The Story Of The Colonies

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.

Upon landing on the beach of Plymouth aboard the Mayflower in 1620, our ancestors were quick to form the Mayflower Compact, a document of self-government. Now on the Twenty-Third of March, 1775, Patrick Henry has lead the cry for sovereignty and for war against Britain. Many of us now are divided over a controversy that has left us skeptical of our fellow colonist. The congressmen in Richmond, Virginia have heard Henry’s exclamation, as he spoke of freedom from Britain and the need for war. Henry argues that the British are preparing for war, that our peace agreements have been in vain, and it's our duty to fight for the noble cause of liberty. So let us not extenuate the matter any further and rather discuss the means in which we strive to free ourselves from the grasp of the Parliament. The time is upon us to take action, because if we are to fight in order to keep our freedom and prosperity, is there really anything else to lose. While the thought of war is inconceivable, we will no longer stand the despotic and oppressive ways of the

The Northern Colonies as an Empire of Goods” by T.H. Breen deals with how the economic developments of the 1740s affected the economic relationship between the colonies and Great Britain. Basically merchants started to arrive along with new supplies which led to the colonists to depend on the British. In the beginning they refused to have to go to the merchants so, whenever they were in need of any goods, they would go knocking on their neighbor’s door. The merchants were the last resort. This introduced them to what was almost the opposite of the lineal family. Once the population in the their area started to rise , many picked up and traveled towards west. At this point in time, the British importations increased tremendously.

The thirteen colonies started in 1607, before this England tried to do a colony called Jamestown unfortunately it failed to become a colony. Later the king that had tried to start the Jamestown colony died, then in 1607 the new king and queen Elizabeth I decided to try again this time it worked the first colony was called Virginia and was named after Queen Elizabeth I. Virginia was not dominated by a specific religion they welcomed Baptists, Anglicans, and others. The thirteen colonies included Virginia, Delaware, New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.

After the first few struggling settlements in the New World progressed, more and more colonies sprung from the untested North American soil. Eventually, there were three main categories to the European colonies. They were each unique, although one certain class stood in stark contrast to the other two. This group, the Middle colonies, was a halfway point between the New England and Southern colonies – and not just geographically. The Middle colonies extracted parts of its neighbors, like farming habits and spiritual sects, but the middle group managed to retain its own flavor.

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

The people of the New England and Chesapeake colonies, although came from the same people, turned into very different cultures. For example, in New England, Puritanism was favored while in the Chesapeake region Christianity was practiced. Often times, religion would dictate a certain peoples way of life. Although both religions were strict, both had different ideas. Also, there were disagreements that occurred between the people within a colony. Many other ways of life were established in each of these areas independent of each other.

Colonists: About 250,000 Spanish emigrants populated the newly established cities; they saw the New World as an opportunity for success. As the natives died off Africans and their children replaced them. As mixing production rose due to Spanish women scarcely traveling to the new world, the government created a hierarchy known as castas to keep social order.

For the people of Europe the Americas was a place to prosper, worship in there own way, and expand there kingdoms. The only problem is that they attempted to settle in their own way and all failed dismally. The New England, Mid-Atlantic and Southern Colonies grew differently in various ways, but each with the same state of mind, “do it our way”. Examining the three sets of colonies will prove that they were all different in religion, government, and ways of expansion.

In 1775, Patrick Henry gave America one of the most inspiring speeches that will bring soon bring them together with war on the rise. “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” has become the battle-cry to the people in the colonies to take a stand against Britain’s rule and make America their own country. Even after the attempted peace between the two countries, it has been exhausted to the breaking point, and it has come to the time where fighting for their own freedom is the only viable option. Henry’s speech spoke volumes to the American people of the truth, the false presence of peace, and the cry for battle against Britain.

In Europe, population grew quickly and land value, prosperity, and trade increased with it. Also the rise of nationalism made the nation more powerful, unified, and imposed new taxes. Beginning with Christopher Columbus’s discovery of America in 1492, colonists settled in America for different reasons. Some came for profits; others came for religious freedom (and for escaping religious persecution). It was England, France, Spain and the Netherlands who, in the sixteenth century, launched major colonization programs in eastern North America. Each colony more or less differed or resembled in their first interaction with the Natives (such as the more peaceful contact of the French, the more hostile one of the Spaniards, and the peaceful-turned-hostile

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.

Locke’s argument suggests that govern­ment must respect the rights of individuals. Therefore, he argues that the public has all the right to reelect a leader if he is not serving his community properly as he should. People have the right to replace the government if they are unhappy and they can take right actions by doing what is best for them. He observed that people have both, a privilege and an obligation to protect their own lives. To support his idea, he claims that men are independent by nature and equal subject to a monarch.

It was easy for the colonists to work around the law, but England did nothing to stop it because trade deals were still happening, and everyone was still making money. This caused Americans to think of their government as equally as powerful as the British bureaucracy. England lost major control over the colonies during the Tradition of Neglect, but they didn’t do anything to stop it. Even though the colonies still considered themselves a part of the British Empire, people understood that they could lead themselves.

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