onsidered part of Virginia, and they had arrived to escape the persecution that was forced membership in the Church of England (29 32). Since then, the United States has offered the two main opportunities of money and religion.
England ran its colonies differently from Spain. At first, the English settlers were simple employees of the company. Having no personal stake in the success of the company, they did not work as hard as they could. Soon, they began to be allotted parcels of land of their own to work with and profit from. The colonists worked harder for their own benefit and so benefitted the colony and helped its continued survival (29). Also, by marriage or treaty, the English tried to maintain a positive working relationship with the Indians (30). Spain, by contrast, did not allot land but sold it, and the Indians, though many of them became Christian, usually ended up serving the Spaniards. Thus, while English government in the New World grew, the Spanish government in the New World became faced with difficulties and revolt.
However, the British government was also heavy-handed in governing the colonies, and in time even the English wanted what they considered fair treatment (68 74). Perhaps most notably, each person in an English settlement was ultimately ruled by the British government, yet they had no voice in that government. They never sent a representative to parliament. Because of this and other perceived abuses, the British colonists rebelled against England. After their successful revolution, they established their own government, whose foundation was in many ways a correction of the abuses they suffered from the British government (533 551).
Each of the presidents of the United States contributed to the nation. Few would dispute that George Washington contributed more than any other president: from his leadership in forming the nation to his tempering presence at the drafting of the constituti...