Interestingly, North American colonialization by Europeans was actuated by two primary motivations: 1) economic expansion by companies such as the Hudson Bay Company, and 2) to escape from religiously dominated European governmental control. The three primary colonial powers of the 17th and 18th centuries were wed to organized religious authorities. The British by the Church of England, and the French and Spanish by Catholicism. The Spanish were equally motivated by economic and religious expansion, explaining why most of Central and South America is Catholic and speaks Spanish. The French were predominantly economically motivated, establishing the fur trade and the French language in Canada. The French became largely secular after the French Revolution. The British were both economically and religiously motivated, explaining why most of the U.S.A. is predominantly protestant and speaks English. A primary push by the "founding Fathers" in composing the Constitution was in emphasizing freedom of religion and non-interference by the government in religious affairs (one consequence is that churches and religious organizations are not taxed). The idea that the U.S.A. was founded on "Christian values" is fairly unfounded, and it is only in the 20th century that religion began to assert itself into governmental dealings. An example: it wasn't until 1956 that "E Pluribus Unum" was replaced with "In God We Trust" on U.S. currency. Sorry, TL;DR. Happy <your favorite word goes here>!
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