English, French, and Spanish Colonies: A Comparison Essay Example

Introduction:

Spain and France were different because of what they did when they got there. Spain enslaved the Indians and didn’t try to make settlements they were looking for the 3Gs, God, Glory, and, Gold. France went to the New World to Find Trading options. When England tried to colonize, they were in a fight with Spain for leadership. Their colonization was different though because they actually were on top for a really long time. England’s colonization of the New World differs from France and Spain's Approach in how successful they were, the reasons for why they wanted to colonize, and where they started colonizing.

England's Way of Colonizing:

England was an enemy for the colonists since the beginning but they were the only reason we actually became the United States. England was the best at colonizing the real world for the reason that they were able to get their people over the fastest.” During the 17th century, when England established its first permanent colonies in North America, a crucial difference arose between the southern-most colonies, whose economy was devoted to production of staple crops, and the more diverse economies of the northern colonies.” (Mintz, et, al, 2018). The US did not become independent from Britain until 1763. With England in control though they kept the colonies in a cornered space so they had to depend on them to survive England wanted to Colonize so that they could gain treasure and they believed that the New World had it. “Promoters of English colonization in North America, many of whom never ventured across the Atlantic, wrote about the bounty the English would find there.” (Corbett, et, al, 2014)

Since the English were being told of treasure they came to the United States in search of riches. Eventually they found out that the US didn’t have riches but good ground for farming so they stayed over and eventually payed for it when Britain went rogue. England kept moving people over and it caused the Colonies to get bigger. This allowed for business to happen therefore growing the economy. Britain was helping the country at first by allowing people to come over but they only did it for riches. It was selfish.

England Started Colonizing in Virginia.” The English migrants who actually made the journey, however, had different goals. In Chesapeake Bay, English migrants established Virginia and Maryland with a decidedly commercial orientation.” (Corbett, et, al, 2014) The town that they started in was called Jamestown Virginia. It was 60 miles from the Chesapeake Bay. Since they started in the middle it only made sense that they would do the best. This is because they can go out in any direction whereas the Spanish started in the south and the French started in the north. 

Spain's Way of Colonizing:

The Spanish had the most gruesome way of colonizing out of Spain France, and England. he Spanish were moderately successful in colonizing the new world. The Spanish came from South America into Florida where they set up their first base. The Name of it was St. Augustine.” Spain gained a foothold in present-day Florida, viewing that area and the lands to the north as a logical extension of their Caribbean empire. In 1513, Juan Ponce de León had claimed the area around today’s St. Augustine for the Spanish crown, naming the land Pascua Florida (Feast of Flowers, or Easter) for the nearest feast day.” (Corbett, et, al, 2014) They were gruesome towards the Indians they found. They either forced them to be slaves or made them change their religion they had no decision because the Spanish were more powerful. Spain came to the New World in search of God, Glory, and Gold When the Spanish came to America, they failed to find any bounty and this made the Spanish to not want to settle there.”

However, conflict with Indians and the failure to find major silver or gold deposits made it difficult to persuade settlers to colonize there.” (Mintz, et, al, 2018). Since they couldn’t find The First GGold they decided to go with the second God. The Spanish settlements there were mainly for religious missions instead of finding gold.” Spanish settlement in that region was largely confined to religious missions, a few small civilian towns, and military posts intended to prevent encroachment by Russia, France, and England.” (Mintz, et, al, 2018) In 1749 they set their first civilian town in Texas. This was where they started the glory part of things from doing this, they were able to set there foot down somewhere so they were able to fight if they needed. They were getting ready to move their colonists in.

The Spanish Colonization started in the Caribbean. They moved North to get to Florida and modern-day Texas. They were in search for gold and silver in Mexico and South America. Then they came up into the New World.” Spain grew rich from the gold and silver it found after conquering native civilizations in Mexico and South America.” (Mintz, et, al, 2018). After moving up from Mexico they created a town named Texas. The towns name now is called Laredo.” It was not until 1749 that Spain established the first civilian town in Texas, a town that eventually became Laredo; and not before 1769 did Spain establish permanent settlements in California.” (Mintz, et, al, 2018). After Gaining this settlement they had a foothold in an unexplored part of the New World. It was farther west than the English or the French had gone. This was the start of the Spanish's colonization of The New World

Frances Way of Colonization:

France went with a nicer way of doing things. Instead of killing the Indians they befriended them. The French were moderately successful with their goal and their colonization of the New World. When the French came over, they started in the north by where Quebec is located. After doing this they sought out to find people so that they could start a fur trading company. They Ended up Befriending the Indians and established their trade.” While the Dutch, French, and Swedish settlements relied mainly on trade in fish and furs, English settlement took a variety of forms.” (Mintz, et, al, 2018) They mostly stayed in Canada and didn’t really come down until the French and Indian War.

The reason that the French traveled to America was to set up fur trades. When the French ended up in Quebec, they set up a settlement and attempted trade with the natives. The French settlements in the New World were relied heavily on trade” French, and Swedish settlements relied mainly on trade in fish and furs.” (Mintz, et, al, 2018). The Indians were friends with them because of trade. This helped a lot in the French and Indian war.

The French Colonization Started in Quebec. When the French got to their starting point, they were still a little bit north of North America. They searched for Native people to set up trade with. The French had set up trade in Ohio. When the colonists tried to come claim the land the French fought back. “The French, determined to secure the territory against encroaching British and American traders and land speculators, built a chain of forts along Pennsylvania's Allegheny River.” (Mintz, et, al, 2018). This caused the 7 years' war or the French and Indian War the French were really successful in their reason for being there but they didn’t colonize much from where they started.

How Were They Similar in their Colonization:

England and Spain were more forward with their approach towards America because of how aggressive they were. They both started from separate places and went about different ways of keeping the area under their control. The French kept friends with the Indians and went a different path than both of them with trading rather than nothing but all-out war. One thing they did all have in common though was the open land ready for the taking. When the three powers heard of the new area, they were ready to expand their borders. It was the only thing on their minds. England sent over Pilgrims, the French started trade with the Natives in attempt to take over from the inside and Spain started from the bottom with violence. They all shared the same common goal but they did it in very different and not so different ways.

Conclusion:

England was the best at colonizing because they were in the best area. They started out in the middle which allowed them to go up or down and gave them more of an area to explore. This allowed them to keep control of a large part of America for a long period of time. Spain and France were less successful because of their starting areas and nothing more. They all had great strategies and the power to commit to those strategies. The difference was the place and time of when and where they started. The reasons England had also made them out to be the best. They didn’t want to completely dominate the country but they wanted to rule it. This is where Spain Failed and France because they were either to nice or to mean to the natives. Eventually England got greedy though and decided to try and take it all over. They were the best until they decided that they wanted to be too good causing their downfallю