Although Maryland was an early pioneer of religious toleration in the English colonies, religious strife among Anglicans, Puritans, Catholics, and Quakers was common in the early years. Plymouth was founded in 1623 by a group of Separatists initially known as the Brownist Emigration and Anglicans, who together later came to be known as the Pilgrims. The separatists disagreed with the Church of England, and instead of trying to reform it, they left. Plymouth Colony was, along with Jamestown and other settlements in Virginia, one of the earliest successful colonies to be founded by the English in North America. A significant proportion of the citizens of Plymouth were fleeing religious persecution and searching for a place to worship as they saw fit.
American colonies were founded by groups of people who differed greatly in peoples own reasons for leaving England. The Chesapeake region was colonized by those seeking economic opportunity whereas the New England region was colonized by those seeking either to escape religious persecution or establish religious freedom. One would hardly expect these two very different groups to establish ways of life that were exactly the same. Moreover, the different geographies of the colonies only made the path that the colonies took more diverse. By 1750, the New England and Chesapeake colonies exhibited pronounced economic, social and political diversity due to both the differing motives for colonization and the differing geographies of the regions.
Europeans began the colonization of America in the early 1600's. In the beginning they all came to escape from something in Europe, and while there were many various reasons for leaving, most were fleeing from religious persecution. The other main attraction was economic prosperity in a new world rich with resources, to either be sent back to Europe, or to simply use here and make a new life for themselves, better than that which they had back home. The English colonies of the Chesapeake and New England were similar in terms of who founded them ( English settlers), but the similarities pretty much stopped there when it came to reasons for settling, and once they had established themselves how their economies and societies were set up. They differed greatly in economic structure, religious beliefs, societal structure, and also population make-up.
A good way to get more materials involves finding more land to claim that has the materials on them, thus the British colonization of North America. When the British began to colonize the Americas they came into a huge amount of raw materials that allowed them to begin making finished goods that sold for more than then raw materials. The Americas also gave the British a domestic trading partner, with a domestic trading partner Britain began to make even more money. When the British began realizing the tremendous amount of materials the colonists were sitting on Britain shut down trade to other nations which put a collar on the growing American economy and gave the British a monopoly over a large amount of trade. The role of mercantilism to the colonial process of North America was very important.
As identity grew away from British customs, unity among the colonists was beginning to increase as well. This shows how far the colonists have progressed from when the first colony was founded in Jamestown many years before this. Knowing the dangers of traveling to the American colonies, many Englishmen still came for a fresh start. It was a great opportunity for a second chance at life. However, as the colonies progressed and became more and more successful, they began to form their own identity.
Great Britain beat the Dutch in producing and trading low priced products and goods during the consumer revolution. Most of the colonies were agriculture but the colonial cities like Boston were gathering places to distribute goods to the countryside. The cities where also filled with artisans like blacksmiths, furniture makers, and jewelers. These artisans greatly benefited from the consumer market that was expanding. As well, some of them would achieve great success from this.
The arrival of Euorpean traders in the 1500's made the Chinese government nervous and as a result, isolated the people for fear of cultural changes. However, because of the high demand for goods, trade continued to take place illegally. When the dynasty collapsed and the Manchus took over, trade was controlled overseas. In the Qing Dynasty, trade made for a huge population growth in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Trade with America caused this growth through their introduction of new crops to China.
Economic profit was a primary driving force in the colonization of Virginia. By the late seventeenth century, once settlers realized that cash crops such as tobacco could be highly profitable, most of labor force relied upon the importation indentured servants from England. However, planters had to find alternative cheaper and reliable labor supply because of the shortage of English indentured servants. As plantation-based and cash-crop-oriented economy had continued for several decades, planters in Virginia imported a large amount of slaves. In fact, Virginia developed into a slave society where slavery was the foundation of the economic and social order in the late seventh century.
John Winthrop states that the Puritan goal was to form "a city upon a hill", which would represent a "pure" community, where Christianity could be pursued (Document A). In New England, religion was considered to be most important thing while the colonists that landed at Jamestown in 1607 were not as religiously inclined as the Puritans. The History of Virginia, written by the leader of the colony, John Smith in 1624, describes how hard it was in the first few years at Jamestown (Document F). There was little food, new diseases, lots of quarreling between the settlers and they had many problems with the Indians (Document H). The colony was almost devastated before it had a chance to even be settled.
Between the settlement at Jamestown in 1607 and the Treaty of Paris in 1763, the most important change that happened in the colonies was the growth of a society quite different from that in England. Changes in religion, economics, politics and social structure illustrate this Americanization of the transplanted Europeans. By 1763, although some colonies still maintained established churches, other colonies had accomplished a virtual revolution for religious toleration and separation of church and state. The Anglican Church was the only established denomination in England. In contrast, the colonies supported a great variety of churches.