The Came to Earn a Living Most people came seeking a better life. Europe had become a crowded place. As populations grew people were squeezed onto smaller and smaller pieces of land. This was especially a problem for young men. Traditionally an English family’s oldest son inherited all the family land. Younger brothers had to find other ways to make a living. The Americas, in contrast, were vast and unsettled by Europeans. Because proprietors wanted to encourage settlement, they often charged little or nothing for the land. People with money could buy a boat ticket and enough land to start a family farm. Those who had no money could come as indentured servants. An indentured servant signed a contract to work for several years in exchange for transportation to one of the colonies. When that term was up, the servant was given” freedom dues,” which could be money, tools or land to start a farm.

They Came for Religion The colonies also offered a refuge from Europe’s religious disputes. A religious movement known as the Protestant Reformation created hundreds of new religious groups and a great deal of conflict in Europe. Religious disagreements worsened because many nations had governments sponsored churches that wielded great political power. Religious leaders throughout Europe often used their political power to oppress religious opponents. Those who disagreed with church doctrines could be fined barred from public offices, thrown in jail or even executed. Many Europeans saw the Americas as a place where they could practice their religion without being persecuted. Some believers also saw the new World as a place to build a better society. The Puritans, who settled New England , were one example. They wanted to create a simpler, purer form of Christianity. The colonies offered them a chance to establish a whole society based on their ideas. They spoke of building a “city on a hill, “which would serve as a shining example to the world.

They Were Forced One group of settlers- Africans-did not choose to come to the colonies. The first Africans in North America came as slaves with the Spanish explorers in the 1500s. The first recorded sale of Africans in an English colony took place in 1619, when a Dutch sea captain traded 24 Africans to the Jamestown government for supplies. Colonial governments recognized Africans as a valuable source of labor, and many encouraged colonists to import them. For a while the Carolina government gave away a set amount of land known as “headright” to very person who settled in the colony. People who brought slaves could claim headrights for those slaves even though the slaves themselves would never own the land. Selling slaves to North American colonies became big business. Although Portuguese traders began the trade, other countries soon joined in. The Dutch became major traders. Charles I charted the first English slave-trading company, the Royal African company in 1661, and it soon dominated the trade to North America. Africans came to the colonies from many different parts of West Africa. Some were Muslims from an area known as Sudan in the northwest part of Africa. Other came form the kingdoms of Benin, Kongo and smaller nations. By 1700, tens of thousands of Africans and their descendants lived in North American colonies. In some southern communities, slaves made up as much as 40 percent of the population.

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Why They Came If one had money what could you do to go to the new world? What if you didn’t have money what would you do? What was wrong with Europe that made it so people wanted to leave? What was indentured servitude? What was the religious environment like in Europe? Why would religious groups want to leave Europe to go to the New World? What did these religious groups want to create in the New World? When did the first sale of slaves occur and where did it take place? What is the headright system? Where did a lot of the slaves come from?