After the Renaissance, technological advances in exploration allowed for countries to sail out into the unknown. Christopher Columbus was one of the many explorers who searched for new routes to Asia. Settlers traveled to the Americas for a variety of reasons, one major reason being economic religion. Whether settlers traveled for freedom of religion that drove them out of their countries or to spread religion by searching for potential converts, religion was crucial in the settling of many colonies across North America. The role of religion played two different parts in the establishment of Spanish colonies which was to spread Catholicism while the English fled from persecution by Protestants
In the 16th century, the first Spanish colony that was found was Florida by Juan Ponce in 1513. Nevertheless, Spain dominated the Americas because of their conquistadors who made Spain the richest nation in Europe all while being the Catholic’s biggest defender. The Spaniards saw America as potential land for growth and saw the Native Americans as potential converts to Catholicism. The Spanish mainly settled West and South of the English in places such as California and modern Mexico. The majority if not all Spanish settlers were Catholic and tried to convert the Native Americans to Catholicism while searching for gold.
The English did not settle their first colony until a decade later due to the English monarchy being occupied with their own internal religious conflicts such as Henry VIII’s break from the Catholic Church. Unlike, the Spanish, the English settled on the east coast. The first colony established in North America by English settlers was Virginia in 1607 by John Smith. The English settlers that traveled to Virginia explored off more of an economic desire rather than a religious conversion desire. Although, colonies such as Massachusetts Bay,