The English Succeded

Stephanie Watkins

Mr. Belvedere

APUSH

05 September 2014

The English Succeeded

        When colonization in the New World initiated, many nations wanted a piece of the action. For distinctive reasons the Spanish, the Dutch, the French, and the English all ventured across the ocean to achieve separate goals. These four nations were considerably successful at achieving their goals, but one country was more fruitful than the rest. England possessed different ideas of their purpose in the New World from the other European nations, but they ended up the ones who were the most profitable in their ambitions. England was looking for a life in the New World. They wanted a permanent settlement to start new lives there. By the end of the colonization, England did meet their goal.

England succeeded for many reasons. It was more stable than that of Spain; they had a powerful army, a better economic system, as well as the fact that Spain was only searching for gold and riches from the colonies and not permanent settlement like the English. It may be thought that the Spanish had the substantial success solely based on the fact that they arrived to the New World first. But that is not the case. Spain’s main target was to attribute wealth and convert Indians to Christianity. In their search the gold what they hoped to find was nowhere to be found and hardly any Indians converted to their religion. Relations with Native Americans also had a lot to do with England success unlike the French or the Spanish; the England treated the Indians with more, not total, compassion. If the Indians did not secede to their ways and customs, the Spanish retaliated with a forceful, warlike approach that almost always ended in a fight between the Indians and the Spaniards, as well as many deaths. A primary example can be observed from Don Juan de Onate’s letter. In this document, Onate writes about the thirteen deaths of his men, caused by the Indians, and the way it afflicted the following procedure. The outcome was a whole village of Indians dead and their houses and land burned to the ground. Don Onate’s story was not the only one describing the many deaths caused by the Spaniards arrival in the New World.  

The French tried at first to settle in the Florida region, but the Spanish beat them there. They were driven up north to present day Canada. France developed important ties with the Native Americans, which greatly increased fur trade market for the French. The Natives provided them support in the harsh, Canadian wilderness while searching for game. As a result of this cooperation, European goods such as iron tools, guns, and cloth began to enter Native American trading circles. Compared to the English and the Spanish, French relations with Native Americans was mostly positive and mutually beneficial. As for the fur trade it was a short-lived one due to the fact that England defeated the French in the Seven Years War and took their land.