Throughout history, there have been many examples where the roots of a colony branched out to form its own individual characteristics and beliefs. Between the settlement at Jamestown in 1607 and the Treaty of Paris in 1763, the most important change that occurred in the colonies was the extension of British ideals far beyond the practice in England itself. Changes in religion, economics, politics, and social structures illustrate this Americanization of the transplanted Europeans.

By 1763, although some colonies still maintained established churches, other colonies had accomplished a virtual revolution for religious tolerance and separation of church and state. The Puritans, who had a firm belief of the governments' use as serving religion, was opposed and threatened by Roger Williams. His views of separation of church and state soon caused the Puritans to expel him from Massachusetts. Moving south, he founded the state of Rhode Island, where his views of separation...