For tens of thousands of people, the search for opportunity in the new world drove them to leave England and risk everything to cross the Atlantic on a perilous three thousand mile journey. The nearly ten million squares miles of unexplored land held untold riches and promised to offer new beginnings for people of all backgrounds seeking to escape religious persecution, poverty and overcrowding in Europe. English colonization in the 16th and 17th centuries opened the door to the world, as it is known today. Colonization not only allowed people to grow, but also allowed ideas, technologies, economies and knowledge to flourish and take new directions never thought possible. Columbus’s return to Europe with the sensational news of untold riches,
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The indecisive, inefficient leadership in the Virginia colony of Jamestown and the complications of succession and religious inequality in Maryland established a poor precedent for England’s experiment in the New World. The Massachusetts Bay Colony sought to change that precedent. Founded in 1629 and lead by Puritan leader John Winthrop, the settlement was conceived with the intention of escaping both the economic and religious confines of the Old World as well as the past blunders of English leadership. Shortly before their arrival at the colony, still on the ship, John Winthrop made a renowned sermon entitled “A Model for Christian Charity”. In exerts from the sermon found in American Dream, Vol. 2, Winthrop proclaimed that this new colony would be exceptional; it would combine community, economic, political and religious ties to foster a new type Society. In Winthrop’s famous words, it would be a “City on a hill”, a model for the rest of the world to follow. Upon arrival, just as previous colonies had, the settlers in Massachusetts battled disease, famine and Natives, but the City on the hill began to take shape, quite literally in fact. Winthrop moved the entire settlement from salem south towards the bay where he had found sufficient …show more content…
Even from the earliest colonies of Roanoke and Jamestown, the pattern of English arrogance, missteps and blunders regarding all aspects of governance of the American colonies can be followed through history, their ramifications escalating encompassing all colonies and all people leading to the consequential American revolution. When leadership was lacking, freedom and independence developed. The failure of English colonies to fulfill their objectives can be attributed to many things. Perhaps it was the distance from home, the demographics of the population, the charisma of the leaders, the robust economy, the religious freedom or simply the broken and inattentive monarchy, but certainly the colonizes did not prove to be a success for England. The unique attributes of the colonies and the outcome of the great experiment undoubtedly have had a perpetual impact on every aspect of the world. Perhaps the greatest failure of all time, the English colonies and their subsequent conclusion, The United States has forever altered the course of the human
The indecisive, inefficient leadership in the Virginia colony of Jamestown and the complications of succession and religious inequality in Maryland established a poor precedent for England’s experiment in the New World. The Massachusetts Bay Colony sought to change that precedent. Founded in 1629 and lead by Puritan leader John Winthrop, the settlement was conceived with the intention of escaping both the economic and religious confines of the Old World as well as the past blunders of English leadership. Shortly before their arrival at the colony, still on the ship, John Winthrop made a renowned sermon entitled “A Model for Christian Charity”. In exerts from the sermon found in American Dream, Vol. 2, Winthrop proclaimed that this new colony would be exceptional; it would combine community, economic, political and religious ties to foster a new type Society. In Winthrop’s famous words, it would be a “City on a hill”, a model for the rest of the world to follow. Upon arrival, just as previous colonies had, the settlers in Massachusetts battled disease, famine and Natives, but the City on the hill began to take shape, quite literally in fact. Winthrop moved the entire settlement from salem south towards the bay where he had found sufficient …show more content…
Even from the earliest colonies of Roanoke and Jamestown, the pattern of English arrogance, missteps and blunders regarding all aspects of governance of the American colonies can be followed through history, their ramifications escalating encompassing all colonies and all people leading to the consequential American revolution. When leadership was lacking, freedom and independence developed. The failure of English colonies to fulfill their objectives can be attributed to many things. Perhaps it was the distance from home, the demographics of the population, the charisma of the leaders, the robust economy, the religious freedom or simply the broken and inattentive monarchy, but certainly the colonizes did not prove to be a success for England. The unique attributes of the colonies and the outcome of the great experiment undoubtedly have had a perpetual impact on every aspect of the world. Perhaps the greatest failure of all time, the English colonies and their subsequent conclusion, The United States has forever altered the course of the human