American Colonization

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Recommended: Religion in colonial America

Today, many people see America to be the land of opportunity and wealth. During the beginnings of the New World, this fact was relevant to the Europeans as well. The growing powers competed for land in America in order to become the omnipotent country of Europe. However, because America was overseas from Europe and direct supervision by the monarch was not possible, the land of opportunity was restricted to the European countries. Eventually, as history shows, all of the European powers who colonized in the Americas lose their control, thus leading to independent countries. From the 1400s to the 1600s, European countries set up American colonies in the North and South colonial regions, with principles of economic opportunity and religious toleration for the benefit of the motherland, to the extent of the desires and decisions of the immigrants of America.

During the 1400s, England did not tolerate any church beside the Anglican church. Catholics were persecuted and did not have religious freedom. "King Henry VIII split with the Roman Catholic Church over a question of his divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Though his religious position was not at all Protestant, the resultant schism ultimately led to England distancing itself almost entirely from Rome." Many people moved out of their comfortable homes in England to start a new life in the New World with religious freedom. "Anne Hutchnison left her comfortable home in England, with her husband and children, to settle in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony in search for religious freedom for all peoples." However, Religious toleration was still limited and controlled by the people living in the New World. Although they arrived with hopes of religious freedom, full religiou...

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... 1608." The General Historie of Virginia, New England & The Summer Isles. Online Edition. Volume 01. James MacLehose and Sons. 1907. 158-59. Many Pasts. History Matters. 31 August 2006

This excerpt shows the experience of John Smith in the New World and his perception of the colonies and their opportunities and gains. This primary source is significant in the embodiment of the ideals of economic opportunity and religious toleration.

Wright, Louis B. and Elaine W. Fowler. West and By North: North America Seen Through the Eyes of Its Seafaring Discoveries. New York: Delacorte Press, 1971.

This primary source has many different excerpts from voyagers and colonizers of North America. "West and By North" brings together the firsthand accounts of early explorers, depicting in their own words their dangers, their adventures and their expectations of the New World.

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