Concerns that Caused the Settlement of British North America
Uploaded by thonker on Dec 14, 1999
I believe that throughout the Colonial period, economic concerns had more to do with the settling of British North America than did religious reasons. First, according to my textbook, the British originally sponsored trips over to the New World only after other countries were profiting from their collections of goods and new trade ports. Maybe other countries in Europe had begun settling the New World for religious concerns, but definitely not Britain. The British government was more concerned with staying up with other countries in Europe in the economic race rather than trying to find religious havens for people who weren’t with the majority when it came to religion, such as all the non-Anglicans. Second, proprietary organizations were into only the monetary value of North America. Organizations, such as the Virginia Company, were formed for the sole purpose of creating joint venture expeditions in hope of finding gold and silver. Yes, they may have been sympathetic towards those who had religious concerns, but may have only sponsored them for their own possible profit. Third, out of all the immigration to North America, the most came from slaves and indentured servants. This shows that more people came over to support the economy, rather than for religious tolerance. Slaves were then forced to accept new religions, which is opposite a reason to come over for religious concern in their original territory. They were accepted in their native land, but came over to a new one and were forced into a new religion. In conclusion, the settling of British North America was more economically shaped than religiously. The significance of Britain having more economical concerns than religious was that Britain profited from North American settlement. Another significant fact is the creation of large port cites along the eastern coast of the United States later became very important (no pun intended) in the independence and creation of modern society in the United States.