Can we go over the founding of America? Was there a religious reason for the founding of America? What was going on over in Europe with religious persecution at the time?

Yes; there was religious persecution in Europe that caused many of America’s initial settlers to seek escape from Europe. In England, the Church of England forbid (to the point of law) attendance at any other kind of church. Punishment included fines and imprisonments; leaders could be executed. Those known as Pilgrims initially fled to the Netherlands before leaving for America because of conflict with the Church of England. Quakers also experienced difficulties in England because they would not support the Church of England with their taxes. And the appeal of a place like America was overwhelming: an entire continent completely empty (obviously overlooking Native Americans). Talk about a place for a fresh start. And a huge part of the original founders saw the world with a Christian (or at least godly) worldview. When Harvard was founded in 1636, as part of its first rules and precepts, it said, “Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well, the main end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life (John 17:3) and therefore lay Christ at the bottom, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning.” Their original motto? “Truth for Christ and the Church.” Princeton, founded 110 years later (1746), said in its founding statement, “Cursed is all learning that is contrary to the Cross of Christ.” What began in that noble way became waylaid by the inroads of evolutionary thought. By the mid-1800s, it had become fashionable to see education, law and other pursuits as defined by their ongoing evolution over time. Relativism began to show itself, the idea that right is what’s right in the moment. In that case, God and any kind of scriptures are not needed. Man pilots the ship of his own destiny.