The Collision of Cultures

Three European nations dominated the colonization and conquest of North America in the 17^th and 18^th centuries. Spain, France, and England were the primary European nations that conquered and colonized North America. Yet they had very different approaches to the colonies.

The Spanish were focused on gold and silver. They very much wanted to extract these precious metals from the Native Americans and to use the Native Americans to mine gold and silver and to take it back to Spain. Later, the Spanish also focused on evangelizing the Native Americans. Catholic priests came over by the hundreds and fanned out across Central and North America to convert the Indians. Essentially, Spanish society in the 16^th and 17^th centuries consisted of soldiers and priests. It was very much a masculine society focused on gaining access to gold and silver.

The French colonized North America later, and their focus was on generating trade with the Indians. Instead of using force and coercion against the Indians, the French sought to recruit the Indians as trading allies. The French differed from the Spanish in that they sent primarily traders and fur trappers to North America who negotiated with the Indians access to the beaver pelts. Beaver hats were incredibly popular in Europe in the 17^th and 18^th centuries and very profitable. The French sent far fewer people to North America than did the English.

The English approach was different from both the Spanish and the French. The English sought to create self-sustaining communities in North America. Whole families migrated to America, rather than soldiers and priests. As a result, the English settlements became much more self-sustaining. Interestingly enough, the English also sent women to the American colonies in significant numbers. As a result of that gender ratio, the English settlements in North America prospered and flourished and survived much longer than either the French or the Spanish colonial efforts.

These were three different nations with three different approaches to colonization that produced three different results.

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