It is true that French and England held onto the indisputable interest in the expansion and exploration of the new land for numerous reasons (Goldfield et al., 20010). One of the strongest forces in the new colonisation was the religious factor that led to the increased colonisation and expansion throughout the North America and settlement.
The primary initiative to come into one of the untamed lands, without regulations and laws highly provoked England population together with the neighboring country to undertake an inconsiderate expedition to these new lands with the hope of developing a better faith. For instance, with John Calvin’s reforms, the Puritans got tired of what they believed to be an incomplete reformation of the English Church; therefore, most of them migrated to North American with the hope of concluding such reformations (Goldfield et al., 20010). In the new world, Puritans seek religious freedom because in England the king opposed their beliefs. In result, they moved into the new world and established Plymouth colony and Salem. Arguably, Salem Witch trials were strongly religious, and they began to believe if God creates all, then evil must also come from good. Throughout this period, the Puritans began to accuse each other of being witches. This led to the Puritans causing tension and drama between each other, and it resulted in many deaths (Goldfield et al., 20010).
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According to Goldfield et al., (20010), the Puritans were reported to be substantially motivated by the idea that the Church of England had failed in certain aspects. Therefore, they voiced their dissatisfaction with some of the besmirched Rome’s practices and further felt that they ought to eliminate bishops. As a result of this, the Puritans were forced to leave hence with the aim of creating a significantly pure state. The move led to pilgrims and other groups with the similar feeling to leave to the new lands in the hope for reformation. Therefore, this influenced their eagerness to depart with the hope that their religion would be truer to their expectations in England (Goldfield et al., 20010).
Additionally, they left with a greater encouragement to explore the new world. Another instance of religion being one of the strongest forces in new world colonisation is the Massachusetts Bay colony. The people living at Massachusetts Bay had a few variations and branched out through moving to Rhode Island and Connecticut. They were further referred to as "city on a hill". They greatly encouraged other colonies to be more like them and become perfect Christians. The Puritans living in Massachusetts had the objective to be a good example to the people that resisted change in England such as the king and to change their sinful ways (Goldfield et al., 20010).
Lastly, the Spanish were reported to have been driven by the desire to spread Christianity into the new world. The Spanish came into the new land with the aim to serve God. Around 1492, Spain was entirely a Catholic state, and almost everybody living in the state was a Catholic because Spain had already removed the Jews from the country and at the same time converted all the remaining Muslims in the country (Goldfield et al., 20010). After the 1517 and the start of the Protestant Reformation, Spain turned out to be one of the greatest defenders of the Catholic religion. Therefore, the new land became an ideal location for them to bring back souls that were lost to the protestant unorthodoxy in Europe. Taking a look back to Hernando Cortes, he strongly encouraged Christian altars everywhere to influence the new world (Goldfield et al., 20010). He firmly believed that no religious tolerance and other religions were wrong. Spain is the defender of Roman Catholic religion. New world recaptures souls to Protestant heresy in Europe.
References
Goldfield, D., Abbott, C., Anderson, V. D., Argersinger, J. A. E., Argersinger, P. H., Barney, W. L., & Weir, R. M. (2001). The American Journey: A History of the United States, Volume 1.
