What was a major reason that people immigrated to america in the 1600s? to escape a potato famine in their native country to escape religious persecution in their native country to pursue employment in factories in america to pursue better educational opportunities

The correct answer for what drove so many English and European people to leave their homeland to establish themselves in a new continent, and re-start their lives, in the colonies, in the 1600´s is: To escape religious persecution.

It is to be remembered that previous to the first establishment in 1605 of the Jamestown, Virginia, colony, Puritans had been faced with great religious persecution in Europe due to their extremely strict views on lifestyle and religious beliefs. Because of this, they were forced to choose exile from their homes and to establish their colonies in the newly found American continent. The first group that arrived was known as the Pilgrims, and they were the ones who established in Plymouth, Massachusetts, around 1620. Later on, a new wave of Puritans established another colony known as the Massachusetts Bay Colony, between 1630 and 1640.

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