Analysis of Primary Sources

Running head: ANALYSIS OF PRIMARY SOURCES
ANALYSIS OF PRIMARY SOURCES
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ANALYSIS OF PRIMARY SOURCES1
Analysis of FONER: Chapter 2 – Beginnings of English America, 1607-1660
Eric Foner in ‘Beginnings of English America’ provides an evaluation of how the
English colonizers transformed the culture and society in America. Jamestown in Virginia is
recognized as the first permanent settlement of the Englishmen in America. The several
religious conflicts observed in England in the beginning of the sixteenth century had widely
disrupted its stability. However, the colonizing methods utilized by England in Ireland were
anticipated in America as well, giving rise to the historical relation between England and the
New World.
The rise of the New World in America was marked by charters issued by the English
crown, allowing individuals like Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Humphrey Gilbert to attempt at
colonizing the country. The motives behind such colonization were estimated to be the
incentives of trade, profit and national glory along with a rise of anti-Catholic sentiments in
England. However, the instability and poverty in the country increasingly prompted the
Englishmen to move to the New World in search of new opportunities. The colonizers
viewed the Native Americans to have economic independence through individual ownership
of land thereby appealing the interest of the Englishmen to settle there.
The coming of the Englishmen to the American lands saw an inflow of indentured
English servants where ownership of land was considered the foundation to liberty.
Therefore, they were persistently interested in the acquisition of American land. However,
the colonizers had to face several challenges owing to changes in leadership, high rates of
death and the inadequate provision of supplies from England.
The settling of the Chesapeake marked the established of the Jamestown Colony with
the help of John Smith’s leadership and new policies strategized by him. These policies
enabled the indigenous tribes of Powhatan and Pocahontas in America to engage in trade with