In much of the 17th century, America served as a religious sanctuary for freedom-seeking Europeans. More specifically, America's New England colonies were the site of arrivals by various European cultures. These cultures, the Puritans (English), the Jesuits (French), and Dutch (New Netherland) all fled Europe--primarily in search of religious tolerance--and established settlements along the eastern strip of present-day United States. Motives for European colonization are generally similar, but how different cultures went about achieving these goals varied. Success in these expeditions, though, was not always guaranteed; some found a religious refuge while others attempted to put their religion in motion to no avail. This refusal to accept religious principles in Europe eventually formed many of the British colonies presently in North America.

European motives for migrating to America varied just as much as the diversity of the people who migrated. Some settlers came to these colonies for non-religious...