The Real Story of the American Revolution 

New Hope for Emigrants to America

Latest Changes: 07Mar10 - created / 07Mar12 - note Luther's work / 07Apr26 - split off colonial governance /

European Settlements in North America 1000-1776  European Settlements in the Southern Latitudes: The Spanish and Portuguese reached Cental and South America in the 1500s and by the late 1500s had established trade routes and settlements in what is now Florida and the western United States. Their presence there blocked colonization by other European nations. European Settlements in the Northern Latitudes: Begining in about 1000 AD first Vikings and later other European traders and fishermen explored the coast, established trading partnerships across large interior regions, and brought their hunting and trading goods back to Europe. Colonization beyond small trading post settlements started in the early 1600s, when English and French colonists began settling costal areas, at first decimated by disease, exposure, and starvation, but ultimately spreading along the coastal estuaries and then inland as the population increased. Sweden and Holland had established colonies on the eastern seaboard, but by 1680 the entire area was under British or French control. French explorers and traders formed strong relationships with the Indians in the Saint Lawrence and Mississippi River basins and were the dominant European force there, while the British developed settlements along the east coast, often encouraging immigration from other nations to work the land as tenants or to settle on the frontiers, where developing farmland was more difficult. After a series of wars involving both the American and European continents British forces decisively defeated the French forces in North America in 1763 and England gained nominal control over the entire area up to the Mississippi River. France ceded its claim to the area west of the Mississippi to Spain, but except for a few Spanish outposts the area remained under Amerindian control. Further Study: The Peopling of British North America -- an Introduction, by Bernard Bailyn (Vintage Books, NY, 1988)

Fleeing from Persecution and Poverty 1600-1776  Many early European colonists in the British colonies -- and also many of the later ones -- were leaving Europe because they were part of a minority group that was being persecuted for its religious convictions. These immigrants were Pilgrims, Puritans, Methodists, Baptists, Quakers, Hugenots, Jews, as well as Catholics who had previously been living under Protestant rule. These religious communities often stressed the importance of faith in God and service to the community as virtues for members of the community. This continues to motivate many Americans today. Concerning Christian Liberty, by Martin Luther (1520) was an early expression of the concept of liberty as the acceptance of God's grace, freeing us to respond through service to the community. "Thus from faith flow forth love and joy in the Lord, and from love a cheerful, willing, free spirit, disposed to serve our neighbour voluntarily...". [Link to text] Many other settlers were economically disadvantaged people (poor and with little prospect of owning land in Europe) who sought to make a better life than they could in the crowded cities and depleted soils of Europe. In addition they could escape the frequent wars, plagues, taxes, and stifling bureaucracy of Europe, where you could not leave your town to move to another city without getting a letter of permission from the city leaders. In America there were vast expanses of land made available through tenancy based on annual quit-rents or through purchase in frontier settlement tracts. Hard work could be result in a good life if you were lucky enough to avoid a life-threating disease and the hazards of frontier life - fire, storms, bandits, wild animals, and other people with claims to the same land. Wherever there is a community there must be governance, so the settlers accepted, developed, or petitioned for charters, covenants, or grants that spelled out how the group was to be governed and the resources (land and water rights) were to be distributed. In some cases strict adherence to a specified set of religious principles was specified, while in other cases a wide range of religion practice was implicitly tolerated or explicitly allowed.

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