The Pilgrims and the Settlement of the Early American Colonies

Many religious peoples were being persecuted, and they were looking for a new place to put down their roots. Others fled the poverty of Europe to search for a better life in the Americas. No matter their reasons for leaving, people of all different backgrounds, origins, and religions came to the New World bringing with them their social and cultural traditions. The New World created a unique opportunity for people who used to be adversaries to come and coexist with the hope of a better future just as the Huguenots and English Catholics did. Seventeenth and Eighteenth century America was already showing signs of becoming what they would later be known as “the Great American Melting Pot”. Cultures from all over merged together, creating a uniquely American culture- taking influences from all the different colonists that settled there. There was no longer the Quakers, the Germans, or the Huguenots, they were all just American, and that’s what drew people to the New

Between 1492-1776, although many people moved to the “New World”, North America lost population due to the amount of Indians dying from war and diseases and the inability of colonists to replace them. John Murrin states, “losers far outnumbered winners” in “ a tragedy of such huge proportions that no one’s imagination can easily encompass it all.” This thought of a decreasing population broadens one’s perspective of history from that of an excluded American tale full of positivity to that of a more unbiased, all-encompassing analysis. The Indians and slaves have recently been noted as a more crucial part of history than previously accredited with.

Jamestown; the birthplace of America. A Land As God Made It: Jamestown and the Birth of America was written on July 31st, 2008, by James Horn and published by Basic Books. While reading this book, the many Native groups that were in the Americas far before Europeans navigated there will be brought up many times. Many people just believe that the Europeans traveled to the “New World”, claimed it, and that was it. But in reality, there is so much more to the story than just claiming Jamestown. The Europeans had to go through many trials just to get to the Americas, and when they reached their destination, it was not all fine and dandy. Fights with the Natives broke out multiple times, and many of the Europeans died due to different diseases and starvation. In A Land As God Made It: Jamestown and the Birth of America, discoveries of the many people that were involved in the process of turning the ‘New World’ into what we know today as America are explained.

The New England colonies consisted of puritans who wanted to purify the church because the Church in England was corrupt. They wanted a place where they could worship freely and work together to

This paper will explore the history of the colonial settlements of the Quakers, who are also known as the Society of Friends, who settled in New Jersey and Pennsylvania in colonial times. The history surrounding the establishment and growth of the Quaker colonies of West Jersey and Pennsylvania will be discussed. William Penn’s efforts in establishing the colonies of West Jersey and Pennsylvania were paramount to Quakers immigrating to America. John Fenwick also played a major role in founding the colony of West Jersey, which is now known as New Jersey and the later immigration of Quakers to Pennsylvania. The abolitionist efforts of the Quakers in their fight against slavery, their equal treatment of slaves and the assistance that they provided to slaves will also be discussed. Quakers provided shelter, financial support and harbored many slaves so that they could avoid capture by their owners. Quakers were a large part of the abolitionist movement in the colonies while slavery was legal. Many Quakers played a role in the Underground Railroad, which assisted slaves in obtaining their freedom and avoiding capture. The terms “Quaker” and Society of Friends are interchangeable and will be used throughout this paper accordingly.

When word of the economic potential of the New World traveled back to Europe, various companies quickly maneuvered to exploit it for their own gain (Graff 55). Ostensibly, Europeans held three reasons for colonizing the New World: "glory, God, and gold" (Graff 41) While there was some evidence of sincere religious fervor (Graff 27), more often than not, religious ideology gave way to glory and economic gain (Keen 55-56). Worse yet, religion became a thin facade for covering up the greed for economic gain (Keen 106-08). Ironically, the King James Bible of 1611, the very Bible that many Europeans held dear to their hearts, warns of the atrocities of greed in a most prophetic way. "For the Love of money is the root of all evil. . . ." (I Timothy 6:11). Nevertheless, to many Europeans, the New World represented an opportunity to make a fortune (Garraty 2). It was

A new land opportunity was a huge impact when it came into the hearts of Europeans between the fifteen and sixteen hundreds. It led most citizens leave their country and settle within the great Americas to achieve either religious freedom or a better protection system.Two of the most famous settlements of the English includes Jamestown,Virginia and Plymouth, Massachusetts. The two colonies had a government and an economic growth, which the Europeans accomplished to make, resulting a balance in society. Though, at the same time the settlers faced many hardships which they later had to overcome in the colonies.

Whether by land or by sea, eighteenth century colonial travel was arduous, expensive, and many times dangerous. Because of this, few people traveled very far from their homes. Transportation has changed dramatically since the late 1700’s. It was during this time that Colonial America was budding as a new country. This was before airplanes, which appeared in the very early stages of the 1900’s. Cars showed up about the same time, so rewind about 200 plus years and we’re back in colonial America. It wasn’t civilized like it is today. The dirt roads were bumpy, grimy, and when the rains came, they were mud baths. So how did people during this time get around? Often, they didn’t. Not many people could afford the cost of travel back then. Daily American Colonial Life was extremely harsh for the first settlers and colonists. They were faced with a new country, unknown territory and no friends, relatives or neighbors to help them “In those days, it was fairly expensive to travel. Because of this, generally only government officials, merchants, and planters took the risk (Constitution Facts).” Women were supposed to stay home and look after the children while the husband went off to do business. America was still a budding country, so there were not as many cities as there are now and they were more spread out. If the man wanted to travel, it would require several hours, or even several days to ride on horseback. Often the husband wouldn’t return for a couple of days, and when he

During the early exploring of the American continent in the 1500s and 1600s, the New World seemed to be untouched land only inhabited by native, primitive people. It was believed to be the literal Garden Eden, a world without human sins, and the perfect balance between humans and nature. However, when the English first started to settle along the East coast, the reality of this New World appeared to not be as perfect and utopic as they thought: Attacks and conflicts between the natives and settlers, the lack of civilization, and dangerous winter conditions surfaced. Nevertheless, for many settlers, the new land was promising and gave those a chance who were unable to live a happy life in Europe.

So they moved to Holland and it was rough there too so they had to move again.

Playing this game made me realize how difficult it was for people who came to a new and strange place to start living their lives all over again. It helped me to get a better understanding of all the obstacles that the early colonists had to face, for instance, they had to completely build up their entire life from the ground up and sometimes it did not end up going so well. Many people had died from starvation or just from diseases that they encounter that they never even knew existed. They also had to worry about how they would grow crops to feed everyone or how they would plan on governing themselves since they were thousands of miles from any formal government. Or where was the best place to settle that would provide a good amount of natural

The Massachusetts colony, otherwise known as the ‘Massachusetts Bay colony’ was originally settled by Puritans in 1630. They were plagued by the religious persecutions of King Charles I and the Church of England. Weary from this dogged torment, they left England under the leadership of John Winthrop. These original colonists quickly established many small towns in the name of high religious ideals and strict societal rules. They also planted churches, spread Puritanism and religiously educated the masses, as these were some of their goals. A utopian society that other colonies looked upon with high regards was the ultimate goal.

The European conquest for establishing North American colonies began with various motivations, each dependent on different, and/or merging necessities: economics, the desire to flee negative societal aspects, and the search for religious freedoms. Originally discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492 in search for a trade route to Cathay (China), North America remained uninhabited, excluding the Native American establishments. Following this discovery, Spain –along with other European nations such as France, England, Sweden and the Netherlands– soon began the expedition to the new land with vast expectations. Driven by economic, societal, and religious purposes, the New World developed into a diversely structured colonial establishment

A group of people that were called Pilgrims, wanted to improve and clarify the England’s Church. Later, they were persecuted. They took off to the Netherlands, wanting religious freedom. The Netherlands were also known as Holland. 12 years went by, when they were having a tough time making a living, they were threatened by the Dutch society. The pilgrims wanted to look for refuge in a place where they can make a new society that matched with their religious plans. In exchange of their work for seven years, the Puritans convinced the London stock company to fund their trip to the New World.

On a crisp, colorful, chilly Autumn Fall day of 1621. The Wampanoag Native American that wore something completely different than the Pilgrims. They heard of us wonderful Pilgrim people having a feast in Plymouth after returning from the Mayflower. The Strong men and women Wampanoag came with their weapons in their hands.