During the colonial times, many people made a voyage to the new colonies of England. Starting with Jamestown, Virginia in 1607, the first successful settlement in the new land the population of the colonies increased greatly. By 1790, the population was way over 3 million. The people who came over were seeking Religious Freedom, higher profits, or just an easier life.
In one point of England's history, the King was not allowing certain religions to be practiced. England was fining people who didn't follow the rules or even worse, kill them. These people were fleeing their homeland to try and find religious freedom. As shown is document 7, the Puritans came to Massachusetts for religious freedom led by John Winthrop. They were treated very badly by the "evil world".
England had many homeless and jobless people. The wages were extremely low and were hard to support one person, not to mention a family. The people in the new colonies defiantly had the better bargain with jobs. As shown in documents 3 and 6, the economy was great. Document there states that "a poor person, both men and women of all kinds, can get 3x the wages for there labor they can get in England or Wales." Document 6 states that the economic situation of the colonies was "Great". In document 5, it shows that the colonies had a lot of jobs and manufacturing. .
People wanted an easier way of life. That's where the African American slaves come in. People back then believed that it was okay to treat people like animals. Massive slave ships were sent to Africa and kidnapped Africans and crammed 1000nds of them into the bottom of the ship on their sides. As shown in document 8, between 1690 and 1807 around 6,250,000 black Africans were taken from their homes and forced to do hard labor that had no end. Document 1 was an autobiography of on slave who then paid for his freedom. His name was Olaudah Equiano and he was kidnapped at age 11.