Position:Home>History> I need help with some US history?

All the above, also, European society was very rigid and structured!. Whatever social class you were born into, chances are you would die the same, right down to your job!. 'Social mobility' was almost unheard of!.

America offered the opportunity to kick free of that--as far back as Benjamin Franklin, he noted that in this country no-one asks "Who is father!?" or "Where is he from!?" but only "What can he do!?" I'm paraphrasing a bit, but that is an authentic Franklinism!

Here, your social status was limited only by your ambition and talent!.

Closely related to this was the availability of land on the frontier!. Whereas in Europe, just about every square inch of ground had been recorded, owned, farmed, or otherwise occupied for centuries, or millenia, there was land enough here to give away to anyone who wanted it and could make something of it--read up on the homesteading of the prairies!.

As an observation, I'm not at all sure I like the tone of the question--I'm not sure about exactly WHEN in early America the q!. is asking about, but there certainly was an equality of opportunity unlike any that had been seen before!. I have no idea what is meant by a 'world of consensus'!. The best response to "How could they draw such a conclusion!?" is "Because it was true!." I think your teacher or professor has a very anti-American bias showing!. Sad!. Try to educate him [or her]!.

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I think the religion aspect is important but I wouldn't ignore the economic aspect!. There was a belief, sometimes right sometimes not, that one could be more financially successful in America!. As you know many immigrants from Ireland, Italy!.!.!.came to America earned higher wages (in what we would consider low paying jobs) and sent money home to support there families/relatives!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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In Europe, only the oldest son could inherit land!. So other sons and daughers got nothing!. But if they came to America, anyone could own land!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Overcrowding and poverty in England's cities were two reasons why people migrated to the American Colonies!.

During the 1620s the population of colonial New England had remained small, numbering only about 500!. This figure ballooned in the 1630s when people began fleeing unrest in England!.
Some of this unrest was caused by England's struggle to change its medieval ways!.
One hundred years after the English Reformation the nation was at odds over the direction the Church of England should take!. The Church was not under Catholic control!. Still it had kept many Catholic traditions!. The Puritans wanted to rid the Church of such "Popish" traditions as the use of statues, paintings, and instrumental music!. The Puritans held ministers in High respect, but they resented bishops!.

For devout Puritans the future looked bleak, and many chose to head to America Thus in 1630 began the "Great Migration"!. During the next ten years thousands of people poured out of England toward the Americas!.
Most of these emigrants- 40,000 of them- moved to England's new colonies in the West Indies!. The Caribbean was no longer a Spanish sea, and other nations were laying claim to islands there!. English settlers started large farms throughout the West Indies!. They raised sugar, tobacco, cotton, and dyes to sell abroad!.
Another 20,000 Puritan emigrants chose New England!. In 1692 the Massachusetts Bay Company had been a royal charter to settle land in New England!. Many Puritan merchants had invested in the company!. It was only natural that the company began to recruit new settlers from among English Puritans!.
The leader of the Great Migration to New England was John Winthrop, a pious Puritan!. A victim of the king's crackdown of Puritans,Winthrop had been fired from his job as an attorney in the king's courts!. The Massachusetts Bay Co!. knew of Winthrop's leadership skills and convinced him to become governor!. Winthrop the recruited wealthy Puritan families to migrate to New England!.
In March 1630 the migration began!. A fleet of 11 ships carried 700 passengers, 240 cows, and 60 horses!. The arrival of the fleet more than doubled the white population of New England!.

The Puritans did not bring freedom of religion to New England though!. They came to the Americas to worship in their own way!. They were intolerant of dissenters ( someone who challenges the generally accepted views of Church)!.
English colonization stopped in the middle of the 1600s as a result of civil war in England, and the Puritans ruled England until 1660!.

New Jersey and Pennsylvania
William Penn, an active Quaker (the Quakers is a radical Puritan sect that had arisen in England in 1650s) was seeking a refuge for Quakers being persecuted in England for their beliefs!. Penn was grated the tract of land that became Pennsylvania in 1682!.
Land was of no use to a proprietor as wilderness!. Settlers were needed to work the land!. Thus William Penn, after first throwing open Pennsylvania to the Quakers, went off to Germany to find more immigrants!. In time, thousands of Germans arrived in Pennsylvania!. The brought with them craft skills and productive farming techniques that helped the colony thrive!.
In the 1700s a large new group of immigrants began landing on Philadelphia's docks!. These were the Scottish-Irish!. Like other immigrants, they felt both the push from the old world and the pull of the new world!.The Scottish-Irish were Scottish Protestants, mostly farmers and weavers, who had settled in north Ireland!. On arrival, most of the Scots-Irish fanned out to the frontier, where land was cheap!. They were a practical , restless people who valued liberty, religion, and responsibility!.
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Hope this helps, it's not a copy-paste, it's a summary I made from a book!. (History of the United States: Beginnings to 1877)!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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