Blog #38 – Main reason behind colonization of the New World?
Throughout the early history of colonial America, there were a number of reasons why Europeans settled in the New World. Going back to the Spanish era (1492-1606), the Spanish explorers/conquistadors came looking for quicker routes to Asia (because the Portuguese found a way to get around the windy coast of Africa). When the Spanish didn’t find that route, they extracted as much gold and silver from the New World as they could.
The first successful English settlement was at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607, and these English dandies were there to make money, hoping to hit the same jackpot that the Spanish had rung up a century earlier. Eventually, they made money from tobacco cultivation.
Other English settlers, namely the Separatists, Puritans, Quakers, and Catholics, came to worship God in their own way. They didn’t always agree and weren’t always tolerant of each other, but it was better than living under persecution in the Old World.
English settlers from Barbados left the horrible climate of the Caribbean Islands with their slaves and settled in the Carolinas. The slaves were used in the very labor-intensive rice cultivation.
Later, Georgia was set up by a wealthy group of beneficiaries as an experiment – a debtor’s colony, where land ownership was initially restricted to 50 acres, and slavery and alcohol were banned.
The Dutch also came, founding a cosmopolitan city now known as New York. They were conquered by the English who feared that New Amsterdam would form a wedge in between the two sets of English colonies in the north and south.
Question: Considering the different reasons that the Europeans came here (listed above), what do you think is the main reason why they would risk life and limb to come this wilderness? Or do you think there’s more than one reason? Why?
Use information from the packet as well when you explain your rationale.
250 words minimum for your response. Due August 30th.
There can’t really be any main reason for why the colonists risked their lives to go to live in the New World. Everyone had different reasons which made the first colonies so diverse from one another. At first however, colonists were in it for the promises of money and land. The Jamestown colonists were hoping to hit gold and bring in the riches like the Spanish had before them. Soon, they found out they could make a considerable profit from cultivating tobacco. As more people heard of the opportunities the New World presented, the more people who decided to leave the Old World. The promises of land by the headright system at first offered a way to escape religious turmoil, to start anew, and just to have the promise of land and that you were going to a better place altogether. Later, as new settlers started to arrive in the masses, there were specific religious groups who wanted a better place to worship and not fear religious intolerance. These religious groups, the Separatists, Puritans, and the Quakers made a large impact in the New World. They may have not been very tolerant of each other, but they knew that they had a place to go. Some colonists even came from the Caribbean moving to the Carolinas to start plantations, bringing along slaves. All in all, the reasons for people to move and risk their lives to live in the New World were various. People were drawn to the opportunities that were presented. The reasons were for adventure, money, land, religious tolerance, and altogether for the pursuit of happiness.
Kelsey N.
Coming to the colonies was an extremely risky decision. Many who came didn’t know what to expect when they got off of the long, treacherous boat ride. Many didn’t even make it through the treacherous journey to set foot on the glorious land that they had been told of. But each and every person who made the decision to come to the colonies thought that the risk was worth the reward. The specific reward was slightly different for each person, but they all had the same goal in mind: they were unsettled with their current living situation and were looking for a better life. A start to a better life for many meant having more money. For example, the early Spanish conquistadors in the 1400s came looking for gold. Also looking to strike it rich were the first investors in the Jamestown colony. The way they saw it, their life would be better if they could find more money. For some, like the puritans, Quakers, Catholics, and separatists, their life would be better if they could find a place where they were free to practice their religion openly, and they saw the colonies as that perfect place. For others, like the people who traveled from England to the Virginia colony when the Virginia Company had adopted the Headright system in the early 1600s, the new world would offer them an opportunity for a better life because they could afford to buy more land than they ever could have imagined buying if they had stayed in England. So, though each person was seeking a slightly different thing in the world, they all had come for the same reason: they wanted a better life for themselves and for their children.
I don’t think that there was one main reason that the Europeans came to America. A lot of them risked their lives to come to the New World because they wanted to start anew and they pictured a perfect society without flaws and other problems from the old world. Many Europeans came over because of religion. They didn’t want to be forced into either believing something or facing harsh punishments or death. Others were searching for Gold just like the Spanish had found. Some Europeans were brought over to the Caribbean to work, but then left again to find new places and jobs because of the harsh conditions there. No matter what the reasoning was, they all came to America in hope of a better life. They chose to risk their lives in order to make it better. The Europeans who went to Jamestown had hopes of finding gold and becoming wealthy. Settlers who left out of fear or because of religion being forced upon them, came to feel safe and to have the freedom to believe what they felt was right. Some just left to experience better living conditions in general. Every person had a different reason for leaving their home, and they clearly wanted it bad enough to risk their life. I think what really lead the colonists to America was hope and thoughts of freedom that would greatly improve/change their lives.
I think that the Europeans came to America for one reason, wealth. People risk everything every day for a chance to be wealthy, so not much makes people different today from people in the 1600’s. A great example of that is how people take a majority of their check and go betting on things and bet it all because they think they have a chance of winning. So if you think about it, sailing to America was like there lottery or big risk big reward. Europeans had hopes of finding gold like the Spanish and, there was also a lot of land to be used for growing tobacco and cotton fields. Because the old world had so many people and the economy was bad being able to afford and find land was probably very difficult whereas in America there was lots of land and it was probably easier to get a hold of. I also believe that when you have lots of money you can buy your freedom. A perfect example of that are current elections, now politicians create commercials to hype up people to vote for them but when they get the vote and get into office they do what they want. In the old world kings and queens didn’t have to run for political office they just inherited it through birth rite or because a secret plot was laid to overthrow the reigning king or queen. They usually had the most money and they made all the rules like King Henry VII, he changed the religion so that it suited him and I’m sure the people in his court had the most money in the country and aided him in his decision. And, I think that’s the reason why people tried to go to the new world, it was easier to become wealthy and get into a position where they could control major issue or buy the freedoms they wanted.
I believe that the English decided to settle in the New World because of the promise it held, and the unknown potential of it being a place to grow in wealth and religion. Few English recordings had been written down about of this foreign land before they got here and therefore, it was a place where anything could happen for the English settlers. They hoped and may have even prayed that this would be an opportunity to start afresh. Whether it be freedom to practice their desired religion when and where they pleased, or perhaps to find economic prosperity in the un-cleared forests, the unknown factor that the New World possessed, enticed the unassuming English. When the first settlers came to the far-off land, they had absolutely no idea what type of people (if any) they would meet, what animals they would see, and what elements they would encounter. However, to the English, the New World whispered opportunity more than promise, that the raw land could be a haven, home, and economic firestorm if one was willing to establish it. I believe that the first English settlers were risk takers/gamblers, people who needed a break and went for the first opportunity they saw. Ironically, this “dare devil” sprit is still greatly engrained in American culture and can be witnessed in the finding of natural oil deposits in the Gulf of Mexico and innovative inventions like the Cotton Gin. Just as the English settlers did, we Americans today see, our country as an open book ready to write any story we desire.
I personally believe there were several main reasons that the Europeans traveled to settle within the new world. I believe different religious groups may have come looking for new ways of worship, while other families and workers came for jobs and to earn more profits and simply live an easier life.
The Europeans who came to America believed that there were many opportunities to make a larger income there. Another reason I think that the Europeans came to America along with the search for wealth, was the use of slaves in tobacco and cotton plantations. Slaves helped their owners without breaking their bank because they worked for free and did not need too much money to take care of and use for labor. People, who came here, believed that America was a new world and a chance to start a new life. This also included the possibility to become wealthy. The Europeans also came to America for religious freedom because in England, they were prevented from being a protestant or a puritan. Other branches of Christianity other than Catholicism were also not allowed. The Maryland Colony was established for religious freedom. After observing the opportunities that Maryland opened up, other colonies also followed suit and gave people religious freedom. Colonists of different faiths including Lutherans, Protestants, Calvinists and Deists came to the colonies in seek of the newly found religious privileges. They went to America for religious independence, because they were persecuted by the Catholics in Europe. As a result, America became a very diverse New World with many different religions and nationalities living together in the same country. The search for religious justice might have been the start of America’s diversity. So to conclude, I believe that there were two main reasons for Europeans colonizing the American settlements including a larger income and new religious privileges.
There were many reasons why people came to America. From religious persecution to political asylum, thousands of people migrated to the New World. Historians have dabbled over the most most important reason why they flocked to the New World, when it sits right in front of them. When we first learn about our government, we learn that everybody is free to speak as they want and try their best to succeed in life. Not just freedom, but the idea of being able to live life free from fear. Even when political and religious tolerance wasn’t guaranteed, they still came because our ideals were better than were they were. Even we had to fight for our freedom, which we eventually won through our perseverance. That is why people came to America, but also why they still come today. Hopefully our fundamentals of freedom and equality that our forefathers created will live on for another 236 years.
My thoughts on the reasons behind the colonization of the New World are varying. I think settlers from different origins began colonizing the New World so their countries would grow more prosperous, as the initial reason. But as time went on, people began settling there for other reasons: some to begin a new life, some to escape debt, to gain land, etc.
I feel, in a way, that as soon as citizens were given the option to settle somewhere else, they began seeing the faults in their countries and thought they would have a better life elsewhere. As soon as the first citizens began searching for riches, land, and new beginnings in the New World, others saw the wealth they gained and wanted to go, too.
Then different ideas began to creep into their minds. Why just go for the wealth? They envisioned many other possibilities. I think after a while they all wanted to start anew, and each create their version of a perfect world.
Some wanted a religious haven where they could practice their own religious beliefs and in time, perhaps convert others to their religion, because their religions were not accepted at their previous locations. Some citizens had ideas of creating colonies for war, so they could later on become battlefields against other countries.
They all thought they could create a colony that would be grander, wealthier, and happier than other colonies, more so than they were in their own countries.
But the problem was that every individual had different ideas on what society and religion should be like. So, as colonists settled in an area under the authority of someone else, they would get restless as laws restricted them on rights and such things they felt they should have. So, in their resentment, some decided to march off into the wilderness in the endless search of a better life, and while doing so, ended up creating a new colony. But as always, with every colony, people disagree and revolts occur sometimes, and once again, another group of people set off to colonize another territory, creating a cycle.
Another reason people settled in the New World is because of competition between countries, as well as the greed for land and gold as mentioned before. As England went on colonizing the New World and eating up all of the land, clearing it for either crops or the raising of domesticated animals, other countries realized what they were missing out on. Of course, they didn’t want to be bested by another country, because in the case of a war, having more land is an advantage. Also, acquiring new types of land could mean new crops and more trading, leading to more wealth in their country.
So then those other countries began colonizing different areas, while the English continued to colonize as well. No one seemed to care that many of their citizens were walking into a death trap, into unknown territories, wilderness, disease, and native societies that could be threatened by intruders. They were too busy imagining the piles of gold and riches they would sit upon once they found wealth in the New World.
As each country colonized another land, the other countries would try to conquer more land than the other, colonizing more and more territories, though that was mostly from orders of the kings and royalty of those countries.
In conclusion, the main reason all new colonists at first wanted to create a colony in the New World began out of the idea of the wealth it would bring, but later on that idea spread out and it became more than wealth. It became a new and better life. Soon, they imagined a perfect world, one with seemingly endless possibilities, land, religious beliefs, and freedom.
I believe that the main reasons that the Europeans risked life and limb to colonize the New World were the economic opportunities that the New World brought and the possibility of a new, better life.
The Spanish and the English came to the New World for the purpose of economic prosperity. Although the Spanish originally discovered the New World while searching for a quicker route to Asia, they soon focused on the New World after discovering the wealth that laid in the natural resources there. This meant that even though the first Spanish settlers came to the New World in order to find a passage to Asia, the vast majority of Spanish settlers came to the New World in order to extract gold and silver from the New World. The majority of the Spanish settlers risked life and limb to come to the New World in order to extract natural resources such as gold and silver. After hearing of the success of the Spanish in the New World, the British decided to come to the New World with the hopes of making a fortune. Clearly, both the Spanish and the British came to the New World looking for business opportunities.
Additionally, many of the British settlers and the Dutch came to the New World hoping to start a new, better life. In Britain, Separatists, Puritans, Quakers, and Catholics were often imprisoned or even executed for their religious beliefs. Because they did not have religious freedom in Britain, these groups moved around searching for a place where they could practice their religion in peace. However, there were no suitable places in Europe for these groups, so their only hope for religious freedom was to go to the New World and create their own community. Many of the Dutch settlers came to the New World in order to start a new life where they hoped their children would have a better life. The Dutch and many of the British settlers came to the New World in order to escape their past lives and start afresh.
There is no way to cover all the reasons that the Europeans had to risk so much in order to colonize the New World, but the majority of the European settlers came to the New World either to start a new life or to take advantage of the number of business opportunities that the discovery of the New World opened.
There are many different specific reasons people came to America, overall though they came for a chance for personal gain. Sometimes that personal gain was wealth or sometimes religious freedom. But we can all say that Europeans came for themselves, they came to America, a place where they believe lie opportunities to prosper, a new world free from religious prosecution. America in the Europeans eyes had become a place that they could make their own, no boundaries, nothing to hold them back from success. It was their own to make of.
However as we know America’s colonization didn’t come easily. At first it was rough for settlers and death came to them without hesitation to kill their chances of ever making the life they wanted for themselves. And at this time I don’t believe the settlers knew what they were getting themselves into, they didn’t know their chances of living or dying, they knew almost nothing. But that is the chance they took and you have to wonder why did these first settlers take these chances? Well the first settlers took the chance for the money; they came to make a profit. One of the first colonies in America, and the first English colony was Jamestown. And Jamestown was established by the Virginia Company of London, the establishment of Jamestown was a business venture. It was wealthy men wanting to make more money, which is why they came to America for the opportunity of greater wealth. They wanted to strike it rich like they heard the Spanish had.
Even though the first attempts to settle were not completely successful, eventually it became so for some. Colonists became to harvest tobacco, then soon the slaves started coming in. At this time opportunities grew and more settlers come pouring in each taking the risk for their own personal reason, whether it is wealth, freedom, independence, whatever you name it. They came and took whatever risk they believe they were facing, they took the chance because they believed America could be their own, and give them what they wanted, what they were looking for.
Different people are different people—their choices reflect that. However, there is a general pattern in the choices that led many people to colonize in the New World. When each group of people saw opportunity in traveling to a new place, where advantages outweighed disadvantages, of course they would leave everything they knew and set out for some sort of profit. It was likely fairly easy for more powerful individuals to colonize, because they would have a chance to come back if they needed to. John White and various other leaders, for example, did exactly this. Those in poverty with nowhere else to go also chose to leave for the New World. In England, the Enclosure Movement left many people out of work so others could profit from wool, and meanwhile population skyrocketed, leaving a surplus of the poverty-ridden. Persecuted religious settlers also found that they would rather be free of said persecution than at home—though some went elsewhere in Europe, most wanted a closer community that, they realized, they could create themselves on new soil. Wealth, which drove mercantilism in Europe, was constantly a factor of colonization because there were so many underutilized resources that ambitious Europeans would want to monopolize. Some even just wanted an adventure. Regardless of the specific desire or need, these people all found an opportunity and seized it. The New World was an idea, rather than a place, to many Europeans. It represented possibilities that were new, exciting, and could make their lives better—in other words, opportunities.
In the words of political consultant Jimmy Carville, “It’s the economy, stupid!”
Europeans risked their lives to come to America for the alluring opportunity of a more prosperous future for their progeny in a land brimming with economic opportunity. They dreamed of better lives in the New World, new communities in which they could exercise their freedoms of religion and speech without the threat of government censorship or persecution by the masses, a libertarian philosophy that forms the bedrock of America’s cultural atmosphere today. They came here to start anew. For instance, the English settlers immigrated to America in hopes of land for them to plant their crops and sell to make profit. They soon created Jamestown, where they sold Tobacco and made lots of money. Convicts and the poor, people willing to work for whatever they could get, relocated to America on a gamble; many believed that life in America could not possibly be as bad as life in England had been. Contrary to popular belief, the idea that there was something monetary to be gained by moving to America was a greater motivating factor than the pursuit of religious freedom, and I believe that the vast majority of immigrants to America came here with economic reasoning as the primary consideration for their decision.
I do not think anyone will ever be able to pinpoint the exact reasoning behind the colonization of the New World. I also do not think the colonists themselves had any real idea of why they were coming to this foreign land. However, the settlers trusted that God would provide for them, and that he would give them whatever they needed. When they got here, they didn’t have anything. They had to have faith that they would be provided with the tools that they needed to succeed in this new place. The English people prayed for a perfect society in which there was religious tolerance, economic opportunities, and poverty was nonexistent. However, God did not give them exactly what they wanted, and when they realized that this dream of perfection could not be attained, they had to evolve and adapt. The settlers had to think of ways to make money, to practice their faith, and to get along with the native people. It took a lot of trial and error, but eventually they figured out a system that worked for them. Throughout history, the ability for humans to adapt to the situations around them is what has perpetuated the human race. The Spanish came to America in 1492 looking for a quicker trade route around Asia, but they didn’t find it. They adapted though, and instead of finding the route they took as much gold and silver as possible from the New World. When the first settlers came to Jamestown, they hoped get rich just like the Spanish. They had faith in God that he would provide, and eventually they made a great living off of tobacco. Sometimes in life, having blind faith proves to have better results than searching for perfection. The colonists had faith in God, and although they did not quite know what know how they were going to end up, they trusted that they would be provided for. As it turns out, their faith prevailed and the settlers were successful in the New World.
I don’t think there is one main reason why so many Europeans came to America, but there are several contributing key factors. For instance, the New World offered a new beginning, where convicts, the poor, and the religiously prosecuted could go to escape the problems of the old world. America was a place people believed that they could start over and form a Utopia, the perfect society which lacks any flaws from the previous countries. The New World was also where promoters looked for gold and silver, when it wasn’t found; they looked at tobacco, a crop which could bring great profit. There were other reasons that the New World looked so prosperous such as resources that previously they had to buy from other countries, and if they had a supply of their own, would increase their economy under the principles of mercantilism. There were political reasons as well such as ridding their countries of undesireables, religious prosecution, and much of the poor. It was very ambitious of these Europeans to go to a place they knew nothing about, but they were given so much land that it was a hard proposition to resist. So there were many reasons why Europeans left their homes in order to go to the New World but mainly that they were looking for wealth, trying to restart their lives, or to escape religious prosecution. So there was not just one reason for the trip many Europeans made to the New World, but there were important ones such as economy and freedom.
When the Europeans first came to America, I think there were multiple reasons for them doing so. Some of it probably was for money or religious freedom but I think they mostly just came to America because it sounded exciting and adventurous. The idea of a new land that’s full of mystery. Who could resist a chance to be a part of that? It’s not like life in Europe was that great. In America they could start over and become whoever they wanted to be. They could have a huge plot of land or even start their own colony that’s named after them. Plus in America there is no King telling you what to do. You could’ve literally done anything you wanted to do and no one would be there to tell you that they didn’t want you to do that. Plus you could be whatever religion you wanted and that was a big problem then with rulers telling people that they had to believe in a certain thing. They could start their own business doing whatever they wanted and make tons of money. With that money they could do whatever they wanted. They could buy a slave and have that slave to whatever they wanted done. There was no one there to tell them no. They could come to America, have a ton of land, practice whatever religion they wanted, have a bunch of money and do whatever they wanted without being questioned? As opposed to the alternative which would be stay in Europe and work a low paying job, never have a lot of land, and be ordered around by a King? Who would want to stay?
There are a multitude of reasons for the Europeans immigrating to the New World, but I think that one that all the settlers had in coming was a shot at a new beginning. The Puritans came to be free of the Anglican Church. To form a Christian society that they had always desired, without the Anglican’s to oppress them. The Europeans who came to invest in the American crops to make cash had created an industry without much other competition. The Spanish came looking for a new trade rout to Asia. For whatever reason one came to the America, the bottom line remained; the New World was for new opportunities.
In my opinion there was only one reason Europeans came to the new world. Their reason to risk their lives, their families lives, everything they had was because of fate. Each person that made the risk to come to the new world had faith that there was something better out there and they were wiling to make the risk. A good example would be when the spanish explorers came here to look for a new route to Asia. Were they positive that they were destined to find the new route, that their lives wouldn’t be at risk? No, but they were wiling to take the risk because they had fate.
In their faith they believed that their were better lives some where in the world. They believed there was more opportunity to live a better life than what they were living before. If you took the risk you had the chance of living better or in this case find the better route to Asia; if you didn’t take the risk then you wouldn’t of had the chance. In this example the spanish did not even find a better route to Asia. But in other examples the risk paid off such as with the British and their successful settlement in Jamestown.
The European settlers came to the
New World for a better life and a brand new start, which was incredibly risky. Back in the Old World, the Europeans struggled with disease, employment, diet, religion, and land ownership issues. But was there really a difference between the Old World and the New World?
Disease in Europe was rampant. Europeans were extremely close together at almost all times which caused them to catch diseases from each other. But this was a problem in the New World as well. Europeans had never been exposed to strains of disease in the New World (like Malaria) and therefore had no immunity against it. This often would kill off a large group of settlers at a time.
Employment, or the lack of employment, supported the move to the New World. In Europe, movements such as the enclosure acts put many people out of work and hungry. No doubt that Europe had an amazing economy from their exports such as wool, but at what cost for their people. In the New World, Europeans hoped that there would be so much to do, that work would be no problem.
A healthy diet, or a diet at all, was becoming very hard to come by in Europe. Fields for crops were turned into pastures, and farmers continually had there land taken away from them. This caused families to sometimes starve. Europeans had hoped that they could depend on the Native Americans for food after the big move.
Possibly the biggest reason for leaving the Old World was the issue of religion. The Church of England was exerting an overwhelming amount of power and followers of other religions were feeling suppressed. Many branches of Christianity fled to the New World in hopes of being able to practice their religion freely. Colonies like Maryland and Pennsylvania were even established purely for religious purposes.
Another reasons Europeans fled there homes was so they could own their own land in the New World. In the Old World, land was usually owned by the wealthy or the monarchy. Land meant freedom to the people. It also meant food and money.
Overpopulation was a major issue in Europe that made people want to move away. Overpopulation lead to many of these problems such as land ownership, food shortages, and disease.
The European people were realizing that they could know longer sustain peaceful powerful countries with all the inner conflicts both religiously and economic which is why they decided to begin colonizing they could know longer live with the oppression of the more powerful religions (English Catholics) or the overpopulation of beggars in Europe with no jobs or workable land so they came to the Americas were they could not only grow as a country but begin to sort out their problems while making an entire economy off of labor and new found crops in the new world.
Kasey A. 2nd Hr.
In my opinion, there were multiple reasons for Europeans to immigrate to the New World. One reason was the incentive of a new life for the Europeans troubled by the many flaws and inequities of the Old World. Thomas More’s Utopia of 1516 depicted a perfect and almost mythical society on an island near the New World, inspiring many English citizens to consider the prospect of immigrating to the New World and striving for the perfect society described by Thomas More. Another incentive for immigration to the New World was the promise of prominent religious freedoms. As many Puritan Separatists had been imprisoned and even executed for defying the Anglican Church of England, they considered the option of immigrating to the New World to practice their religion without the fear of persecution. Quakers, Catholics, and other Separatists decided to immigrate to the New World for similar reasons. Yet another prospect for New World immigration was the promise of ample amounts of land to many English settlers. Some of the early settlers had been granted around 100 acres of land, and many settlers in later years had been granted over 50 acres. The search for economic prosperity drove many Englishmen and Spaniards to the New World due to the appealing prospect of the incredible fortunes that could result from the vast natural resources including gold, silver, sugar cane, rice, and tobacco that the New World contained. Georgia and the Carolinas proved to be colonies where much of the underbelly of the English society were willingly accepted and given many opportunities to create a new life. Overall, Europeans came to the New World in search of social freedoms, economic opportunities, and freedom of religious practice.
I don’t think the Europeans migrated to the New World for only one simple reason. I believe that there could have been a million reasons as to why they really chose to come to the new world.
I believe that new ideas regarding The Enlightment might have had something do with the migration, however. New ideas led to attainment of spiritual knowledge or insight which eventually led to huge issues and concerns such as religious freedom and independence or self-reliance.
Reasons that are responsible for the move might include infection or poverty. Infection begin to spread rapidly due to the closeness of European people which initially caused the European population to decrease swiftly.
Poverty was created in result of the world wide demand for wool increasing. Because wool increased so rapidly, some farmers got rid of many crops to make room for pastures for sheep. Even though the wool trade grew faster than ever, employment rates went down hill and poverty levels upsurged promptly.
Of all the many reasons there are in coming to a conclusion as to why Europeans migrated to the new world, I believe that religion played the biggest role. The Church was very strict about the following of the religion that they thought was superior to any other. They were very controling and did not tolerate any other religious practices besides their own. Due to this, many people who disagreed with religion practices had no say. I think most Europeans wanted to be free from any, and everyone’s authority which ultimately caused the immigration.
I think that there were several main reasons for which the European settlers came to the New World. Different groups of people came in hope of finding different things. I think that most of the colonists themselves did not know what they truly came for, but they believed that the long rough boat ride which many did not survive was worth it, if they could feel the freedom and possibilities of the New World. At first they came for the land and money they would be able to get in the New World. Many of the first British colonists hoped to find gold and silver just like the Spanish had, but when they found nothing they began to make a considerable profit through growing tobacco. As more people were told about what the New World could give them, more people began to leave their home and move across the Atlantic, and the reasons for which they came grew. Some people came to start their lives over and live a better life than they did before. The promise of land through the headright system showed these people the possibilities that they would have presented to them and how simple it would be to just start over and live life in a better way. Other groups including the Separatists, Puritans, and Quakers left for the New World in order to be able to worship freely without the fear of either being made to believe something they didn’t want to or to be punished for their beliefs. Many people came to the New World just for the adventure of it all, and some came to start plantations with the help of their slaves. I believe that there were many reasons for which the colonists risked their lives to come to the New World.
Sofia C. – 5th Hour
There were many reasons why people came to America. They came to America hoping for new jobs. People believed that America had the new and innovative jobs that were waiting for them. Jobs that could get them a lot of money. Others came to America hoping to have a fresh start and wanting to start a family in the new lands. They believed that having a family in America would benefit by getting the right education and teaching their kids the American way on how do things. People such as the Separatists, Puritans, and Quakers came to worship their religion and worship God in their own way. Also, the first successful English settlement was at Jamestown, and that is why people came, hoping to make money and “hit the same jackpot that the Spanish had rung a century earlier.” Seeing the Spanish come by and have success gave the Europeans motivation to come and achieve new goals that they had set out to achieve. The New World gave hope to the Europeans with an opportunity to explore the land. I think the main reason why people came to America was hoping to have a fresh start and explore new things such as finding jobs to support the family, or starting a family in the New World by getting the right education.
Neelan – 1st Hour
1) The founding fathers came to the new land (America) because they wanted freedom from the monarchy. They are being very hypocritical for the fact of leaving for the freedom yet they have slaves do all their “dirty work”. The founding fathers are then blamed for allowing slavery, this is true they did allow slavery they owned slaves and they allowed slavery. People also fight for the founding father’s rights because without them being the brave men that they were there wouldn’t be an America in existence. The founding fathers like everyone else weren’t perfect so they of course had problems. So we can’t be so quick to judge them and point fingers.
2) The founding fathers are being judged in today’s standards. When they were living the only way the could prove themselves as being wealthy was to own slaves. Black slaves males or females were considered as property. This doesn’t make our founding fathers racist nor hypocrites at the time this was just the “right“ thing to do. It’s very difficult to judge people who lived in a totally different time period. Criticizing these men, but never living in the time period and haven’t been in that position.
Shelby