What Are The Effects Of North American Colonization

The colonization of North America, following its discovery in 1492, was a competition --based on the claim and settlement of lands in the New World-- between the major European imperial powers. The English, Spanish, and French colonization of North America was primarily a religious endeavor that focused on the desire to convert the Native Americans to Christianity, the need for religious havens to worship freely and openly, and the belief that Europeans had a God-given right to the lands in the New World, which began to fuel economic interests in North America after colonization. The colonization of North America was mainly spurred by the Europeans’ inclination to convert the Native Americans to Christianity. Spain, the first European nation
In England, which was predominantly Anglican because King Charles I was Anglican, the King did not tolerate Puritans. The Puritans, however, also wanted to further purify the Church of England of its Catholic practices. Because of the tension between the Anglicans and the Puritans, the Puritans moved to New England in pursuit of religious freedom. Under the leadership of Governor John Winthrop, the Puritans aimed to make their “City Upon a Hill” a model for other colonies and nations, specifically England. A Puritan from the Plantation in New England wrote to King Charles I to convince the King that God provided the land for the Puritans as a religious haven and God intended to ease the tensions in England between the Anglicans and Puritans by providing this land. The Puritan believed that it was the Puritans’ duty to God to freely practice their religion in the New World (Document 3). In addition, the Puritans had a strict moral code and expected every man and woman to read and interpret the Bible, and they expected the interpretation to follow certain paths. When Anne Hutchinson, a Puritan, claimed to be receiving direct revelations from God, she moved beyond what the Puritans would tolerate and was banished from the colony. Hutchinson then fled to Roger Williams’s colony in Rhode Island--a religious haven for dissenters. The Trial of Anne Hutchinson was
The Manifest Destiny reflected the settlers’ belief that the United States was destined to stretch from coast to coast and that God himself blessed the growth of the American nation. The recurring belief in the settlers’ God-given right to settle and work on the lands of the United States also prompted the settlers to push the Native Americans off of their land while converting them to Christianity in order to civilize the natives. At the heart of manifest destiny was the widespread belief in American cultural and racial superiority. Native Americans had long been perceived as inferior, and efforts to "civilize" them have been carried out since the arrival of Columbus to the New World in 1492. Similar to the original colonization of North America on the east coast, the colonization of the entire country, from west to east coast, reflected the settlers’ belief that the Native Americans were heathens who needed to be converted to the proper Christian religion and adopt European culture and practices, and the settlers’ belief in their right to own the land and force the Native Americans off of the land because God gave the land to the