Essay on Growth of British Colonies in North America

With the issue of the commercial and military powerhouse that had substantially led to the expansion of Great Britain in mid-1700, it implied that there was a need for workers and the reason for population growth in North American colonies. At the start of 17th century, the English had not permanently settled in Americas until the 18th century outpacing their rivals. In this case, the English's efforts were to encourage emigration beyond French, Dutch, and Spanish. The results led to the rise of massive colonies that populated the land given the fact that the colonies were open for those who wanted to escape overcrowding as well as poverty in their homes. However, it is evident that the colonies turned out to be overcrowded that led to other issues like conflicts with American Indian tribes that were their neighbors. Due to different perspectives from these neighbors against English, King Philip nearly succeeded in driving out English intruders in the year 1679 to 1676 (Taylor, 2002). Despite the issue of overcrowding that threatened the peace of the people, both British migrants, as well as African slaves, still enjoyed the privilege of expanding the colonies. They both created a zone of settlement on the coast of Atlantic from Maine to the ends of Georgia. Since population increase had become a significant issue in the colonies, the empire had no choice but supply food such as indigo and rice for the people to survive on. However, despite the supply of food, conflicts remained the problem among the colonies as evident in the repeated fights that took place in the Chesapeake tobacco Bay.

The exploration and colonization of Americas by Europeans changed the lives of people both negatively and positively. Both the land and the people changed from activities such as hunting and trading to being personal property as well as warfare grounds. The issue of colonization caused much division among the people through various aspects of race and religion. People no longer enjoyed their freedom as they were forced to labor in plantations as slaves or even servants whose role is to produce wealth that benefited others. For instance, by 1700, the continent of America has been transformed into a place full of stark contrasts that existed between the acts of slavery and freedom as well as between those with power and those without. With the racial trade that rose between 16th and 17th centuries, many people died from diseases that were transferable from one colony to the other. During the 17th century, American people had been influenced to value the concept of owning land as opposed to a partnership, an issue that led to many fighting over land and other material possessions after knowing how private land ownership led to prosperity as well as progress. For instance, in 1683, Pastorius, the founder of German's first settlement in Pennsylvania wrote to his countrymen persuading them to emigrate to the colony (Taylor, 2002). The action is after Pastorius had surveyed the resources, history inhabitants in this case both the settlers and Indians. He had realized that opportunities were many and could lead to the countrymen progressing. Pastorius is amazed at how the people can benefit from owning land and practicing farming as well as commerce. From this perspective, everybody who got the chance fought to acquire and possess land given the advantages.

Reference

Taylor, A. (2002). American Colonies: The Settling of North America (The Penguin History of the United States, Volume 1). Penguin.