English settlement in the Americas - Essay Example

? ENGLISH SETTLEMENT IN THE AMERICAS English settlement in the Americas The English werelatecomers in America, particularly during the colonization of North America. By the time settlements were developed at Jamestown in 1607, Spain had already taken the larger part of the Western hemisphere as its colony. The colonization had made Spain the wealthiest nation, during the later years of the 1500s. The inflow of the English was triggered by the need to colonize and explore the Americas, after they saw that Spain was growing extremely rich during the sixteenth century (Benedict 1996). However, the colonization and the exploration style of England was different from that of Portugal and Spain, as England privatized its exploration, through granting letters of Marquis and charters to the individuals that captured English colonies as economic strongholds. This paper will explore the motives behind the development of English settlements in the Americas, both from the perspective of the settlers and official policy formulations (Starkey 1998). The motives included mercantilism, which is the economic outlook of integrating private and government efforts, towards fostering economic development. The aims of the system included managing all the components of American trade, including transport, production and retailing – under the control of England. Through the strategy, England held the view that it would increase its control of the globe’s wealth – as the seventeenth century outlook was that one nation would only grow rich by reducing the riches of another. The mercantilism outlook of England was targeted at increase its bullion reserves of silver and gold among other precious gems and metals (Spielvogel 2000). The view was that increasing its holding of these resources would help it improve its balance-of-trade, where more resources came into England than those that left. This outlook was promoted through protectionist policies, including the outlawing of un-favorable trade. For instance, they required all goods to be transported using English ships, and that they were to dock at the English port. The expansion into the America’s was motivated by the need to expand religiously, which started with the upheavals of the 1500s; they started after the rise of Protestantism in Europe. There was also the spread of Protestantism, partly due to Henry VIII’s pursuit of getting a male child. After the death of Edward in 1553, Mary I took over, and she started killing Protestants, so that she could restore England to Catholicism. On one occasion, she commanded the execution of 300 Protestants for heresy, and had them burnt. During the time of fleeing England to avoid persecution, and after the reign of Elizabeth, the English settled in the Americas – and in the process realized the goal of expanding their religious coverage (Spielvogel 2000). The English sought to expand the coverage of their religion, as there was the common view that Spanish Catholicism was evil. As a result, the attacks staged on Spanish ships by Sir Francis, while in the American waters were hailed as a heroic act, and not pirate activity. The demolition of the Spanish armada paved way for the English explorers to colonize the Americas, which was also an effort to contain the spread of Catholicism. The development of English settlements in the Americas was also triggered by the population increase of the 1500s. During the time, England passed laws on enclosure, making all land private, which made it very difficult for commoners to feed their animals at public lands. The shift towards privatizing land resulted from the increase in the price of wool. As a result, land owners decided to stop the competition for provision of wool by increasing their farm lands and to increase their wealth through the trade. The shift increased wool production, but also led to an increase in the number of landless people, who has sustained their livelihood by grazing at public lands. Also, between 1530 and 1600, England’s population increased from three 3 – 4 million, which led to the exploration of other lands to house the excess population. Therefore, the need to acquire new lands for the settlements of the extra population led to the expansion of English settlements at the Americas, so that the population pressure at home could be reduced (Tindall and Shi 2000). During the 16 century, the technological and the scientific knowledge of England had also increased considerably, including their ability to explore the earth for minerals – which they held as wealth. Therefore, their wealth exploration and the need to explore new lands were among the motives behind their expansion into Americas, which led to the development of settlements. The desire to explore new lands was also motivated by the challenge presented by their European neighbors like Spain and France, which had expanded their territories to the Americas, among other areas. Therefore, the need to compete in exploration and territory expansion marked the expansion attempts of England (Divine 2007). English authorities, like their rivals, including Spain – sought to increase the number of nation-states under their control. For example, England associated the increasing wealth levels of Spain to its creation of new nation-states at the Americas among other areas. The need to expand into the Americas was also triggered by the incidence if religious upheavals in England, which made their home country inhabitable for some groups. For example, the Protestants and the Catholics were in constant conflict. From the foregoing, the English were latecomers in America, as they came after countries like Spain has expanded their territory into America. By the time the English settled at Jamestown in 1607, the Spanish has controlled a larger part of America, and had taken advantage of the wealth of the new land, which had made them very wealthy. The increasing wealth levels of Spain were among the factors that triggered the expansion of English rule into America. The motives behind the expansion of English settlements in America include the need to control trade and the flow of resources, which is commonly referred as mercantilism. The strategies employed by England included requiring all export commodities to be transported using English ships, and requiring the ships to be docked at the English port, so that they would ensure a favorable balance of payment. The expansion of English settlements into America was caused by the need to expand their religion, as well as a way to suppress the Growth of Spanish Catholicism. The religious expansion into America was also caused by the religious conflicts that characterized England, mostly among the Protestants and the Catholics. The expansion of settlements into America was also triggered by the increase of population at England, which presented the need to create alternative habitation areas for the excess population. The expansion was also triggered by the increasing technology and the need to explore further, like other countries. Reference List Benedict, M., 1996. The Blessing of Liberty: A Concise History of the Constitution of the United States. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Co. Divine, R., 2007. Et al., America: Past & Present, 7th ed. New York: Pearson Longman: 4-5. Spielvogel, J., 2000. Western Civilization: Volume II, Since 1550, 4th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth: 449-52. Starkey, A., 1998. European-Native American Warfare, 1675-1815. University of Oklahoma Press. Tindall, G., and Shi, D., 2000. America: A Narrative History, Fifth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company: 29. Read More