Which was the stronger draw in colonizing America, those fleeing religious persecution or opportunity seekers?

Question

In all that I read it almost seems 50/50. I want to say that opportunity seekers had the larger influence, but then I read other statements about the persecution from the church of England and I can't seem to decide which. Thank you very much for any insight.

Todd

Answer 1

I think that in the very beginning it was mostly to flee the persecution.  The reason I say this is that the first wave of colonists to come here didn't really know for sure there was going to be opportunity here. It wasn't until the first colonists began to make it that others realized there was opportunity. Overall it probably ended up being 50/50 after more and more people came here to avoid hard economic times in Europe.

Answer 2

I would say that is is more likely to have been 'opportunity seekers' who traveled to the New Lands to carve out a better life style for themselves.

Persecution was bad at that time, but not so bad that one could put it in the 50/50 category.

Answer 3

They were people "seeking new opportunities" in a land where they were free from religious persecution. It was a bit of both.

Answer 4

Opportunity seekers.  As usual, money is the greater draw.  Even the people who were setting up their own theocracies were also sponsored by companies looking for raw material like lumber.

Answer 5

The original colonists of the so-called "new world" were opportunity seekers.  It was the promise of fame and riches that brought the first explorers and colonists to the new world.  At places like Jamestown for example the majority of the settlers were members of the Anglican Church.   The biggest draw was the opportunity for common people to own land that was unavailable to them in England or Europe.  That was probably the single biggest reason to emigrate to the new world (including what is now Canada and of course the USA) and continued to be so after the revolution and almost to the end of the 19th century.  In the early colonial period indentured servants went to American colonies with the sole purpose of being a quasi-slave and then working their way to freedom and land.  

During the reign of King George II land grants were provided to any British subject willing to settle in the colonies of Georgia, North and South Carolinas.  Many of the Scots-Irish protestants (including my ancestors) took advantage of the opportunity for free land.   In this case the reason was more economic opportunity rather than religious motivations.  Although it must have played some roll as the ones that accepted the King's offer were Scots-Irish protestants.