At the brink of the 1600's, European nations were expanding beyond the reaches of their own lands. Instead they began focusing on what lay beyond the vast oceans. With the discovery of a new world, the distant shores soon to be known as America provided both refuge for those seeking religious freedom as well as the potential of a better life. However, this new land was not without its own challenges as is detailed in the Session 1, Discussion 2. Despite the foreign terrain, brutal weather and lack of preparation on the settler's part, the indigenous people took it upon themselves to aid the newcomers through many setbacks. Even with their help, early Native Americans were too trusting of the European settlers and were cheated out of their own valuable possessions, land and way of life.
America was a land just waiting to be claimed and taken. This was the belief at the forefront of every explorer that set foot and planted the flag of their homeland into the soil. Captain Verrazzano of France, was one such explorer who wrote the letter "Verrazzano's Voyage: 1524" found in The American Tradition in Literature by George and Barbara Perkins. With details of the land and the native people he encountered, it is …show more content…
Some of the main reasons for the founding of the colonies was to extend the power and wealth of European nations. The fertile land of America provided the perfect opportunity to grow crops such as tobacco. As more colonists arrived, more land was needed to accommodate their homes, businesses and farms. The Native Americans had no legitimate rights to the land in the belief of settlers. Soon, the native people who had once helped starving colonists through a rough winter, found themselves being forced off the land they had hunted, gathered and lived off of, which resulted in building tension between colonists and Native