Gold And Glory

Before the English ventured to Roanoke Europeans explored and settled the New World. The Spanish were the most successful in settling the New World. They conquered most of Central and South America. Their main objective was to convert all of the Indians to Christianity. “Spain’s claim to posses the Americas was based on discovery, conquest, and settlement, but even more important, it was founded on the sacred enterprise of extending the Catholic faith to (in Spanish eyes) “barbarous” native peoples” (Horn 12).

The imperial goals of the British, French, and Spanish in North America between 1580 and 1763 were similar in that all three European states sought to capture the wealth and commerce offered by the New World and in that they all used imperialism as a means of increasing the authority, territory, and influence of their state; however, the British, French, and Spanish imperialistic goals differed in that Britain's religious goals were those regarding asylum, while the French and Spanish sought to gain converts; moreover, the relationships the British, French, and Spanish wanted to form with the natives differed drastically. These goals continued to be a main focus of the British, French, and Spanish imperial efforts from 1580 to 1763. All three European powers sought to capture the wealth and commerce of the New World--namely, they sought to take advantage of the abundance of raw materials and the market for trade offered by North America--which caused economic and political tensions between the three states; therefore, the goal of capturing the wealth offered by the New World was the most significant goal and forged the relationships and tensions between the British, French, and Spanish in both North America and Europe.

Have you ever wondered where why the many different countries in Europe came to America to explore and colonize? There were two main concepts that drew the Europeans to America: the excitement and profit of the "New World", and the past histories of their countries. The English, French, and Spanish each came to the Americas in search of a new beginning; a fresh start in which they could escape past torment and capture new wealth. However, each motive defined the character of each settlement.

The Europeans main goal revolved around the stability of power of the Spanish Crown. The Spanish Crown was focused on expanding their military so they needed resources such as gold to pay for the constantly increasing military budget. Columbus used this idea to help get resources such as, boats, men, food and weapons from the Spanish Crown. This is important because it describes the desperate need of gold that the Spaniards had which ultimately led to the gruesome acts they committed.

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

Europeans came to the Americas for many different reasons. Religious freedom, adventure, gold, new opportunity, and land are a few of them. Perhaps the most serious was the different way that Europeans and Native Americans thought about land. Land was extremely important to European settlers because land meant wealth, in which they established many communities where they lived and worked. Many of the settlers in the new country could have never owned land in Europe because they were too poor. The Native Americans believed that no one could own land. They

During the sixteenth century Spain had control over land in the Caribbeans and America that was ten times the size of Spain. One of the most famous conquerors was a man by the name of Cortes. His first target was the Aztec Empire one of the richest empires in America. After a very bloody battle Cortes successfully conquered the empire “converting” its people to Christianity and taking their gold. From this Cortes became on of the richest men in the world. This event inspired many others to do the same with many choosing the life of a conquistador to find their riches in the new world. The amount of conquistadors started to make Spain worry if they were to try and rule New Spain and that they were killing more Indians instead of converting

1). The Nations of Europe sought to expand their empire because they were on the verge of overpopulation.Between 1550 and 1600 the population grew from three million to four million people. Also, England and Spain were at a war for power. The Spanish attempts at colonizing the New World had been extremely successful, for they had gained both wealth and power. The English did not see such success, as their ships would crash, be lost to the seas, or their colonization efforts would cease to be useful. Through the Spaniards control over the Americas they had gained a massive naval army, noted as the Spanish Armada. The Spanish attempt to invade England in 1588 failed which lead to the beginning of the fall of the Spanish empire in the New World.

The goals the Spanish and the English had while pursuing North America were land and wealth. Spain was in America first. They were able to get a foothold on the New World. The gold and silver they aquired from the Incas and the Aztecs added to their power. It helped finance the growth of the Spanish empire and it's army.

For the people of Europe the Americas was a place to prosper, worship in there own way, and expand there kingdoms. The only problem is that they attempted to settle in their own way and all failed dismally. The New England, Mid-Atlantic and Southern Colonies grew differently in various ways, but each with the same state of mind, “do it our way”. Examining the three sets of colonies will prove that they were all different in religion, government, and ways of expansion.

The greed for gold and the race for El Dorado were the main inducements of the Spaniards who, at the peril of their lives, crossed the ocean in unfit vessels in a mad pursuit after the gold and all other precious property of the Indians” (Peace 479). The royal rulers of Spain made it a rule that nothing would jeopardize their ability to rob the land from the native people of Latin America. The missionary process, “had to be encouraged, but the missionaries could not be permitted to dominate the colony at the cost of royal rule” (Gibson 76). The European governments established missionaries to cleanse their minds of any guilt aroused by the slaughtering of innocent men, women, and children. When European “ships arrived in the 16th century to colonize the land and exploit its natural resources, they killed indigenous people and brought black slaves from Africa. Millions of indigenous people were slain and their cultures completely destroyed by the process of colonization” (Ribero). The overall devastations caused by the Christianization of the native inhabitants created a blend of cultures within the indigenous civilizations which gradually isolated old native ways into a small population of oppressed people. The Christianized people became a symbol of loyalty to the European powers and were left alone simply on their religious status. This long term mission of total religious replacement caused very strong and advanced

Spain was bathing in profits from what the New World had to offer. So in 1606the Virginia Company of London was organized and sponsored the Virginia Colony. Organizers of the company wanted to expand English trade and obtain a wider market for English manufactured goods. They naturally hoped for financial profit from their investment in shares of company stock. Queen Elizabeth played an enormous role in motivating the English peoples. She herself was secretly a financial backer to Sir Francis Drake. The defeat of the Spanish Armada was a significant event. Not only did England gain control of the Atlantic sea lanes but it also sparked a sense of patriotism. Spanish expansions in the New World were actions that needed to be limited. In a way, many also attempted to colonize out of spite; to establish England's greatness.

After studying the colonization era, times that revolved around three very important words. Those words are god, gold and glory, these three words were the spark and drive for the British, Portuguese and Spanish to all set sail and “conquer” new lands. For in 1492 Christopher Columbus set sail and reached the Americas, however, since he was unable to find gold, he decided to claim many islands in the name of Spain and only a year later he set up colonies. The only problem was that there were already people living in on the land that but, that did not stop them. While studying colonization/ the age of exploration we were told to think about two very important questions. Who benefitted from colonization and who paid the price or colonization.

When the protestant pilgrims landed in America in the year of 1620, this was the beginning of a new journey for many Europeans. Those who were fortunate enough to make the trip were ready for a life without religious strife that was forced upon them and monarchical ruling. “Long before Columbus sailed, Europeans had dreamed of a land of abundance, riches, and ease beyond the western horizon. Europeans envisioned America as a religious refuge, a society of equals, a source of power and glory (Foner, 2).” They were also ready for a way to solve the English social crisis of overcrowding the “closing of commons” property in Europe, a place for prospects for a trade-based empire, and most of all, freedom. Because they were ready for all these changes, the English colonization of the New World decided to create a different environment than that of European powers.

Common people saw the New World as an opportunity to get rich fast, and countries saw this opportunity as a way to control the New World by taking all of the wealth in the region, and to assert their dominance by setting up colonies and by sending raiding parties, (like Spain’s conquistadors) to pillage the landscape and take everything and anything of value or importance. This was the large collections of gold, silver, bronze, and other precious metals located in the native’s cities and settlements, which the Europeans had quickly taken a large portion if not all of the gold from these people in the region. With these constant raids on the natives, it had taken a huge toll on life and infrastructure as the Europeans destroyed everything, and killed everyone that stood in their way of gold and riches. The Aztecs even compared the Spanish to pigs when it came to gold and other valuables, how they can never have enough of the metals, and how hungry they are for it. In the aftermath of all this madness and bloodshed, the natives were left with nothing. They could no longer support themselves and were forced to give up their indigenous ways and beliefs, all because some Europeans came over and took everything, all in the name of God and of the