Why Do We Choose To Move To America?

Besides English settlers there were numerous other representatives of the European countries settling in the new land. And as the Puritans came to practice their own believes so did other nationalities, as explained in the study material. In my own interpretation America represents change and the believe system as well as the way religion was previously practiced was now changing. This change was greatly influenced by the intellectual movement called Enlightenment, which started in Europe and this influence had bearing on the Great Awakening. Besides Puritans now there were Catholics in Maryland, Quakers in Pennsylvania and the Episcopal Church in the southern states.

Back in the 17th century Europeans were traveling to the New World for many reasons, such maybe for profit, like planting tobacco, those would be the colonist who would settle in Virginia. The people of the Plymouth Plantation came to the colonies, because of their children losing touch with their British roots while living in Holland. “ We were all ignorant, and supposing to make our passage in two months, with victual to live. ”(Smith 3) Everyone who travelled to the New World faced hardships that were very hard to endure, but it was “God’s will”.

Being the first two well-known places in which the English would set out to colonize in 1607 and 1620, Jamestown, Virginia and Plymouth, Massachusetts hold very separate set of beliefs, standards, and outlooks on life then and the future to come. While paving the way for things such as slavery, taxes, ownership of land, inclusion of women, tobacco and government assemblies, John Smith and the people of Jamestown became a classical foundation for new life and economic growth for the new world that is, the United States. On the other hand, William Bradford and his people began to realize the intentions of the Church of England were unholy and had strayed away from God’s teachings from the Bible. With this in mind, the Pilgrims set on a voyage to the new world to seek religious freedom. As we know it, the Pilgrims sought for peace and a new way of living that was fair, just and free from religious corruptions.

In New England, religion played a huge part in there colonies, settlers in Massachusetts

Americans have frequently prided themselves on their rich arranged qualities. No spot was that different qualities a greater number of clear in pre-Revolutionary America than in the Middle Colonies Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. European ethnic social affairs as unpredictable as English, Swedes, Dutch, Germans, Scots-Irish and French lived in closer closeness than in any territory on terrain Europe. The inside territories contained Native American tribes of Algonkian and Iroquois tongue groups and likewise a sizable rate of African slaves in the midst of the early years. Not in the slightest degree like insistently Puritan New England, the middle states showed an accumulation of religions.

They may have had to follow the laws of The Church of England. The protection of Religious Freedom may have changed the opinion of a colonist who was neutral in the debate for freedom from Britain to leaning towards the side of

Although all the colonists all came from England, the community development, purpose, and societal make-up caused a distinct difference between two distinct societies in New England and the Chesapeake region. The distinctions were obvious, whether it be the volume of religious drive, the need or lack of community, families versus single settlers, the decision on minimal wage, whether or not articles of agreements were drawn for and titles as well as other social matters were drawn, as well as where loyalties lay in leaders. New England was, overall, more religious than the Chesapeake region. Settlers in New England were searching relief for religious persecution in Europe. Puritans, Quakers, and Catholics were coming in droves to America searching for an opportunity to have religious freedom.

Furthermore, the New World was rapidly overpopulating, forcing the Europeans to migrate west of the region. In the book, Amy Greenberg states that the ideology of western expansion began when Puritans, upon arriving in the New World, “They envisioned their experimental settlement as a ‘citty upon a hill,’ a beacon of light for less blessed people elsewhere that would prove superiority not only of Protestantism over Catholicism but also of strict Puritans over less rigorous practices of Protestanism. ”1 In the 18th century, many settlers believed in a God established community. In addition, settlers believed that the New World was the place to establish a Christian nation and expand throughout the vast region.

The textbook also fails to mention how the harsh press of Christianity made the Natives feel when in reality the indians were rightly angered. Presenting Christianity in an angering manner would be deemed “offensive”. The reader can interpret that the textbook believes that the only proper religion is Christianity, and that the actions the British and the colonists enacted were

Also, the middle colonies religious tolerance most likely persuaded some immigrants fleeing Europe due to possible droughts, landlord

“Colonists settled British North America for different reasons. Some came for profits; others came for religious freedom.”

The colonists wanted religious freedom. One reason they originally left England was to escape the Catholic Church. Some called themselves Puritans. They wanted the church and the state to be more separate.

Religion played a great role in the establishment of the English colonies. The main reason the English traveled to North America was to escape religious persecution. Once the English settled in they created colonies, and established rules for a religious society. They would also try to convert Natives into Christianity, and they established universities to practice ministry. Once the English settlers got to North America, the House of Burgesses in 1619 said they would try to convert Native children specifically boys into a “ true religion”, then eventually teach them how teach them how to be Christian civil people.

New England’s founders were strict Puritans who did not have much tolerance for any religion except their own. Over time, as more and more immigrants came with increasingly diverse beliefs, the once stable foundation began to crack. Conflicts broke out and certain religious groups were banished which led to the development of other nearby colonies, for example Rhode Island and Connecticut. In the Chesapeake region, it was easier and there was not as much controversy over religion. The area started out as a refuge for Catholics, but over time many Protestants immigrated there and soon became the majority.

The arrival of the first Europeans in the Americas is dramatically captured through the many writers who attempted to communicate what they saw, experienced and felt. What is more, the very purposes of their treacherous travel and colonization are clearly seen in their writings; whether it is poetry, history or sermons. Of the many literary pieces available today, William Bradford and John Winthrop’s writings, even though vary because the first is a historical account and the second is a sermon, stand out as presenting a clear trust in God, the rules that would govern them and the reason they have arrived in the Americas. First of all, William Bradford provides an in-depth look into the first moment when the Puritans arrived in the Americas. In fact, he chronicles the hardships they face on their way to Plymouth, yet he includes God’s provision every step of the way.