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9/3/11 AP USH
The settling of British North America occurred for many different reasons but the
economic reasons were primarily why the British decided to settle in North America. Some of
these economic reasons include a desire for Great Britain to have a better economy than their
rival, Spain. Other reasons for settling in North America include the mercantile system of
economy which almost all the countries in Europe followed at the time. The overall idea of
mercantilism states that a countries wealth comes from the amount of precious metals it
possesses. Even more economic reasons include the search for the Northwest Passage, and new
markets to sell manufactured goods. Of course economic reasons were not the only reasons for
settling in North America, there were also religious reasons. The foremost religious reason for
settling down was for freedom of religion and to escape from religious persecution. However the
economic reasons greatly exceed the religious reasons in terms of why the British settled in
North America.
One of the primary economic reasons for the British to settle in North America was so
they could obtain a better economy than Spain, which was the strongest country in its time.
Richard Hakluyt’s Discourse on Western Planting also encouraged the British to colonize and
settle in North America because of the many opportunities it would bring to England. In addition
it would keep the Spanish in check. In his writing Hakluyt mentions other economic reasons as
to why England should settle in the New World which included new spices to trade with Africa
and Asia (Indian Ocean Trading Network which the Europeans were kicked out of) and more
land which would provide additional jobs to many of the currently unemployed workers in
England. Since all Europeans countries at the time followed the system of mercantilism, the only
way to have a wealthier economy was by obtaining more precious metals. This is exactly what
the British tried to accomplish by letting a joint-stock company start the first English colony in
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the New World, Virginia. Virginia was original created so that settlers could go look for gold in
the new world since both the Joint-stock company and her Majesty were looking for profit. This
search for precious metals also attracted many young men to the colonies with the dream that
they might find gold and become wealthy. Creating these colonies was especially important for
the British because as precious metals arrived from the colonies, the British would not have to
Another major economic reason for settling in North America is for more new markets to
sell British goods. All the European nations, England included, were searching for the Northwest
Passage or another sea route to Asia so that they could sell their goods there. John Cabot the
navigator was also searching for the Northwest Passage for Britain but happened to land on the
America coast and so he claimed the land in the name of the British. Great Britain decided to
start their new colonies there because it would provide their own people with new opportunities
but it would also give Great Britain new markets to sell their goods. The attainment of precious
metals was important, however the sale of manufactured goods is also a crucial part of the
British economy and so new markets were critical for Britain to make profit. The Triangular
slave trade is a typical example of how the colonies served England. The colonist would send the
raw material to Britain where it was made into manufactured goods and sold to West Africa for
slaves. In addition to selling the goods to West Africa, much of the goods were resold to the
colonists. The British even placed protective tariffs on their goods. An example of the
protective tariffs are the Navigations Act (29 of them) which in total stated that the American
colonist could only buy goods from England, sell certain goods only to England, and foreign
goods can only be bought for English ports. These and many other protective tariffs made it such
that the British attained maximum profit and that they were sure that their colonies were only
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There were also religious reasons for the British to settle in North America, even though
they were not as important as the economic reasons. The primary religious reason for settling in
the New World was because of all the religious persecution in England. Many settlers were
refugee’s seeking religious freedom, and an example of such settlers was William Bradford and
everyone on the Mayflower. These Puritans were seeking religious freedom arrived at the New
World where they set up their own government and constitution like document called the
Mayflower Compact. Even Richard Hakluyt talked about the religious benefits of settling in
North America. He mentioned that by settling in the New World, Christianity would be able to
spread beyond the European mainland. Many settlers arrived to the colonies in search of
religious freedom and most of these settlers who sought for religious freedom resided in the New
England region.
There are many reasons why the British settled in North America but the economic
necessities of the British outweighed all other reasons. Because of Britain’s rivalry with Spain,
they sought to increase their own economy well beyond that of Spain’s by obtaining more
precious metals. The British also needed more markets to sell their goods and for these reasons
the thirteen original colonies were started. Even the first British colony, Virginia, was started
purely for economic reasons. There were also religious reasons for why the colonies were started
however the economic reasons were much more important. This can be seen through the fact
that even though more people resided in the New England region (and most of these people were
religious refugee’s), Britain cared more about profit and hence they placed protective tariffs such
as the Navigation acts on their goods. Britain did not do much about the religious concerns in
North America because for a while, the Crown in England was Catholic which was completely
opposite of the colonists who were largely puritans. All these facts point to the plain truth that the
economic concerns of Britain was more important than the religious concerns.
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