16th Century American Colonization Essay

In the 16th century, Europe was suffering the Protestant reformation which confronted Protestants and Catholics. Due to this rivalry and the consequent difficulties, England didn't put among its priorities the possibility of colonizing. Years later, the enemisty with Spain grew up and, since this country was one of England's biggest foreing costumers, new markets had to be found. And the solution was colonizing. The recovery of Europe's economy increased the demand of wool, and England became one of its biggest exporters. This opened the possibility of amplifying the market and competing with other countries in the process of colonization. When the process was about to begin, the purposes were clear: to provide raw materials to the country …show more content…
The following year there was a new attempt, but this time, the settlers lacked experience and were left with few provisions, so by the time a new expedition landed in the island, there was no evidence of the colony having been there. The first long-lasting colony was settled by the Virginia Company. It was called Jamestown in honor of King James I. The reason of their survival was a lie about their intentions. Even though they said that they would only stay temporarily in order to repair their ships, the actual intentions were to settle permanently, turn the Indians into Christians, and find new merchant products and routes. During the first twenty years, this colony was extremely unsatisfactory: a lot of people had died and the rest had run out of money. Virginia's first years are written as a precarious beginning, perilous for all, fatal for most, but not trully indicative of what colonial life was or was to be (Kathleen Donegan. 2013: 70). During the first half of this discourageous time, some investors gave up on the mission of creating wealth and wanted to use the colony to assault the Spanish. In 1622, Sir Edwin Sandys took control and and started to develop a mixed economy in the colony, which was actually