Motivation Behind Initial North American Settlement

625 Words3 Pages
The discovery and exploration of the Americas led to an initially slow but exponentially increasing westward migration by European countries. Among all the countries were England and Spain who colonized the majority of what is now the United States Eastern Coast. Both intrigued by the rumors and stories of gold and riches that beset the new lands they each did their part in western colonization; and not without reciprocal influence. Initial English colonies were established not only with cliché intentions of religious freedom but also with hopes of new economic expansion through agriculture as well as tactical, advantageous military purposes in the ever-present conflict with Spain. Mainly all original westward exploration was due to desires for gold and riches and in the case of the English this was no exception. After the recent victory over the Spanish ambitious English monarchs used the combination of overcrowding and overwhelming patriotism to fuel an energetic boom of westward exploration. While the northern English colonies did not find the gold and treasures that they were looking for they did find ways to create opportunities for financial growth. Virginia, the location of the first English settlement, used tobacco exportation as an effective money making operation. The Carolinas came later and was created and advertised as a location for the poor under-class to have a second chance at wealth. In those days wealth was measured in the amount of land that you owned so the untapped vastness of the Carolinas brought many a colonist over with hopes of rebirth. Caribbean also falls under the category of financial yearning as its profitable sugar market helped its English population to flourish and grow. Always present when discussing the matter of new colonization is the idea of religious “freedom”. The colonies of Georgia and Maryland were primarily
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