Colonial History

Colonial America ‘til 1759 The American colonists came from a variety of backgrounds. There were the English, who were running away from religious persecution, the Dutch, who reputedly bought Manhattan for a string of beads. The French Huguenots, who were Protestants fleeing from prosecution in a Catholic country. The Quakers, fleeing from harrassments of the Anglican establishment, the church of England, and Germans from innumerable principalities, fleeing military draft and the various exaction’s of the petty princes. Also the Irish population, who fled Ireland because of famine and corrupt and over-charging landlords. Most of these immigrant people came to America with nothing but hope in their pockets. What they set out to do was make a respectable life for themselves and their families, without the dictatorship of a monarchy or the iron fist of religion looming over them. What they would find was hardship and an even tougher life than in their homeland. The main problem with expansion in the colonies was that the Native Americans occupied the land that the “Americans” wanted. The natives would not allow the new settlers to push farther inland on their land, thus causing conflict between the colonists and the Native Americans. Also, the new settlers would come into conflict over some desirable parasols of land. For example, when the Connecticut towns sprang up, Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, John Winthrop tried to assert authority over them. He had originally expected to procure the land for his and his friends’ own profit. The colonists and the Indians also had a very uneasy peace for over three decades. The Pilgrims had tried unsuccessfully to take over Indian land, causing the two former allies to battle for the land. Some of the institutions that were initiated during colonial time were an established church for many different denominations, and colonial governments. When the majority of the settlers came to America, it was to break free of religious oppression. The people wanted to worship their own God. Originally, when the people came to this country, they had to obey the Trinity, as said by the legislature to be the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. This was the rule of the established church for a colony. The churches were generally supported by taxes paid by the colonists, whether they worshiped this religion or not. In Massachusetts and Connecticut, congregationalism was established where independent and self-governing bodies governed a form of Protestant churches. Although the colonies were across the Atlantic Ocean, they were still in some way not free from England and other countries. Kings had found ways to build local governments that could handle day-to-day affairs of their colonies. Britain had set up these local governments in hope that their colonies would become the most efficient and most powerful. Each colony had a governor, a council (appointed by the governor), and an elected representative with lawmaking