How Many Early Immigrants Came To America In The 1600s

Imagine Sailing on a small, crude ship to an unknown destination, with only a compass made up of a magnetized needle floating in water to guide the ship. Perhaps there are one or two hundred other passengers aboard brave enough to venture forth into the unknown. All of the early immigrants to our country dealt with this plight. In spite of this situation, the Englishmen, came to America in the 1600s for three main reasons: to escape the economic strife, social problems, and religious persecution in England. The first reason that immigrants were motivated to come to America was England's changing economy. The population of England grew steadily, but the food supply did not increase proportionately. Agricultural land was taken over by grazing sheep. This condition severely limited the food supply, thus driving up the price of food. Raising sheep and manufacturing wool for cloth were the primary types of employment. But, with England's rising population there were not enough jobs to go around. Beggars roamed the countryside looking for food or …show more content…
This structure consisted of four classes. The first class, nobility, was just a step below the king. The nobles owned large estates and could set in Parliament's House of Lords. The gentry, which was the next class, also owned large pieces of land and could become members of the House of Commons, thereby providing a check and balance system. Being landowners they could vote and hold office. Many of the gentries were justices of the peace or sheriffs; consequently, they possessed political power. The next two lower classes were the yeomanry and the peasantry. The yeomanry owned acres of land and small shops; although they could vote, they could not hold office. The peasants were very poor and did not own land and could not vote. The yeomans and the peasants migrated to America for promised acreage and equal