User:Cwstanley/sandbox

Religion and the practice of it, was one of the driving forces involved in the colonization of America. Specifically the saving of souls or bringing the unwashed to Christ was a great part of the mission of founding America. In many letters and speeches that sought out permission and funds to colonize America, the spreading of the gospel was used as a tool to gain approval.

In, Coming to America: A Discourse of Western Planting, by M. Richard Hakluyt this is evident. In this work the author writes, "what may we hope for in our true and syncere religion, proposing unto ourselves in this action not flthie lucre nor vaine ostentaion, as they in deede did, b﻿ut principally the gain of ﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿ souls of millions of those wretched people, the reducing of them from darkness to light, from falsehood to truth...". In similar fashion many others who ventured to the new world set up to spread the gospel to the peoples of the world who, in their view, never had a chance at salvation due to isolation. As history unfolded, I believe the Gospel was a driving force for early colonization of America. Albeit not the only force. The drive to expand westward, gain independence from the Britain and become wealthy played a larger role in the long run. While great strides were made in spreading the Gospel, greed became a part of the human experience as well. This greed led to tragic things like slavery, displacement of Native Americans and many more dark events of our nation. To this day our nation struggles with the good and the bad of America. On balance I still believe the noble efforts of being able to freely worship God and evangelize the world are worth the risks.

Coming to America, A Discourse of Western Planting, by M. Richard Hakluyt, 1584