We the People: How colonial motivations shaped the American ethos

In the We the People series, The Spokesman-Review examines a question from the Naturalization Test immigrants must pass to become United States citizens.

Today’s question: The colonists came to America for many reasons. Name one.

In 1607, the first English colonists came to North America and settled in what is now Jamestown, Virginia.

Over time, their motivations to settle this “New World” evolved, and eventually, some formed the basis for a distinctly American mindset.

There are five official answers to today’s question.

Colonists came to the American colonies for political liberty, religious freedom, economic opportunity, to escape persecution and for freedom.

Two of these answers, Spokane Community College history professor Kris Cornelis said, have more weight than others.

When it comes to colonists’ motivations, she said, “It’s all about religion and commerce.”

Many learn about religious dissenters, such as the Pilgrims and the Puritans, in school – how they looked for a place to create their own religious society, away from the reaches of the Anglican church.

Not all of these devotees were Protestant – branches of Catholicism and Judaism found homes in the colonies as well. Africans, forced from their homes by the transatlantic slave trade, brought a mosaic of beliefs to the area, many of which became new branches of Protestantism.

Meanwhile, the dominant economic thought of the time, mercantilism, dictated that those colonies, although used by many to achieve religious freedom, existed to provide raw materials for Europe.

Cornelis details how this money-driven mindset was also held by colonists.

Colonies relied on indentured servitude for cheap labor – a type of labor in which a servant would work for four to six years, in exchange for passage to the colonies.

Brian Stack, a lecturer at Spokane Falls Community College, echoed this sentiment. Imperial rivalries, he said, fueled commerce in the 17th century.

Competition over goods and trade routes, for example, “was a big motivation for the folks who were coming over,” Stack said.

“Really,” Cornelis said, “America is built on commerce and adventure.”

Colonists wanted to better their lives by expanding their personal freedoms and economic opportunities. In these motivations, Cornelis said, we see a distinctly American idea – that someone could come to the United States and make something for themselves.

In the centuries following, these patterns evolved, Cornelis said, “because we kind of figure out who we are as a people.”

Although colonists were happy as British citizens, these new American values soon became the roots of a revolution, Cornelis said.

“They’re starting to find that the imperial commerce situation that they want to achieve is being held back by England,” Stack said.

He points to the Proclamation of 1763, issued by the British Monarchy, that limited colonists’ ability to travel beyond the Appalachian Mountains – and their ability to profit from that land.

The Stamp Act of 1765 was the first tax levied by the British Parliament directly on American colonists. Although there was a representative for the colonies in Parliament, this representative had never been to the colonies, Cornelis said.

“Wait,” Cornelis said, reconstructing arguments from some colonists, “you’re taxing us, but we’re not getting any say? Where’s our representation?”

In 1776, colonists issued a declaration to the British Monarchy. In this document, they named themselves the “thirteen United States of America,” and called for, “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

This Declaration of Independence, which is being celebrated across the country today, captured many of these frustrations.

Stack points to one complaint in the document which details colonists’ inability to expand farther west.

Another details their dissatisfaction with monetary practices. Another, for “destroying the lives of our people.”

The loyalty of many colonists toward Britain had transformed.

“It’s that I have the bravery to come here to start something fresh, start something new,” Cornelis said.