How did religion affect the English colonies?

Religion was key to the founding of a number of the colonies. Many were founded on the principle of religious freedom. The New England colonies were founded to give the Puritans a place to practice their religious beliefs. The Puritans did not give religious freedom to others, especially non-believers.

How did religion motivate the English to colonize North America?

Spain and France had the same religious motivation for colonizing North America. Both Spain and France sent missionaries to North America with the goal of converting the Indians to Catholic Christianity. Colonists from England like the Puritans wanted to escape persecution they experienced in England.

Jamestown Colony Ferry. The opportunity to make money was one of the primary motivators for the colonization of the New World. The Virginia Company of London established the Jamestown colony to make money for its investors. Europe's period of exploration and colonization was driven mainly by necessity.

What was the religion of the New England colonies?

The primary religion in the New England colonies was strict Puritan Christianity, originally brought to the Massachusetts Bay Colony by ships like the Mayflower, but as the colonies grew and changed, some of the colonists began to move away from that base. So did views about the Native Americans who shared their land.

Why did people come to the New England colonies?

The New England colonies, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland were conceived and established "as plantations of religion." Some settlers who arrived in these areas came for worldly motives—"to catch fish," as one New Englander put it—but the great majority left Europe to worship God in the way they believed was proper.

Why did the Pilgrims come to the colonies?

Pilgrim separatists wanted a break from the Church of England and arrived in Massachusetts aboard the Mayflower in 1620. Later, another religious sect, the Puritans, arrived in Massachusetts fleeing persecution in England. Unlike the Separatists, the Puritans did not want to break away from the Church of England; they wanted to "cleanse" it.

Why did the Puritans come to the colonies?

Unlike the Separatists, the Puritans did not want to break away from the Church of England; they wanted to "cleanse" it. This was met with resistance—including violence—and by 1630 nearly 20,000 Puritans fled to Massachusetts. Colonies like Maryland were founded as a refuge for other persecuted religious groups.