“Compare and contrast the early colonial empires of Portugal, Spain, and England in terms of motives, economic foundations, and relations with Africans and Native Americans. What factors explain the similarities and differences in the two ventures?”
There are major similarities and differences in the motives, methodology of involvement in the Americas,and impact on the indigenous people within the New World experiences of the three major superpowers, Spain England and France.While there is an unacquainted similarity in the quest for India’s trade route, the hiring Italian merchant in all three countries were interested in abstracting wealth but differ greatly in their method of producing wealth. Spain,England and France have similar motives, there are also ways they contrast, such as each individual superpower ultimate interest in wealth.These three superpowers also are similar to the negative impact made in the indigenous yet, all of these impacts were not intentional they differ in their
Throughout the 17th century, many European countries sent explorers and settlers to America. The two most eminent countries that colonized area of America were Spain and Great Britain. Britain began to establish colonies in the northeast; in the area they called New England. The Spanish interest lied in the southwest. Living in two unassociated areas caused the Spanish settlements and the New England colonies to be quite unlike each other. When faced with the task of finding similarities between the two, not much can be found. It is the differences that stand out when studying the English and Spanish, from religion to politics to ideals.
The approaches Britain and Spain had towards colonization were reflected in their treatment of Native Americans. Ultimately, both countries were primarily interested in the expansion of their empires, the enrichment of their economies and their own political power, and their treatment of the natives is indicative of these aims. As Spain’s only purpose for colonization was to conquer land for their empire, the
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.
There were many reasons the New World was the most wanted to explore. The Spanish, French, and English came about the New World the same way but for different reasons. The Spanish came in search for God, Gold, and Glory. The French, for money and religious conversions of Native Americans; and the English, to find religious freedom. Each of these empires expected to come and establish a powerful empire in the New World but came across difficulties along the way, their values dictating how they run their colonies.
Between 1607 and 1718 the Spanish, French, and English governments attempted to expand their power through exploration in order to acquire land and provide economic growth. All three countries colonized portions of North America for the purpose of utilizing their newly acquired land’s natural resources in order to transport valuable goods unavailable in Europe. While all the colonization methods focused on establishing relationships with natives, the ways in which natives were treated varies to extremes. The Spanish treated natives with contempt and tried to eradicate their culture. The English used natives as slaves to do the hard labor that agriculture required. In contrast, the French created an alliance with the natives, which allowed them to trade with Indian tribes in their region.
In a time when European countries were prompted to explore the New World, two countries in particular had a desire to control not only Europe, but the world. The Age of Exploration occurred between the fifteenth and seventh century and led to the discovery of the Americas, which was called the New World at the time. During this time, countries such as Spain and England had citizens travel to the New World for multiple reasons yet had both similarities and differences in both of the country's new colonies. It was in this context that the Spanish and British colonies in the New World were both dramatically alike and different by the differences in the colonies’ religious practices, the similarity of the harsh treatment of Indigenous people through
In a time when Spanish and New England colonies journeyed to explore and to colonize the New World in the 1600’s. The colonies both looked to gain more power and wealth. It is in this context that the ways of the Spanish and English colonies varied when it came to settlement and survival on the land in the New World. The difference between the Spanish and New England colonies in the New World between 1492 to 1700 differed considerably in religious beliefs, economy, and treatment of the indigenous people because of the significant change that occurred when the colonies migrated into the New World.
Several nations, most notably Spain, France, and Great Britain, attempted to colonize North America after the Americas were discovered. Some of these colonies became successful and was very beneficial to their nations, bringing in raw materials and new crops. However, this also led to some conflicts between the Native Americans and the Europeans. Even though these European colonies developed in different areas in North America, there were some political, social, and economic similarities, such as the French and Spanish governments, main religion in New France and New Spain, and the basis of the economy, and some differences, such as the views on the Indians, the New England government, and the focus on what was traded.
The British, French and Spanish were the main empires that colonised throughout the continent of North America during the 17th century. The European nations wanted to gain further power by acquiring more land overseas. They were also in search for new trade routes that led directly to Asia or Africa because this would give them unlimited access to gold and other goods. Another reason for exploration was to spread Christianity and Catholicism wherever they went which would weaken the Middle Eastern Muslims. This would also be the time of the Columbian Exchange which was the transfer of goods, animals, crops and diseases through the Americas, Europe and Africa.
With these motivations and methods, the Spanish, Portuguese, and French were able to play a role in the development of the New World. Sometimes, the effect of their roles would be negative as seen by the devastation of Indian culture and the introduction of African slavery to the Americas. However, their colonizations helped give the Americas the amount of diversity they display today. Yet, they didn’t understand what the true purpose of
In the 16th century, two worlds collided. From the eastern seas, Spain and Britain had set foot in the Americas. By the 17th century, the Spanish conquered the western and southern lands, and indoctrinated the natives. On the eastern front, the British created two strong settlements, Jamestown and Plymouth. Yet, despite the fact that both European countries were the first surviving colonies, their policies regarding politics, economics, and religion differed substantially.
Marcus Gravey stated that, “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” With that being stated, are the people of the United States, Canada, and Mexico trees without roots? At a young age students learn that Christopher Columbus “sailed the ocean blue in 1492”, a simple song used to assist children remember that America was discovered in 1492. In addition, Thackeray and Findling describe how Columbus’s discovery presented an unimaginable amount of opportunity for Europeans, and therefore, Spanish, French, and later British explores and settlers began to flock to this new world.
It is evident that in 16th century Europe there existed both the motivation and the means to explore and colonize territory across the seas. As it can be said, “With the dawn of the 16th century, there came together in Europe both the motivation and the means to explore and colonize territory across the seas.” This statement is true to a large extent, especially in the areas of trade and technology. The physical means to explore and colonize came from the advances in technology that the Europeans had gone through, allowing them to sail far across the oceans and take over native populations easily. The motivation, on the other hand, came from trade-related reasons, such as the desire to trade new resources, to find gold, and to find new trade routes. Without the technology or trade at the dawn of the 16th century, there would not have been the means nor the motivation for Europeans to explore and colonize the New World.