13 Colonies Research Essay

The 13 colonies were founded by England during the 1600’s -1700’s. The 13 colonies lived different lives from one another. The people in the 13 colonies had their own religious and moral beliefs. The colonists all came to the 13 colonies for there own reasons. Even though the 13 original American colonies were all formed by England, differences existed in the reasons they were formed, the bases of their economies, the types of people who settled, and the role played by religion.

There 13 colonies were all formed, but for many different reasons. People wanted religious freedom (Acheson 2). The first colony was entirely for business reasons (2). People didn’t like the stringent rules in England (3). Stockholders wanted to make more money by finding gold in the New World (3). Colonists wanted to establish a Catholic settlement (3) If it wasn’t for these reason and others the World would not be what it is today. The 13 colonies all had their own economy. Indians greeted Europeans settlers with fish, corn, and pelts (Kross 1). Iroquois hunters served as middlemen for New York Dutch traders, delivering furs to trading posts at Albany and Oswego (1). Colonists preferred to omit energy and capital to agricultural endeavors and down played consumerism (2). Virginia and Maryland traded tobacco (Cayton 1). New York had wheat, milling, lumber, furs, sugar, refining, distilling, ship building and trade (Cayton 2). Because colonies had different goods, when they traded it made one another flourish.

The people in the 13 colonies had different lives and different roles in society. Many colonies were formed by religious people: Maryland settled in 1634 as a refuge for Catholics (Purvis 1). The French intention was to spread Catholicism, but they were too preoccupied with military security (Kross 2). In Pennsylvania, William Penn established a Quaker colony (Cayton 2). Diversity was broken in to ethnic origins and religious beliefs (The Founding of New Societies 1). The colonies of British North America were founded by different people and groups, at different times and for different reasons (The Founding of New Societies 2). Because of all the different religions not everyone thought of one another as equals There was a vast range of different religions between the 13 colonies. All major churches felt obligated to extirpate blasphemy to which the attached no legitimate right of conscience (Purvis 1).

The Virginia Company made the creed of the church the strict rule of the plantation (Acheson 1). The Virginia Anglican church did not tolerated Catholics from 1609-1679 (Acheson 2). Since almost the early times the American continent became a haven for people to worship freely (Acheson 3). Pennsylvania was Quakers; even Philadelphia helped the Jewish congregations (The Founding of New Societies 2). People realized others practiced different religions, but they never really understood why. In conclusion, the 13 colonies were formed for different reasons, economies, types of people, and religions. The 13 colonies were all formed so colonists could have freedom from what ever they had a problem with. The colonists economies were all based on trade. The 13 colonies were filled with people that had different convictions. Religion was one of the main focuses in the 13 colonies. Just because people came from England it did not mean they all thought the same, and wanted the same lives.