for rice 稻米 and sugar 蔗糖, cash crops so labour-hungry that enslaved Africans became a majority of the population in places.

Try it — compare using evidence. Use the regional notes to compare the Chesapeake with New England. Name one economic difference, describe the labour patterns, then explain how the difference connects to production. Include a similarity: both regions took part in Atlantic commerce.

Worked comparison. The Chesapeake exported labour-intensive tobacco and increasingly relied on enslaved Africans after extensive use of indentured servants. New England combined family farming with fishing, shipping and commerce. Different production patterns helped shape different labour arrangements, while both regions participated in Atlantic markets. These are dominant patterns; they do not mean slavery was absent from New England or that all Chesapeake workers had the same status.

Transfer — qualify a causal claim. "Warm weather caused slavery, and geography determined society." Explain one relevant environmental influence and two other factors. Long growing seasons supported some plantation crops, but export demand, migration, colonists' coercive decisions and laws establishing racial and hereditary slavery also shaped labour systems. Climate did not require people to enslave others. All British colonies participated in slavery to varying degrees; say where slavery was more common, rather than claiming it was absent elsewhere.

One political feature was shared. Distance from London, and Britain's initially lax attention 松散管理, let the colonies create self-governing institutions 自治机构 - colonial assemblies that later shaped resistance to imperial control.

Vocabulary Train

English
Chesapeake/ˈtʃesəpiːk/
tobacco/təˈbækəʊ/
indentured servants/ˌɪnˈdentʃəd ˈsɜːvənts/
Puritans/ˈpjʊərɪtnz/
family farms/ˈfæmɪli fɑːmz/
cereal crops/ˈsɪərɪəl krɒps/
ethnically and religiously diverse/ˈeθnɪkli ænd rɪˈlɪdʒəsli daɪˈvɜːs/
rice/raɪs/
sugar/ˈʃʊɡə/
lax attention/læks əˈtenʃn/
self-governing institutions/self ˈɡʌvənɪŋ ˌɪnstɪˈtjuːʃnz/

2.4

Transatlantic Trade

Syllabus

2.4 Transatlantic Trade

Thematic Focus	Learning Objective	Historical Developments
WXT Work, Exchange, and Technology — The interplay between markets, private enterprise, labor, technology, and government policy shape the American economy. In turn, economic activity shapes society and government policy and drives technological innovation.	Unit 2.D Explain causes and effects of transatlantic trade over time.	KC-2.1.III.A An Atlantic economy developed in which goods, as well as enslaved Africans and American Indians, were exchanged between Europe, Africa, and the Americas through extensive trade networks. European colonial economies focused on acquiring, producing, and exporting commodities that were valued in Europe and gaining new sources of labor. KC-2.1.III.B Continuing trade with Europeans increased the flow of goods in and out of American Indian communities, stimulating cultural and economic changes and spreading epidemic diseases that caused radical demographic shifts. KC-2.2.I.C The British government increasingly attempted to incorporate its North American colonies into a coherent, hierarchical, and imperial structure in order to pursue mercantilist economic aims, but conflicts with colonists and American Indians led to erratic enforcement of imperial policies.

Source: College Board AP Course and Exam Description

An Atlantic economy 大西洋经济 developed in which goods - and enslaved Africans and American Indians - were exchanged around the ocean rim. Continuing trade increased the flow of goods in and out of American Indian communities, changing them too.

From the mid-seventeenth century, the British government tried to bring its colonies into a coherent imperial system, driven by mercantilism 重商主义 - the belief that colonies exist to enrich the mother country. The Navigation Acts 航海条例 required colonial trade to move in British ships through British ports.

Enforcement was loose for decades, a practice later called salutary neglect 有益的忽视. Colonists grew used to trading freely and governing themselves, which is exactly why tightening the rules after 1763 provoked such anger.

From mercantilism to the anger of the 1760s: the laws were old, the enforcement was new

Explore

Trace the road to the anger of the 1760s

The Navigation Acts were a century old by 1763. What changed was enforcement — and the anger is a reaction to the change.

Vocabulary Train

English
Atlantic economy/ətˈlæntɪk ɪˈkɒnəmi/
mercantilism/ˈmɜːkæntəlɪzəm/
Navigation Acts/ˌnævɪˈɡeɪʃn ækts/
salutary neglect/ˈsæluːtəri nɪˈɡlekt/

2.5

Interactions with American Indians

Syllabus

2.5 Interactions Between American Indians and Europeans

Thematic Focus	Learning Objective	Historical Developments
WOR America in the World — Diplomatic, economic, cultural, and military interactions between empires, nations, and peoples shape the development of America and America’s increasingly important role in the world.	Unit 2.E Explain how and why interactions between various European nations and American Indians changed over time.	KC-2.1.III.C Interactions between European rivals and American Indian populations fostered both accommodation and conflict. French, Dutch, British, and Spanish colonies allied with and armed American Indian groups, who frequently sought alliances with Europeans against other American Indian groups. KC-2.1.III.E British conflicts with American Indians over land, resources, and political boundaries led to military confrontations, such as Metacom’s War (King Philip’s War) in New England. KC-2.1.III.F American Indian resistance to Spanish colonizing efforts in North America, particularly after the Pueblo Revolt, led to Spanish accommodation of some aspects of American Indian culture in the Southwest.

Source: College Board AP Course and Exam Description

Contact produced both accommodation 调适 and conflict 冲突, and the balance differed by empire and region.

Where trade mattered most - New France, the Dutch fur trade - alliances and intermarriage were common. Where land mattered most, conflict followed. British expansion led to sustained military conflict 军事冲突 with American Indians over land, resources, and boundaries.

Resistance took organised forms. The Pueblo Revolt 普韦布洛起义 of 1680 drove the Spanish out of New Mexico for over a decade and forced lasting changes in Spanish policy - the clearest example in the course of native resistance succeeding.

Vocabulary Train

English
accommodation/əˌkɒməˈdeɪʃn/
conflict/ˈkɒnflɪkt/
military conflict/ˈmɪlɪtəri ˈkɒnflɪkt/
Pueblo Revolt/pˈwebləʊ rɪˈvəʊlt/

2.6

Slavery in the British Colonies

Syllabus

2.6 Slavery in the British Colonies

Thematic Focus	Learning Objective	Historical Developments
SOC Social Structures — Social categories, roles, and practices are created, maintained, challenged, and transformed throughout American history, shaping government policy, economic systems, culture, and the lives of citizens.	Unit 2.F Explain the causes and effects of slavery in the various British colonial regions.	KC-2.2.II.A All the British colonies participated to varying degrees in the Atlantic slave trade due to the abundance of land and a growing European demand for colonial goods, as well as a shortage of indentured servants. Small New England farms used relatively few enslaved laborers, all port cities held significant minorities of enslaved people, and the emerging plantation systems of the Chesapeake and the southern Atlantic coast had large numbers of enslaved workers, while the great majority of enslaved Africans were sent to the West Indies. KC-2.2.II.B As chattel slavery became the dominant labor system in many southern colonies, new laws created a strict racial system that prohibited interracial relationships and defined the descendants of African American mothers as black and enslaved in perpetuity.
	Unit 2.G Explain how enslaved people responded to slavery.	KC-2.2.II.C Africans developed both overt and covert means to resist the dehumanizing nature of slavery and maintain their family and gender systems, culture, and religion.

Source: College Board AP Course and Exam Description

All the British colonies participated in the Atlantic slave trade to varying degrees, because land was abundant and labour scarce.

As chattel slavery 动产奴隶制 became the dominant labour system in many southern colonies, colonial legislatures wrote new laws creating a strict racial system 严格的种族制度. Slavery became hereditary, lifelong, and defined by race - a legal structure, not merely a practice.

Enslaved Africans developed overt and covert means of resistance: escape and revolt, and also the maintenance of family ties, languages, religious practices, and skills. The exam expects both kinds; an answer that mentions only rebellion misses most of the evidence.

How slavery hardened into a legal racial system - and the two kinds of resistance to it

Vocabulary Train

English
chattel slavery/ˈtʃætl ˈsleɪvəri/
strict racial system/strɪkt ˈreɪʃl ˈsɪstəm/

2.7

Colonial Society and Culture

Syllabus

2.7 Colonial Society and Culture

Thematic Focus	Learning Objective	Historical Developments
NAT American and National Identity — The development of and debates about democracy, freedom, citizenship, diversity, and individualism shape American national identity, cultural values, and beliefs about American exceptionalism, and in turn, these ideas shape political institutions and society. Throughout American history, notions of national identity and culture have coexisted with varying degrees of regional and group identities.	Unit 2.H Explain how and why the movement of a variety of people and ideas across the Atlantic contributed to the development of American culture over time.	KC-2.2.I.A The presence of different European religious and ethnic groups contributed to a significant degree of pluralism and intellectual exchange, which were later enhanced by the first Great Awakening and the spread of European Enlightenment ideas. KC-2.2.I.B The British colonies experienced a gradual Anglicization over time, developing autonomous political communities based on English models with influence from intercolonial commercial ties, the emergence of a transatlantic print culture, and the spread of Protestant evangelicalism.
	Unit 2.I Explain how and why the different goals and interests of European leaders and colonists affected how they viewed themselves and their relationship with Britain.	KC-2.1.III.D The goals and interests of European leaders and colonists at times diverged, leading to a growing mistrust on both sides of the Atlantic. Colonists, especially in British North America, expressed dissatisfaction over issues including territorial settlements, frontier defense, self-rule, and trade. KC-2.2.I.D Colonists’ resistance to imperial control drew on local experiences of self-government, evolving ideas of liberty, the political thought of the Enlightenment, greater religious independence and diversity, and an ideology critical of perceived corruption in the imperial system.

Source: College Board AP Course and Exam Description

Two opposite processes ran at once.

Toward diversity: the presence of different European religious and ethnic groups produced a significant degree of pluralism 多元并存, most visibly in the middle colonies.

Toward similarity: the colonies experienced a gradual Anglicization 英国化, adopting British goods, print culture, legal norms, and political ideas even as they developed autonomous political communities.

Transatlantic exchange also brought the Enlightenment 启蒙运动 and, in the 1730s and 1740s, the religious revivals of the First Great Awakening 第一次大觉醒, which encouraged colonists to question established authority - religious first, political later.

The goals of European leaders and colonists increasingly diverged 分歧, and colonists' resistance to imperial control drew on local experience of self-government and evolving ideas about rights.

Vocabulary Train

English
pluralism/ˈplʊərəlɪzəm/
Anglicization/ˌæŋɡlɪsaɪˈzeɪʃn/
Enlightenment/enˈlaɪtənmənt/
First Great Awakening/fɜːst ɡreɪt əˈweɪkənɪŋ/
diverged/daɪˈvɜːdʒd/

2.8

Comparison in Period 2

Syllabus

2.8 Comparison in Period 2

Learning Objective	Review: Unit 2 Key Concepts
Unit 2.J Compare the effects of the development of colonial society in the various regions of North America.	KC-2.1 Europeans developed a variety of colonization and migration patterns, influenced by different imperial goals, cultures, and the varied North American environments where they settled. They competed with each other and American Indians for resources. KC-2.1.I Spanish, French, Dutch, and British colonizers had different economic and imperial goals involving land and labor that shaped the social and political development of their colonies as well as their relationships with native populations. KC-2.1.II In the 17th century, early British colonies developed along the Atlantic coast, with regional differences that reflected various environmental, economic, cultural, and demographic factors. KC-2.1.III Competition over resources between European rivals and American Indians encouraged industry and trade and led to conflict in the Americas. KC-2.2 The British colonies participated in political, social, cultural, and economic exchanges with Great Britain that encouraged both stronger bonds with Britain and resistance to Britain’s control. KC-2.2.I Transatlantic commercial, religious, philosophical, and political exchanges led residents of the British colonies to evolve in their political and cultural attitudes as they became increasingly tied to Britain and one another. KC-2.2.II Like other European empires in the Americas that participated in the Atlantic slave trade, the English colonies developed a system of slavery that reflected the specific economic, demographic, and geographic characteristics of those colonies.

Learning Objective

Review: Unit 2 Key Concepts

Unit 2.J
Compare the effects of the development of colonial society in the various regions of North America.

KC-2.1 Europeans developed a variety of colonization and migration patterns, influenced by different imperial goals, cultures, and the varied North American environments where they settled. They competed with each other and American Indians for resources.
- KC-2.1.I Spanish, French, Dutch, and British colonizers had different economic and imperial goals involving land and labor that shaped the social and political development of their colonies as well as their relationships with native populations.
- KC-2.1.II In the 17th century, early British colonies developed along the Atlantic coast, with regional differences that reflected various environmental, economic, cultural, and demographic factors.
- KC-2.1.III Competition over resources between European rivals and American Indians encouraged industry and trade and led to conflict in the Americas.
KC-2.2 The British colonies participated in political, social, cultural, and economic exchanges with Great Britain that encouraged both stronger bonds with Britain and resistance to Britain’s control.
- KC-2.2.I Transatlantic commercial, religious, philosophical, and political exchanges led residents of the British colonies to evolve in their political and cultural attitudes as they became increasingly tied to Britain and one another.
- KC-2.2.II Like other European empires in the Americas that participated in the Atlantic slave trade, the English colonies developed a system of slavery that reflected the specific economic, demographic, and geographic characteristics of those colonies.

Source: College Board AP Course and Exam Description

The unit ends with comparison 比较, the reasoning skill this period is built to teach: the regions differ enough that almost any claim about "the colonies" needs qualifying.

Worked example (a real AP exam question). The 2025 exam asked, as part A of a short-answer question, "Briefly describe one political development in British North America from 1607 to 1753." A teacher-written response consistent with the official 2025 Set 1 Question 3(A) scheme describes a development and its relevant characteristics: "Colonial assemblies such as the Virginia House of Burgesses developed powers over taxation and spending, which gave colonists practical experience of representative self-government before 1754." Notice the shape: Briefly describe requires relevant characteristics, more than an isolated term. This model describes what assemblies did; a name alone is insufficient. Marks are lost here by writing too much about the wrong thing, or by staying vague ("colonies became more independent").

Vocabulary Train

English
comparison/kəmˈpærɪsn/

2.8

Worked example: a short-answer question

Each part needs only one or two sentences: answer the question, cite one specific piece of evidence, and explain how it supports the answer.

Answer (a), (b) and (c).

(a) Briefly describe ONE difference between the Chesapeake and New England colonies in the 1600s.

(b) Briefly explain ONE reason for the growth of slavery in the Chesapeake in the late 1600s.

(c) Briefly explain ONE effect of the Great Awakening on colonial society.

Model answer.

(a) Chesapeake colonies grew tobacco for export on dispersed plantations, while New England was settled by Puritan families in tight towns organised around churches and mixed farming.
(b) After Bacon's Rebellion (1676) showed the danger of a large class of poor, armed former servants, planters turned increasingly to enslaved Africans instead of indentured servants.
(c) Revivalist preachers encouraged ordinary people to judge religious authority for themselves, which weakened established churches and encouraged a habit of questioning authority.

2.8

Exam tips

Explain regional differences through interacting factors: environment, export demand, migration, labour choices and law. Geography alone did not determine society.
Never treat "the colonies" as one place. A comparison question wants New England against the Chesapeake, with evidence from each.
Mercantilism is the theory, the Navigation Acts are the policy, and salutary neglect is the lax enforcement that made later enforcement feel like tyranny.
For slavery, give both overt and covert resistance; and note that slave codes made slavery racial and hereditary, which is the change being tested.
The Pueblo Revolt is the go-to example of successful native resistance; British-Indian conflict is the go-to contrast with French trade alliances.
Match your answer to the task verb. Briefly describe takes one or two accurate sentences, while Evaluate the extent needs a thesis that takes a position.

Grounding. CED Topics 2.2, 2.3, 2.5 and 2.6 support these comparisons and qualifications. The exam-linked response is checked against the official 2025 Set 1 Question 3(A) paper and scheme (local paper PDF5, scheme PDF6); it is a teacher-written model, not an official sample.

Vocabulary card meanings

subjugating: Bringing a people under another power's control. trade alliances: Partnerships built around exchanging goods, especially furs. fur: Animal pelts that were a major export from North America. male and female migrants: Colonists who arrived as both men and women, affecting family settlement. Chesapeake: The bay region of Virginia and Maryland, centred on tobacco. tobacco: The cash crop that anchored the early Chesapeake economy. indentured servants: People who worked for a term of years in exchange for passage. Puritans: English Protestants who founded New England communities with strict religious aims. family farms: Small holdings worked by a household, typical of New England. cereal crops: Grains such as wheat grown for sale in the middle colonies. ethnically and religiously diverse: Containing many peoples and faiths, as in the middle colonies. rice: A grain grown on coastal plantations in the Lower South. sugar: The sweet substance made from cane on Caribbean plantations that used enslaved labour. lax attention: Loose imperial supervision of the colonies for long periods. self-governing institutions: Colonial assemblies that made local laws and raised taxes. Atlantic economy: The linked trade in goods and enslaved people around the ocean. Navigation Acts: English laws that channelled colonial trade through English ships and ports. salutary neglect: Britain's loose enforcement of trade laws while it still benefited. military conflict: Wars among empires and with Indigenous nations in North America. strict racial system: Laws and customs that fixed status by race, especially around slavery. pluralism: The presence of many religious or ethnic groups side by side. First Great Awakening: A wave of emotional Protestant revival in the colonies in the 1730s and 1740s. diverged: Grew apart, as colonial and British interests did.