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Similarities And Differences Of The Spanish And New England Colonies

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The Spanish and New England Colonies
In a time between 1492 and the 1700 the Spanish and the English started to colonize the New World with the Spaniards coming over first in 1492 after being approved by the Roman Catholic Church. The Spanish people started their colonization in present day Mexico, while the English colony of Massachusetts in 1630 by Puritans fleeing England due to persecution. It is in this context that there were two similarities and a differences from both European countries. The Spanish and New England colonies from 1492 to 1700 were significantly similar in terms of the economic base in which the colony was set upon, and considerably different in the role religion had on the colony and the control the government had …show more content…

The similarity occurred because both colonies found out that big money could be made on the cash crops that were wanted around the world. The Spanish and the New England Colonies from 1492 to 1700 were considerably different in the role religion had on the colony. The two colonies were similar in the fact that both were started on Catholic religious principles that converted the Native Americans in the area. Even though both were started on Catholic religion, the role that the church took on was much different in the separate colonies. In Spanish colonies, the Friars were sent by the Roman Catholic Church to convert Native Americans to Catholicism no matter if it was wanted or not and used Missions as places where Friars would send Natives for hard labor. Here the enslaved natives lived about 12 years due to the harsh conditions. In the New England colony of Massachusetts, there were Praying Towns used for when natives decided to convert, not by force but by free will. This difference in the role of religion is because with Spain, the Roman Catholic Church went hand and hand with the government to control what happened with the colony, but with Massachusetts, the people of the colony set the religion and government guidelines for their colony. Furthermore, the Puritans believed themselves to be pure, and as John Winthrop put it in his City Upon a Hill sermon, he wanted Massachusetts to be where all other Christians around the world could

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