Why did the Spanish and French had more trouble attracting European settlers to their North American colonies than did the British?

Answer 1

I have the same exact question for my APUSH summer work, and I looked through the book and picked out little parts that made sense, so I'm not sure if it's right but this is what I came up with:

1. The Spanish and French were very different from the British, and they had much more trouble attracting settlers to their North American colonies. In the case of the French, the main issue was their relationship with the Native Americans. Even though their Indian diplomacy was more effective than that of the English, they were not always successful. They also depended much too heavily on an often questionable relationship with the Indians. The British, on the other hand, developed two-way relationships with their local Native Americans. The tribes needed the British just as much as the British needed them, so it was a much more stable situation than the French.

With the Spanish, the issue was also their relationship with the Indians. The Indians they encountered in Texas had already been exposed to French culture. So when the Spanish tried to impose their beliefs and traditions upon the natives, they resisted. They preferred trading with the French, and were opposed to farming, Christianity, and the ineffective protection being offered by the Spanish. In Florida, the influence of the English in newly founded Carolina was quite prominent. The English dominated over the French and Spanish because they covered more land, and ultimately had better relationships with the Native Americans around them.