Why did the British come to the American colonies?

In: English History, Colonial America [Edit categories]

[Edit]

Answer

Firstly, they were not "American Colonies" at the time. They were bush and wilderness. Nobody laid claim to the land.

The first settlers were religious fundamentalists, who left Great Britain to be able to practice their own oddball form of religion, called Puritanism. They could be compared to the current crop of religious right wingers in the USA. They had little practical knowledge of how to survive in North America, and if it were not for the Aboriginals, they would have died of starvation during the first winter. What is now called " Thanksgiving" should really be called " we were really lucky to survive the first winter here".

The Puritans made a number of huge errors as they tried to re-create England in North America, in both the way they tried to farm the land and how they built their homes. They were too stubborn to adopt the proven methods of the Aboriginals when it came to living here. It is a wonder they survived at all.

Later they came to make money from plantations.

First answer by Buntingj. Last edit by Plucas. Contributor trust: 594 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 73 [recommend question]

Also see on Answers.com

British overseas territories
Thirteen Colonies (geographical area, United States in history)

Can you answer these England questions?

Research your answer:

Answers.com > Wiki Answers > Categories > History Politics and Society > History > European History > English History > Why did the British come to the American colonies?

Our contributors said this page should be displayed for the questions below. (Where do these come from

)

If any of these are not a genuine rephrasing of the question, please help out and edit these alternates.

All British colonies? Which were the royal colonies? Does the British own the colonies? From who did we gain independece from? Why did american colonies exist british? Why did the British come to the colonies? Why did british want the american colonies? British attitudes towards american colonies? Why the British foundd the American colonies? How did the british find the american colonies? What is the number of names of British Colonies? Did the british use tho americas as penal colonies? Why did british settlers come to american colonies? How long did the british rule the american colonies? Why did british want to keep control of the colonies? Why did the British want to keep the American colonies? Why did the british come to the north american colonies? Why did the british fight to keep the american colonies? What were british troops in the american colonies called? Hwy did the british seek to control the american colonies?