The New World

The original colonists were very unprepared and uninformed about the "New World" they were about to embark on. I also think that it is a miracle after all the "laziness" diseases and death that anyone survived at all. I have concluded that if it weren't for the protestant work ethic that the puritans brought with them, America would still be ruled by natives. My overall opinion of the British North American Colonies is one of awe for the past and how much a person withstood just to achieve religious freedom or any prosperity that they thought would be in the New World. I am the most surprised by the fact that horses and pigs were not a part of the America's originally. I cannot imagine America without wild horses! Another surprise for me was the fact of the Salem Witch Trials. I had no clue prior to reading that these killings were due to a couple of young girls making up a story about their maid. It baffles me that the adults in the community believed the girls and wound up killing women because of it. I'm also very sickened and saddened by the treatment of the natives. According to these articles they were very generous to the strangers who were on their land, the colonists should have been thankful for the way the natives helped them learn how to survive in this new territory. Overall, these articles made me realize that I do not know as much about my own country as I thought I would.