America: Land of Opportunity

America: Land Of Opportunity “We think of America as a land of opportunity”, and it was. Back between the 1600’s through 1774 America was a great place to start off fresh and move onto something new and exciting. Many people wanted to relocate to the America’s due to the great rumors, which it had lead on. Although there were many opportunities available in America, they were limited and were a struggle to succeed in for some. The new settlers of America came from many different backgrounds and had different reasons of interest to relocate. For some, like the pilgrims, America was an opportunity of freedom, freedom of religion, or freedom of speech due to political reasons. For others, America was a land of wealth, a place where many believed they could succeed in reaching a higher power. America is also considered a place of new resources, and new skills that many did not have but surely needed.
“Economics is also important. England was overcrowded and many people suffered from lack of economic opportunity (Module 2: The motives of the English).” Due to the new nutritious American crops, England’s population had doubled, leaving the people with the struggle to find food, clothing, and other goods. Although England became very overpopulated, it gave many of the English the idea and opportunity to migrate to larger “land-rich” islands, which were supposedly empty. (Norton, 37-38) The English also had the motivation to leave their homeland, because of the religious reformation that occurred. King Henry wanted to divorce his wife and remarry but the Pope denied his wishes and did not allow him to do so. King Henry than created a new church that would replace the Catholic Church hierarchy, where he eventually became the leader. By creating the new Church of England, King Henry was able to legalize his divorce. King Henry’s decisions and actions lead to many unhappy Pilgrims and Separatists, who eventually left England for religious freedom in the new world,