Topic: Pull and Pull Factors Identify and discuss the “push and pull” factors which accounted for the colonization and settlement of the 13 North American colonies. Introduction Myths about American history began with the colonial period. The so-called “push-pull effect,” which would evaluate the colonial process both by what attracted immigrants to America and by the conditions in Europe that “pushed” them to leave their homeland. The settlement of America was neither easy nor simple—the forces that brought colonists from Europe were complex, as were the many changes that being in a new, alien environment engendered in the colonists. They came for a variety of reasons, but all wanted a better life.
During the Middle Ages, and even during the Renaissance democracy did not exist. The Catholic Church had absolute power over the Government as well as society in general because of the fact that so many people had not much to look forward to but going to heaven. This gave the Church the most power to rule over it’s citizens because people were afraid that if they were to disobey the Church they would be excommunicated from the Church and ultimately would not be able to go to heaven. However, during part of the Renaissance, the values of people began to change. The views of people became more secular, and the focus of education was pretty much to make a well-rounded ideal citizen, which means instead of religion being the main focus, humanism began to be shown.
The failure of foreign policy in the years 1514-1525 can be attributed to many things. The combination of Henry's isolation from European affairs and the fact that his attempts to raise tax were ultimately unpopular failures, meant that he had no way to impose himself upon Europe. Even when he did manage to scrape together the finances needed for a strong foreign policy his reliance on his allies led to disaster. As soon as Henry took the throne in 1509, it was obvious that he was a king that wanted to fight a war. However, wars generally led to very expensive costs to the country.
They wanted to gain numbers to support Catholicism and show that it is the true religion. Because of this, they forced the Native American to become Catholic like themselves. They set up convents and brought missionaries to help convert the Indians to Catholicism. The Spanish were mostly interested in taking gold from their settlements. Their settlements didn’t last as long as Britain’s colonies because they did not have anything else to do economically after they ran out of gold.
The men who landed in New England wanted to escape the economic depression of England, yet were more interested in religious freedom. Maryland was even established to serve as a place for Catholic refuge. Although these Englishmen held God in high esteem, they also recognized that there must be differentiated classes of people, so that some were poor, and others were high in power and rich [Doc A]. According to John Winthrop, the men even longed for a “brotherly affection,” among the new land, and longed to create their “city upon a hill” [Doc A]. The men of New England established their new land for religion based reasons, in order to create a strong knit group of men, working together as one [Doc A].
These were people who protested against the Catholic church. They felt the Pope had too much power and control over England. They also complained that the Catholic church was corrupt - shown by the wealthy monasteries. Henry did not really agree with all the complaints against the Catholic church, but was determined to have a male heir. Henry used Parliament to push through his changes.
Reformation of the Church Despite the similarities of scripture and the beliefs of followers during the Lutheran and Catholic reformation their differences kept the two sides apart as enemies. During the start of the sixteenth century, people were displeased with the corruption and specials favors the church offered to few individuals which started a great Reformation. People from all social classes began to resent the power behind the church and question their authority to decide who gets into heaven. While the starting point of the Lutheran Reformation was when Martin Luther posted his theses, that caused the beginning of a long needed Reformation across Europe. The ideas of the Reforms came from the side of Martin Luther and the common people of the Catholic church who had started to question the clergy of the Catholic Church such as the pope.
The new taxes that were imposed on baptism, burial and marriage were resented by many of the commons as a great number, particularly the poorer people, could not afford to pay them and they feared that this would prevent their salvation. Source B suggests that Robert Aske led the uprising in an attempt to prevent or reduce the ‘rising entry-fines and new taxes’. Source B also states that the ‘nobles and gentry disliked… the Statute of Uses’. This was an Act of Parliament which limited the application of uses in property law and had been introduced by Henry as a way for him to rectify his financial issues, so perhaps (as Source B suggests) the nobles had helped to lead the rebellion in an attempt to revert this
Medieval Europe was run by petty lords, counts, and kings, and the only unifying institution was the Catholic Church. Authority was vested in men without efficient means to enforce their authority. Power was in the hands of those with money and force. This instability of institutions led to a rise in individual violence, as demonstrated with the murder of Charles the Good. Some may believe that the violence of this period was brought upon by the secular institutions, but the mere lack of these institutions proved to be the true cause.
Taxes, levied to pay for the war, added to the people's plight. (http://www.anabaptists.org/history/ss8001.html) * Religious disputes also drove people to leave their homes. In Europe the rulers chose what church they wanted in their lands. Many pious Germans of strong convictions found this hard to bear. (http://www.anabaptists.org/history/ss8001.html) * After the year 1800, Germans still poured into the US, but for different reasons than the earlier generations.