European Expansion and Colonization in the New World

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European Expansion Colonization in the New World On this assignment will elaborate on the European motives for expansion and colonization into the New World. I will describe the various colonial transplantations that occurred in Virginia, Maryland, and Massachusetts Bay. The details of the sources of friction between the Native Americans and the English in Virginia and Massachusetts Bay will also be explained. The expansion of Europeans into the New World started previous to the first settler reaching the eastern shore of what is now known as America. “The Black Death, a catastrophic epidemic of the bubonic plague that began in Constantinople in 1347, had decimated Europe, killing (according to some estimates) more than a third of the people of the continent and debilitating its already limited economy.”1 (Brinkley, 2011) Almost 150 years later, the population had recovered and with it an awakening of commerce began. With the establishment of chartered companies and a new concept of economic life, known as mercantilism, there was big interest in goods from distant lands. These new advances allowed the newly founded companies to start up colonies allowing them to export goods found in the New World. This helped avoid having to get them from other countries. They grew an interest in quicker trade routes to the east. The Muslims controlled the eastern route to Asia, so Europeans had to find a new direction to the New World. Meanwhile, the continent was also undergoing religious movements. The Protestant Reformation, challenged the beliefs of the Catholic Church. King Henry VIII broke ties with the Catholic Church, and claimed himself as the leader of the Christian faith in the nation. England restored it's allegiance to Rome, and then severed itself again, which created the new official religion, The Church of England. Because of this religious separation of
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