Plymouth Plantation: A Story of Religious Intent, or Monetary Gain?

1643 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: How was colonial society influenced by religion

Plymouth Plantation: A Story of Religious Intent, or Monetary Gain?
It is not a stretch to say that if one is to study the history of Europe, or in fact the world, religion is likely one of the most important aspects of nearly any incident or movement in the past 2000 years. What of the colonies that Europe created overseas, however? Are those areas also just as bound to religion as well, or is there something more, something which hold a higher sway that religion? Is Religion the reason behind the colonization that the Europeans did, or was the entire purpose of the colonies to create a source of income, and for economic reasons in general? It is this essay's purpose to state that while economics were a large reason for the colonies, the reason for the creation of the colonies were for a religious purpose for the puritan settlers, but for those that backed them it was a venture in which they hoped would reap them profits.
The new world is something of which much ink has been used to write about it. To make the topic far less broad than simply all of the religious aspects of each colony, it is necessary in this essay to state that the scope of this Essay will be limited to the colonies established in the new world by the puritans from England. This is not meant to reduce the topic but only keep it stream lined and manageable, after all there is so much to write on the topic that there must be limitations placed on what will and what will not, be included. This is largely due to the source material being Of Plymouth Plantation, which focused on the forming of a puritan colony in the new world and had very little to do with any of the other European Empires in any way at all. So, the question of religion versus economics will be l...

... middle of paper ...

...ligion in their own way without the baleful glares and the harsh penalties that they face back home. While there was no doubt a large monetary interest in building up these colonies for profit, the root cause for them to have existed at all was to create a religious community. Even though there was a economic factor in the creation of the colony, the true first goal was to create a religious colony for the puritan people, however that religious goal was superseded by the goal for the investors who backed the venture to make money.

Works Cited

Bradford, William. Of Plymouth Plantation. New York: Dover Publications Inc., 2006.

Burnham, Michelle. "Merchants, Money, and the Economics of "Plain Style" in William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation." American Literature. no. 4 (2000).

Ward, Harry M. Colonial America: 1607-1763. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1991.

Show More
Related

  • Religious vs. Economic Concerns in the Founding of the First American Colonies

    728 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the colonial era, many mainly great colonies established based on the idea of social and religious freedom. “Throughout the Colonial period, economic concerns had more to do with the settling of British North American than did religious concerns.” This statement has some traces of invalidity but overall, it is very valid at many different points. Even though most of the colonies were established on the premises of religious freedom, however as time progressed, money became an issue and thoughts of money making aroused among colonial settlers. The economic concerns of the colonies out numbered the prominent religious concerns that arose that time, and subjugated colonial life up until the end of the British colonial period in colonial America.

    Read More

  • Sacrifice And Unity In William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation

    614 Words  | 2 Pages

    The seventeenth century was marked with a wide revolution for exploration, to a new world filled with land and opportunity. In William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation, we are given a window into the exclusive lives of the pilgrims and their experiences along their journey to and through Massachusetts. We are able to read the account that “epitomizes the spirit of determination and self-sacrifice that seems to us characteristic of our first ‘Pilgrims.’” Bradford’s narrative plainly, yet elegantly describes the success, failures, triumph and unity in the early beginnings of the new founded puritan community.

    Read More

  • John Winthrop's A Model Of Christian Charity

    1003 Words  | 3 Pages

    Watt, Donald A. "VOLUME 2: SERMONS and NARRATIVES on RELIGIOUS LIFE: A Model of Christian Charity." ["Defining Documents: Exploration & Colonial America (1492-1755)"]. Defining Documents: Exploration & Colonial America (1492-1755), 12/1/2012, pp. 457-465. EBSCOhost, proxygsu-gamc.galileo.usg.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=khh&AN=127122331&site=eds-live&scope=site.

    Read More

  • Compare and Contrast British, French, and Spanish Imperial Goals in North America Between 1580 and 1763

    938 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although the only explanation we were presented regarding the reasoning or motives of this colonization was the vague answer of Gold, God and Glory. Which from a general perspective is correct, although similar to various topics in history, there is much more then what we have originally thought. Likewise, Taylor explains how, “until the 1960s, most American historians assumed that the “the colonists” mean English-speaking men confined to the Atlantic seaboard.” Overall, after much research and information from various sources, I will explain the overall motives these countries had and how they intertwine with one another.

    Read More

  • Of Plymouth Plantation: When Does Hardship Unite Us?

    159 Words  | 1 Pages

    Hardship is what unites us as a group of people who are working together for a common goal and sticks together and helps each other with hard work through rough times. Hardship unites us in difficult times and stressful situations. In the historical log, “Of Plymouth Plantation” written by William Bradford, he explains the hardship that explores dealt with there first few years of their settlement. It goes in depth as the struggle between diseases, nature, loss of food, and the bitter cold. More than half of the pilgrims died and only a few people could help the sick. It was not until the natives decided to set a peace treaty and help the

    Read More

  • Three Old Worlds 1492

    1228 Words  | 3 Pages

    This chapter, “Three Old Worlds Create a New, 1492 – 1600,” covers the social, political and economic events that occurred in the worlds that made up America between 1492 and 1600. This chapter explores the history of the small societies that became the United States in broad contest of European exploration and exploitation. There existed conflicts between European kingdoms and this led to interest in colonies that strengthened the emerging nations. The curiosity of Europeans helped introduce them to African and American societies that had evolved over the centuries. The social and cultural collisions of these worlds changed and profoundly influenced Western history.

    Read More

  • Comparison of Colonies

    1819 Words  | 4 Pages

    Many colonies were founded for religious purposes. While religion was involved with all of the colonies, Massachusetts, New Haven, Maryland, and Pennsylvania were established exclusively for religious purposes.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast New England And A Model Of Christian Charity

    744 Words  | 2 Pages

    Compare and Contrast A Description of New England and A Model of Christian Charity Mankind can be conceived in interesting ways by analyzing the writings of John Smith and John Winthrop.   As I read through John Smith‘s “A Description of New England” and John Winthrop’s “A Model of Christian Charity,” it became evident to me that the two readings had similar and different viewpoints of the essential nature of man.   Throughout my paper, I will compare their similar beliefs of community and diversity of people and completely contrast their ideas of emphasis on religion and relationships with enemies.         Both authors stress a sense of community and diversity in order to survive in America.

    Read More

  • Religion in Early America

    870 Words  | 2 Pages

    Religion and government in England had always gone hand in hand, and if one group’s ideas did not coincide with England’s laws controlling the practice of religion they would be denied. The unification of church and state within European countries led to many wars, resulting in massive debt. As England declared themselves a Catholic country, Protestants who did not hold the same beliefs needed a new homeland where they could be free to worship in their own way. This new homeland was America, and it allowed Protestants, now calling themselves Puritans, to practice Christianity without government interference. While original settlers came to America to create a Christian homeland where they could practice their faith how they wanted, America quickly became a homeland for religious freedom through a mixing pot of differing religions, cultures, and ethnicities, enough open land for them to exist together, and the key idea of the separation of Church and State.

    Read More

  • William Bradford

    416 Words  | 1 Pages

    The puritans were very religious. They wanted to show everyone what happens if you are good and believe in god and the heavens. If you do bad things you would be punished or be killed. If you do good things you can be hand chosen to go to heaven.

    Read More

  • The Protagonists In William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation

    512 Words  | 2 Pages

    William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation differs from William Byrd’s The History of the Dividing Line in the cases of purpose, tone, and style. The main purpose of Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation is to show how the colonists in Plymouth colony were struggling and dying due to the lack of food, and how the Native Americans in the area came and helped them. Natives like Squanto “directed them how to set their corn, where to take fish and to procure other commodities” (Bradford, 33). The lessons taught by the Natives saved the colonists and they formed a mutual friendship, as evidenced by the first Thanksgiving. Bradford was trying to show how the colonists were suffering and dying, but survived with the help of the Natives. Byrd, on the other hand, showed that the Virginians

    Read More

  • Economic And Religious Concerns Contributing To The Settling Of British North America

    1198 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the colonial period, both economic and religious concerns contributed to the settling of British North America. The statement that the "economic concerns had more to do with the settling of British North America than did religious concerns" is valid. These economic concerns, as a cause for the colonization of British North America, outweighed the notable religious concerns that arose, and dominated colonial life during and up until the very end of the British colonial era in North America.

    Read More

  • Religion in Colonial America

    1514 Words  | 4 Pages

    Religion was the foundation of the early Colonial American Puritan writings. Many of the early settlements were comprised of men and women who fled Europe in the face of persecution to come to a new land and worship according to their own will. Their beliefs were stalwartly rooted in the fact that God should be involved with all facets of their lives and constantly worshiped. These Puritans writings focused on their religious foundations related to their exodus from Europe and religions role in their life on the new continent. Their literature helped to proselytize the message of God and focused on hard work and strict adherence to religious principles, thus avoiding eternal damnation. These main themes are evident in the writings of Jonathan Edwards, Cotton Mathers, and John Winthrop. This paper will explore the writings of these three men and how their religious views shaped their literary works, styles, and their historical and political views.

    Read More

  • The Sovereignty and Goodness of God

    1260 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Sovereignty and Goodness of God is a primary source document written in the 17th century, by a well-respected, Puritan woman. This book, written in cahoots with Cotton and Increase Mather, puritan ministers, tells the story of her capture by Indians during King Phillip’s War (1675-1676). For three months, Mary Rowlandson, daughter of a rich landowner, mother of three children, wife of a minister, and a pillar of her community lived among “savage” Indians. This document is important for several reasons. First, it gives us insight into the attitudes, extremes, personalities and “norms” of the Puritan people we learn about in terms of their beliefs, and John Calvin’s “house on a hill”. Beyond that, despite the inevitable exaggerations, this book gives us insight into Indian communities, and how they were run and operated during this time.

    Read More

  • Religion In America, 1492-1790

    2179 Words  | 5 Pages

    Many of England’s problems could be solved in America, and so colonization began. When the earliest settlers came, England had the responsibility to continue the Protestant Church, and prevent the Catholic Church from converting the entire Native American population of North America (Morison, p.105) A potential Protestant refuge could be based there in the threat of civil wars or a change of religion.

    Read More

More about Plymouth Plantation: A Story of Religious Intent, or Monetary Gain?

Open Document