Religious Motivation In North America

It can easily be debated whether or not religious motivation was the sole reason for the Europeans’ race to conquer the “unexplored” lands of North America. Regardless, faith and the guiding institution that housed it was without a doubt an essential factor in the Europeans’ deliberate migration westward. Not surprisingly, the theological motivation observable during this period of history did not fade – rather, it continued to validate the mostly problematic actions of new Americans from there on out. In countless ways, the United States has drawn on these theological roots in order to interpret its own history as upholding the nation’s founding ideals such as freedom, equality, and liberty.
From the moment they arrived on the coast of North America, the settlers felt a supreme right to all they saw before them. The Catholic Pope, who held supreme power over the church and thus the Nations of Europe, encouraged the acquirement of new land as well as the enslavement of
Very few, if any, include even a small, semi-accurate account on the genocide of the Native American people that took place across the continent. The reasoning for this is undoubtedly that admitting to it would lessen the value of everything the nation claims to stand for. The U.S. continues to quietly stand behind the principles of the Doctrine of Discovery and manifest destiny because it is much easier to do so than to come to terms with the injustices that were done for the sake of “expansion.” No one can deny that the romanticizing of “brave explorers” discovering new lands and attempting to establish a utopic society sounds more pleasant than what really took place; fortunately, saying it in the name of religion allows these teachings to go largely undisputed among a people who grow up being fed this single story of