The Influence Of The Puritans In America

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Throughout the history of mankind, numerous events such as the Crusades, have occurred in the name of religion and religious freedom. Sadly, motivation for the early settlers coming to America wasn’t strictly about finding religious freedom. It was actually deeply rooted in the desire for economic growth and new trade opportunities. The New world presented itself as an opportunity for many to gain higher social economic status and growth in their business ventures. A number of known historical facts, including: hunger for new trade, poverty of many English inhabitants, and the rivalry between Spain and England, contributed and fostered the foundation and settling of the American Colonies. Although at first glance the arrival of the Puritans in America seemed solely for religious freedom, it actually was deeply embedded in economic trading opportunities. In 1629, the English crown authorized the colonization of a large area of New England by the Massachusetts Bay Company, which was a joint stock trading company. The company was taken over by a group of wealthy Puritans, and they successfully established the Massachusetts Bay Colony under the leadership of John Winthrop in the New World. The The Treaty of London (1604) ended the war between England and Spain and secured Spain’s position as a leading power in the world. Although the war was over, there were still plenty of tensions between the two countries. There is no hiding the fact, that the rivalry between England and Spain in the 1500s and 1600s assisted in spurring the colonization of the New World in completion of new land, wealth and power. Military bases for warring against Spain could also be created in the New World and encouraged England’s colonization as well. Without doubt, the war with Spain and the rivalry created afterwards, was a major stimulation in building new colonies in

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