Nathan Rainey
Ms. Olson
AP U.S. History
6 October 2014 In the 17th century, European settlers began to take refuge in the New World that had been previously discovered by Christopher Columbus as he sailed in 1492. The colonization of North America was primarily due to religious motivation from European settlers. Many groups of colonists went to the Americas in search for the right to practice their own religion without persecution. The Protestant Reformation of the 16th century broke the unity of Christianity and led to the formation of numerous new religious sects. Religious conversion was another reason that shows settlement was primarily a religious endeavor as the Europeans tried to convert the Natives already living in the New World. Christopher Columbus states in his Letter to Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain “that there shall be a church, and parish priest of friars to administer the sacraments, to perform divine worship, and for the conversion of the Indians.” This part of the letter shows the intention that Spain had for settlement in the Americas. European settlers were naive when it came to people and customs that they had never seen before. They considered the Native Americans' lifestyles to be barbaric and saw their own to be righteous. By converting them, they considered themselves to be doing the work of God, and little did they know that they were destroying an entire culture at the same time. Also their exploration was built on curiosity, but once they did find new land, their exploration and settlements were built on greed. Europeans laid claim on the land, and therefore they considered the people on their land to be under their control. So these settlers either drove them off or forced them to assimilate.
Pryor to the Europeans settling in the Americas, specifically England was suffering from religious oppression. In “The Trail of Anne Hutchinson” Anne, a puritan leader, is persecuted for the practice of her own religious beliefs. The governor of this trial states that “I am persuaded that the revelation she brings forth is delusion” as “[Mrs. Hutchinson was found guilty].” This trial was a major part in why the Puritans
