Settlements of the British
Many factors led to the diversity found in the British settlements in America. More than simply for religious freedom, economics played a large role in the settlement of various geographic regions in North America. Like the Spanish and the French however, the first successful English settlement Jamestown, was dependent on the trade of tobacco back to England for its success. The differences in the settlers' reason for moving to the colonies can be explained by where they decided to settle. The first colonies were built in areas that the colonists thought would best support new towns, and where the Indians happened to be helpful enough to assist the newly formed towns in survival. "Both in climate and in geography, the northern coast of North America was far different from the Chesapeake."(63) The south was a much more favorable region to plant and grow crops, for the land in the north would not grow plants such as tobacco. It was in this line of reasoning that those who came to North America came not in search of trade and riches, but in search of religious freedom. "It became a haven for Protestant dissenters from England, who gave the colonies of the North a distinctive character."(63) Conversely, those in the south planted ca
In 1629 many Puritans left England to form "a city on a hill" in New England. Backed by the Massachusetts Bay Company, a force of 200 settlers left for a fishing settlement on Massachusetts Bay they named Salem. Soon however (1643), New England was filled with 20,000 people and had spread seventy-five miles west into the Connecticut River Valley. Using a loophole in their charter, Puritan leaders "transferred company operations to America in 1629, and within a few years they had transformed the company into a civil government."(65) The motivation for religious freedom eventually shifted to a "religious expansion" in which the settlers wished to rapidly expand their territory by taking advantage of the Indians "unused" lands. Soon the colonists were forcing their religion on nearby Indian tribes and were even punishing them for working on the Sabbath. Many of the coastal Algonquians eventually surrendered themselves and were placed under English control. Because the Puritans believed that they earned their place in heaven, they were very hardworking. With very few servants, much pressure was placed on the children. New England promised to be a safe haven for all those wishing to escape religious persecution and although it fell far short of its promise, religion not money was its motivation. This motivation influenced the social aspects of the North well into the future. It was the North that was the first to speak out against slavery, except of course for the slaves themselves. In the Chesapeake areas it was the lust for wealth and the use of tobacco to attain this goal that allowed slavery to thrive in the area. Because the economy depended on slavery, slave owners were not about to give up their means of production without a fight. The politics, economy, and social system all revolved around slavery in the South and it was this motivation for money that kept slavery in practice for as long as it was. The more religious North, while somewhat reliant on slaves, did not have roots in slavery and therefor was willing to give
Some common words found in the essay are:
Africa Indians, Valley Using, North American, South Carolina, Massachusetts Bay, Spanish French, England Chesapeake, North America, Puritan Commonwealth, , north america, massachusetts bay, south carolina, religious freedom, seventeenth eighteenth centuries, north american, financial success, south slavery, newly formed, england colonies, factors led diversity, slavery slave,
Approximate Word count = 1374
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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