The Preconditions of Settlement in North America

The Preconditions of Settlement in North America

Some argue that the colonization of North America relied heavily upon preconditions of settlement in Europe , and without these conditions settlement would have been much more difficult to attain . Some of these preconditions , as they are termed , include the stability of government in the nation-state sponsoring colonization , the absence of religious strife in the said state , knowledge of oceanic navigation and geography on the part of the settlers , and the level of financial support coming from the backing nation-state . Based on these preconditions , one may [banner_entry_middle]

br assume that Great Britain was best equipped to settle the New World while France was not equipped to do so , a supposition which is made fact by the process of history

However , this statement may seem to be in error upon looking closer at some of the preconditions in Great Britain . For example , the British had anything but a stability of government . Having just exited the English Civil War , which concluded with Oliver Cromwell beheading Charles I Britain ‘s political landscape abounded with instability . Despite being a powerful empire , those ruling Britain had little control of their subjects , as revolutions were beginning in Wales and Northern Ireland However , this proved to stir up a culture of discontent . Because of the instability in Britain , the British citizens were strongly motivated to leave and pursue other options , namely , the Americas . Afraid to stay and brave another civil war , they instead turned to a new land of opportunity to settle (Ferguson

France , like all countries in Europe at the time , was also having turmoil in the political realm , but not so much as Great Britain . Under the rulership of King Francis I , France established a limited colonial empire in New America . However , in the wars following between the French and the British , France lost its holding in the New World , which is evidence that the British were better suited to colonize the said region . Certainly , France possessed a relative stability of government but in the end Great Britain proved to be the better nation-state to colonize North America (Oxbent , Ferguson

In terms of an absence of religious strife , Great Britain certainly did not qualify . Having recently broken away from the Catholic Church and establishing the Church of England , which itself was widely disputed , it could be said that Britain was undergoing a religious revolution . Many groups such as the Puritans , Separatists , and Lutherans chose to leave Britain in search of religious freedom in North America . However , once again , this religious strife once again served to aid Britain in colonizing the New World . This desire for religious freedom fueled the settlers ‘ desires to expand into the new territory , and gave Great Britain an upper hand in its colonization efforts (Viner

France , however , had relatively little religious strife . The state was much more receptive to Catholicism than was its northern neighbor however , a difference in motives is the cause of a disparity between the benefits achieved by the two competing states . The French… [banner_entry_footer]