The Baptism of Early Virginia: How Christianity Created Race

A Note on Terminology

xiii a note on terminology In the initial chapters of this book I often refer to English settlers, but later I refer to the English inhabitants of Virginia as Anglo-Virginians. The change in wording indicates that, after the initial decades of settlement , white Virginians created a creole culture, with noticeable differences from English culture, especially as regards religion and race. I refer to native people generically as Indians, but where appropriate I refer to the proper names of specific groups, villages, and individuals. Likewise, I have tried to refer to people of African descent at various points as African or African American, depending on whether I know where they were born. I have endeavored to preserve the flavor of seventeenth-century spelling and grammar, but I have modernized words where the meaning would otherwise be unclear. I have also written out abbreviations and superscripts and placed punctuation where the meaning might otherwise be unclear. Great Britain did not adopt the Gregorian calendar until 1752; prior to that year, the new year began on 25 March in accordance with the Julian calendar. Therefore I have rendered dates between 1 January and 25 March in this form: 24 February 1624/25. This page intentionally left blank the baptism of early virginia This page intentionally left blank ...