“Black Legend”

The “Black Legend” was originated in 1914 with a purpose of showing the Spaniards as cruel, unmerciful, and intolerant human beings. This piece of literature is thought to have been created due to the political and religious rivalries in the country. Its major goal was to criticize and blame the Spanish Inquisition by means of exaggeration and mystification. Moreover, the legend spoke about Spanish colonization of America, depicting Spanish colonists as bloodthirsty intruders and barbarians, which could partly be true, though the Spanish rulers always emphasized that the colonization is mainly aimed to convert the American tribes into Christianity without using any violence whatsoever.

Nathaniel Bacon 

Nathaniel Bacon is known as a rich colonist, a rebel, who initiated the so called ‘Bacon’s Rebellion’. Nathaniel was born in England, around 1967 (today historians are not sure of his birth date) in a family of a wealthy English landowner. At the age of 27 he moved to the state of Virginia, and was helped to become an owner of two pieces of land. Moreover, the governor had granted him a seat in the Council, not without the aid of the forewarning letters of his father. However, the issue of the local Indians that settled beside the state’s borders became a turning point in Nathaniel’s life. He was very much concerned with the Indians being their neighbors and soon decided to attack them, without the governor’s permission. The governor tried to oppose Bacon, but made the situation worse, as Nathaniel, with the help of some 400 militia, got control over the city and even proclaimed certain laws concerning taxes and legislative power. Nonetheless, Nathaniel Bacon soon died of dysentery and the rebellion collapsed.

Puritan Migration 

The Puritan migration influenced the history of colonization of America and, undoubtedly, the religious foundations of the society that they formed. The migration itself started in the beginning of the seventeenth century, when the first group of Puritans, separated from the Church of England, left their homes for a long journey towards North America. Those were the Pilgrims, who founded the Plymouth colony in 1620. Some years later, the main group of Puritans, under the program of Massachusetts Bay Company, left for New England. Those settlers laid incredibly strong religious foundations that, eventually, influenced the whole territory north of Virginia, with New England as their stronghold. For another ten years did the colonists arrive at Massachusetts Bay Colony, forming a new, religious, stable, and harmonious society.

Sir Edmund Andros

Sir Edmund Andros had experienced quite a long career of governing the newly formed American colonies of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and others. Nonetheless, he was probably one of the most unpopular governors of the New World. In 1686 he officially became the governor of New England. His new regulations and laws were not approved either by the local authorities, or by the common people. He officially proclaimed the rule of the Anglican Church, which outraged the Puritans that once separated from it. Moreover, he interfered with the colonial laws and customs, by minimizing the local legislation power and practicing the arbitrary government. After the news of the fall of James II have reached New England, rebellious groups activated their activity and pursued Sir Edmund Andros, who was trying to run away in women’s clothing. Eventually, he was caught and sent back to England for trial.