Coming to the New World

Motivation for Exploration- 1400s To find a Sea Route to Asia, by shortest distance – Northwest Passage across the Atlantic Trade: spices and silk To Spread Christianity

Reasons to Establish Colonies Overseas To add to the Wealth and Power of the home country To gain Raw Materials 1500s – gold and silver (Spain) 1600s – fur pelts (French) To sell their own manufactured goods, such as cloth, lace, pots, dished, books, Thought their home country was overpopulated

Push Factors Economics: hunger, poverty, homelessness, lack of opportunity Many people were willing to risk it all for a fresh start in a new place Religious Intolerance in home country If a person did not conform to teachings of official state church, they were often persecuted English Separatists traveled to Netherlands because of persecution in England; later traveled to New World as Pilgrims

Pull Factors Belief that America was a land of abundance Open land, food, hunting… Religious Freedom Pilgrims travel to America in hopes of religious freedom The Pilgrims were followed by other non-conformists: Puritans, Quakers, Catholics, Jews, Baptists, and others

Force Africans kidnapped and forced to come to the New World (in chains) Portuguese 1st to enslave the Africans (1444) 1500s – Spanish colonists importing large numbers of Africans to work on sugar plantations in the West Indies 1619 – a few Africans brought to English Colony of Virginia and sold as servants Late 1600s – thousands of captive Africans brought into colonies each year and sold into slavery