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The Soon Coming Judgment Of God Upon America and How To Escape It 76
The Settlement of America
Somehow God was able to preserve North America from the pillaging and massacres that
occurred at the hands of the Spaniards in South America. He also saved the nation from being
settled for exploitive reasons. The East Coast of America was discovered in 1513 by Ponce de
León. In 1562 a group of French Huguenots (Protestants) settled in what is now South Carolina;
they were fleeing religious persecution. Another group of Huguenots settled in what is now
Florida, two years later. Neither settlement was successful and the Huguenots in Florida were
massacred by the Spaniards. The Spanish then tried to settle Florida themselves and they
failed.
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In 1585 the English made a settlement off the coast of what is now North Carolina on
Roanoke Island. They were seeking treasures of gold and silver as the Spanish had done in South
America and through providence they failed.
In 1606 the English made their second attempt at settling in America at Jamestown. This
venture was greatly publicized as a missionary journey into the new world; an attempt to convert
the heathens. In all actuality, it was another treasure hunt. There was only one pastor among the
original settlers. The settlers proved to be more barbarian than the Indians. By chance or
providence they settled among one of the few tribes that were friendly. The majority of tribes
would have massacred them for sport. Rather then spread the gospel to these deserving souls,
they would steal food from them and kill them when necessary. It proved much easier to kill and
steal than to grow their own. Even after their barbarian behavior the Indians freely gave them
food to enable them to live. It would be 20 years before these ungodly men would grow enough
food to feed themselves. Seventy-eight percent of the 1,580 settlers died the first year. Later
another one-third died in a vengeful Indian massacre. The settlers continued to die in very large
numbers for many years. Eventually they found their treasure; it turned out to be tobacco.
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I
believe God allowed Jamestown to continue as an example of how not to live. Jamestown was
dependent on England for their survival, the pilgrims would be dependent on God.
It was the pilgrims who eventually fulfilled God's purpose for America in 1620. Why the
pilgrims decided to come to America and there purpose is recoded by William Bradford, the first
governor of the Plymouth Colony. Bradford recorded this in his book Of Plymouth Plantation,
which contains the actions, thoughts and prayers of the pilgrims before they left for America and
after they arrived. “The pilgrims believed that the ultimate purpose of God was to restore the
church to its original condition, as portrayed in the New Testament.” Bradford shows this in the
first paragraph of his book:
…the churches of God revert to their ancient purity and recover their
primitive [i.e. original] order, liberty and beauty. (p. 3)
Bradford further expands on this topic and makes it even clearer later in his first chapter.
Here he declares the very purpose of the pilgrims was to follow God without the interference of
men:
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