American Colonization

Today, many people see America to be the land of opportunity and wealth. During the beginnings of the New World, this fact was relevant to the Europeans as well. The growing powers competed for land in America in order to become the omnipotent country of Europe. However, because America was overseas from Europe and direct supervision by the monarch was not possible, the land of opportunity was restricted to the European countries. Eventually, as history shows, all of the European powers who colonized in the Americas lose their control, thus leading to independent countries. From the 1400s to the 1600s, European countries set up American colonies in the North and South colonial regions, with principles of economic opportunity and religious toleration for the benefit of the motherland, to the extent of the desires and decisions of the immigrants of America.

During the 1400s, England did not tolerate any church beside the Anglican church. Catholics were persecuted and did not have religious freedom. "King Henry VIII split with the Roman Catholic Church over a question of his divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Though his religious position was not at all Protestant, the resultant schism ultimately led to England distancing itself almost entirely from Rome." Many people moved out of their comfortable homes in England to start a new life in the New World with religious freedom. "Anne Hutchnison left her comfortable home in England, with her husband and children, to settle in Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony in search for religious freedom for all peoples." However, Religious toleration was still limited and controlled by the people living in the New World. Although they arrived with hopes of religious freedom, full religious toleration was only given to those who followed the Protestant churches. Puritans came to America seeking religious freedom. However, they hoped this new land would serve as a nation that redeemed the souls of non-Christians. "Though they fled from religious repression in England, their newly established society was not built the virtues of tolerance by any means. The Puritan social ideal was that of the "nation of saints" or the "City upon a Hill," an intensely religious, thoroughly righteous community that would serve as an example for all of Europe and stimulate mass conversion to Puritanism." Although the initial ideal was for religious toleration, the outcome was decided by the Puritans who settled in the colonies.

One of the main reasons for England's interest in Colonial America was the economic benefits they would receive as the motherland. "I have come to this land in because I have my duty to serve the king (King James I) and receive my honor by fulfilling my duty even to the extent of my life" says Captain John Smith as he was captured by the Indians. In the southern colonial region, the settlement in the Carolinas failed in the first attempts. However the economic opportunities turned around as the landowners combined their profits. "The expedition located fertile and defensible ground at what was to become Charleston, thus beginning the English colonization of the southern mainland" said John West as he began the settlement mission of the Carolinas by studying the land. However, because the king was overseas, the economic benefits for the motherland gradually decreased. For example, Georgia began as a land of moralistic principles under the rule of England, with no slaves allowed. However, as England's power on Georgia decreased, the citizens began to lift the laws. "The colonists were unhappy about the puritanical lifestyle, and complained that their colony could not compete economically with the Carolina rice plantations. Georgia initially failed to prosper, but eventually the restrictions were lifted, slavery was allowed, and it became as prosperous as the Carolinas." Because of the needs of the citizens of Colonial America, certain changes in power were necessary for the economic opportunities of the colonies, in exchange for a decreased economic gain of the motherland.

Even with this evidence, many have contrasting views to what extend Colonial America embodied these ideals of economic opportunity and religious toleration. Although the colonists came to America with religious toleration, Puritans decided to tolerate only the Christians who believed in Jesus Christ. England, as a Protestant nation, desired the colonists to stay loyal to the motherland and keep their Protestant teachings. "Roger Williams came to Massachusetts preaching religious toleration, separation of Church and State, and a complete break with the Church of England, but was banished from the colony as a result. He left and founded Rhode Island Colony, which was soon to become a haven for other religious refugees from the Puritan community." England also created the colonies in America for economic opportunities. New England was a successful ecnomic gain, which was one of the first economic profit of England's colonial expansion. "Economically, Puritan New England fulfilled the expectations of its founders. Unlike the cash-crop oriented plantations of the Chesapeake region, the Puritan economy was based on the efforts of individual farmers, who harvested enough crops to feed themselves and their families and to trade for goods they could not produce themselves." Looking throughout the whole time period of Colonial America, it cannot be said that the economic opportunities and religious toleration was entirely one-sided for both the colonists and the monarch.

Although Colonial America was founded for the benefits of England, time proves that many things began to change. Because of the king's absence, colonists began to decrease the economic gains to England and keep more opportunities to themselves. Although religious toleration wasn't fully designed the way they desired it to be before they arrived in America, religion was controlled by the people of Colonial America, with rules and laws passed and without the control of the Anglican Church. As proven later on in history with the American Revolution, Colonial America truly becomes an independent nation only limited of economic opportunities and religious toleration amongst themselves.

Churchill, Winston S. A History of the English-Speaking Peoples: The New World (New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1956) 29

Leonardo, Bianca and Winifred K. Rugg. Anne Hutchinson: Unsung Heroine of History (Joshua Tree, Canada: Tree of Life Publications, 1995) 32

Major, R.H. Four Voyages to the New