During the European age of expansion in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, various European nations were colonizing the newly discovered Americas. Spain and France would become prominent players in the Western Hemisphere, both conquering and colonizing new territories. However, each country had different methods of developing their colonies in the New World. Spanish and French settlements contrasted greatly with one another in terms of economic development and Native American relations. The economies of Spanish and French colonies differed from one another, considering their geography. For example, the Spanish established colonies in the south, while the French mainly established colonies near present-day Canada. The differences in …show more content…
Spain’s colonies developed a profitable agricultural industry. In the warmer surroundings of the south, a variety of crops such as sugarcane and tobacco were cultivated on plantations. The French, on the other hand, had little success with farming. Instead, their fishing and fur trade was more advantageous, and the French formed a trading alliance with the local natives. To protect their economic interests, in 1627, the king of France gave the Company of New France a fur trade monopoly. Despite these differences, both Spanish and French colonies shared the similarity of mercantilism. The discovery of gold and silver in the Americas led the Spanish crown to strictly regulate trade in the colonies. Likewise, France used various mercantilist policies to control the flow of trade. For example, Jean Baptiste Colbert, the chief minister of Louis XIV from 1661 to 1683, prohibited the export of money, and promoted French shipping. In addition, he encouraged the export of raw materials from French colonies to France. The trans-Atlantic …show more content…
After observing local natives, the first Spanish conquistadors came to the conclusion that the Native Americans were barbaric and in dire need of Christian teachings. Thus, Spanish colonists made it their mission to convert the local natives to Christianity, using violence when there was resistance. In 1597, there were a series of uprisings by the Guale Indians in present-day Florida. They destroyed many missions, explaining that the Spanish missionaries had attempted to eliminate their religious practices such as feasts and celebrations. The Spanish also oppressed the Native Americans, and used them as a labor force under the encomienda system. The French, on the other hand, are known for their peaceful alliances with the Native Americans. Colonists established trade agreements with the local natives, obtaining raw goods such as fur and timber. Their peaceful relationship may in fact be attributed to the Spanish; the “Black Legend” of Spanish cruelty towards Native Americans made other European countries eager to prove themselves different. The French took pride in the fact that they treated the Native Americans more humanely than their Spanish counterparts. In addition, the French were not interested in expanding their territory, unlike the Spanish. They were simply looking for trade opportunities, and a mutual relationship with the Native Americans was advantageous. The primary goal of Spain
The Spanish were the first European country to establish significant colonies in the Americas. By the 1570s, the Spanish had established roughly 200 cities and towns in the New World. They had also built many cathedrals, as well as the first universities in the Americas. New Spain refers to Spanish colonies in North and Central America and the Caribbean. At its height in 1795, New Spain included Mexico, Panama, several Caribbean islands, and most of the United States west of the Mississippi River. In these territories, the Spanish started large projects to get all available resources.
While creating and managing their new colonies in North America, the Spanish and the French had both similarities and differences in their motives, governing methods, and the treatment of the native Indians. Both the Spanish and the French intended to create colonies to make money, but the ways in which they carried this plan out had differed. The Spanish were motivated by hoping to find gold and riches in America, but changed their focus to conquest and expansion after they did not find the amount of goods they had hoped for. The French wanted to establish a fur trade with the Indians. The two countries differ in way in which they governed their newly formed colonies. Spain had set up a "divide to rule" method of government for their
In this essay, I will compare and contrast how Spain, France, England, and America viewed and interacted with Native peoples differently as they colonized North America. It is reported that roughly three hundred and fifty thousand Native Americans called the area known today as Florida home, when Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon landed his fleet of ships on the coast in the early 1500’s. As we have discussed and learned when the Native people were colonized by outsiders it was not a great day. The Natives of Florida were not immune; war, slavery, disease, and extremely low child birth rates took a devastating toll on the Florida tribes. A charter penned by Ponce de Leon, known as the encomienda, granted Spain the ability to enslave the Natives of Florida. Forcing them to work in the crop fields and essentially making them the major labor force; constructing and designing the buildings occupied by the Spanish. The oppression did not end there. Around the middle of the 16th century the Native people were declared to be free, but only on paper. The Spanish royals felt that the Natives needed to educated in the ways of Catholicism, and those that did not want to conform could be punished up to and including death.
Certain aspects of how the French approached the Natives upon arrival to The New World seemed to produce superior conditions for the French colonizers. For example, the French seemed to find a “middle ground” with the Natives, so to speak. Rather than the English had done prior, in which they seemed to shove religion down the throats of the Native Americans, the French seemed to ease the transition with offerings such as giving Natives improved prices on goods upon allowing Jesuits to live among the tribes. Even if members of the tribes refused, the French seemed to have greater interest in becoming allies rather than persecuting the Native Americans. With this mutual respect, trading between both parties seemed to flow smoother. Tribes, such
They were cruel to Native Americans. Based on the document, it states “They(the Spanish)forced the Natives to learn Spanish and took over much of the Natives land to build Mexico City.” The Spanish conquered the Natives and disrespected them. They killed a lot of Native Americans and forced some Native Americans out for people coming from Spain to live in New Spain. According to the document it states” In New Spain Native Americans as well as Africans were enslaved and forced to work to build up the Spanish empire.” The Spanish enslaved Native Americans. The Spanish were cruel to the Native Americans. Therefore, there is big difference between how the Spanish treated Native Americans and how the French treated the Native
During the 15th through 17th centuries, advancements in technology and the desire for new resources spurred the exploration of the New World for both Spain and England. Spain's interest in exploration soon surpassed the rest of the countries in the Old World and the nation began to claim the majority of territory in Central and South America. Spain sent conquistadores to assert their dominance in the New World through violent conquest which resulted in difficult relations with native populations. Although the English did not settle in North America until the early 17th century, well past the period of the Spanish conquest, their methods of colonization were more successful in the long term. The English were able to find economic success
The Spanish Settlements and the English colonies were different in many ways. They were different in politics, religion, and economic development.
Spain, for example, began their conquest in a seemingly normal and peaceful way as Columbus, a missionary, described the Indians, the island, Christianity, and gold. He wanted the Indians to convert to Christianity initially, but later digressed from it to accomplish his most important mission: obtaining gold, which he could do quickly by enslaving the Indians.
While the Spanish were settling in the Southwest region there was also English colonies rising throughout New England. They were able to spread customs, beliefs, trade goods, and grow economically as a colony. Colonization also brought new discoveries of goods, animals, diseases, etc. to both the Spanish and English. During the 17th century, although both the Spanish and English were in the process of build their colonies they had differences within their politics, religion, and economic developments.
Great observation, the relationship between the French and Native American of the early colonization were very successful. Therefore, both sides needed each other in order to exchange their goods in order for survival. At first, the Native Americans were receptive to the French building their colonies because they viewed the French as partners and they would protect them against other Native Americans. As we learned in the text, “that the support to the Huron tribes in their efforts against the confederated tribes of the Mohawks and Iroquois (Reich, 2011, p. 37). However, the French tried to impose their culture onto the Native Americans by trying to convert them to Christianity. In fact, the Indians were not too keen on this idea and as
I agree with the stamen. According to US a narrative History, French colonist saw natives as equal, respecting their way of live, and even blending some colonist with them in order to learn their languages and customs. This friendly approach make easier for the French to establish their religious mission among Indian towns. Later they pay better rates for their furs to Indians converted to Christianity. This alliances benefit them both, even natives helped French colonist to content Spanish an English territorial expansion. French colonist approach to native people benefit them with guidance trough the territory, a valuable asset for commerce and military strategies.
Lastly, each colony had separate and different relations with the Native Americans. Each of these three colonies had very different settlement patterns, and geographies. First most of all the English colonies were created by the royal people of the colony, and were settled in Quebec, Montreal, and Louisiana. Some of the very first trading’s began were in Virginia and Massachusetts, but then they all began to spread. On the other hand, in France the first colonies that they began to trade with was in Newfoundland, but then continued with places like parts of Canada, and the Mississippi River.
The settlements of the four great countries were different in the size, lifestyles, financial ventures, growth and regions. The sizes of the colonies and settlements differed, some allowing more growth, and a larger population, than others. England was able to have one of the largest North American colonies, with around 100,000 colonists in the early 1700’s. France had the second largest landwise, being second to the Spanish, who settled most of, what is now, the southwestern region of the US and Florida. The Dutch had the smallest region, only colonizing the land around the Hudson River. They all lived lifestyles similar to their home country, with the rural necessities of the colonies, mixed in. While they all farmed as a lifestyle, to an
Prior to 1763, both Spanish and British colonization efforts expanded into various regions of North America. In less than a century, from 1625 to 1700, the movements of peoples and goods from Europe to North America transformed the continent. Native Americans either resisted or accommodated the newcomers depending on the region of the colony. Though the English colonies were by far the most populous, within the English colonies, four distinct regions emerged. While planters or merchants grew in power in each English colony, Spanish colonists, with far fewer colonists, depended more on friendly relations with Native Americans to secure their
The European countries experienced the unprecedented territorial expansion during late fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries. Spain was one leading country that had expanded its power over Latin America. Just as Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Spain supported Christopher Columbus for the sake of God and Spain, the first conquistadors shared in some measure the sense that they had both a territorial and a religious mission to accomplish.