STANDARD US1.5a  Events Leading to Colonization
The student will demonstrate knowledge of the factors that shaped colonial America by
a) describing the religious and economic events and conditions that led to the colonization of America.

Why did Europeans establish colonies in North America?
Colonies in North America were established for religious and economic reasons.

Colonies and the reasons they were established
• Roanoke Island (Lost Colony) was established as an economic venture. The first permanent English settlement in North America (1607), Jamestown Settlement, was an economic venture by the Virginia Company.

• Plymouth colony was settled by separatists from the Church of England who wanted to avoid religious persecution. Massachusetts Bay Colony was settled by the Puritans for the same reasons.

• Pennsylvania was settled by the
Quakers, who wanted to have freedom to practice their faith without interference.

• Georgia was settled by people who had been in debtor’s prisons in England. They hoped to experience a new life in the colony and to experience economic freedom in the New World.