Compare the approaches to colonization of the Spanish French and English Describe the results of these approaches in North America?

Answer 1

Original Purpose:
The Spanish came looking primarily for a trading route to Asia, then for gold and silver, then for land. The French came looking for fish and furs, then for land. The English came looking for land and as private royally charted companies seeking to make a fortune off gold, then tobacco. They also competed with the French for furs and fish. All of them were motivated to prevent the other powers from getting more. All had underlying religious motivations and internal political motivations.
Religious motivations:
The Spanish had recently pushed all the Muslim powers out of Spain. They followed that by forcing all non Catholics to convert or leave Spain. In 1492 all Jews for example were forced to leave and many were welcomed by the Ottomans. The Spanish called there project in Spain the "Reconquista". They viewed there colonization in the Americas as an extension of this project. Thus they called themselves "Conquistadors". To them, rebellion by refusing to convert to by refusing to provide free labor to the representatives of the King was a rebellion against God and a sign of the Devil's work in the world. Also powerful religious leaders wanted more convert to increase their own power. Once they had converted them some, successful in the church argued that they had souls and could not be worked to death. This led to the importation of black African slaves. In general, the Spanish followed a plan modeled on Feudal Spain granting powerful men exclusive rights to all resources and labor in a given area. These men came to the Americas for that wealth and to live as feudal lords.

For the French, the conversion of the natives was an afterthought. They tended too make alliances with native groups for trading for furs and other goods. They also made alliances with the tribes to have a buffer between them and the English and a few places the Spanish. They mainly only sent men at first and had a high rate of intermarriage. Later, priests came and tried to convert tribal people with mixed success. In many places a new mixed culture was born. The descendants of these families are the Metis people of Canada. The French land patterns were very different than the Spanish too. They tended to divide land for colonists in long strips with one end at a waterway. Colonialists settled and started farms rather than creating large feudal areas of control. In part this was due to the lack of easy gold in the French areas and the lower levels of native population.

For the English, some of them were escaping religious persecution and wanted to set up societies where they could control the State religion. In a few places they made rules so anyone would be free to worship as he pleased (as in Rhodes Island and Pennsylvania and North Carolina). This was rare though. Many places were started by companies who raised money in stock offerings and hoped to make money for the investors. For most of these, the conversion of the natives was also an afterthought. In general the colonists from England were hungry for land to farm and the the initial attempt to find fabulous wealth failed. The efforts at colonisation by the English were much more decentralized than the Spanish but they had some of the same motivations and wanted to prevent the Spanish and French from gaining control.

Lastly, one should note that the approaches to colonization have changed at different times and places sometimes a huge amount as governments and attitudes changed. This is a 500 year process that is being discussed. Also, keep in mind that colonization continues to this day in all of the Americas.