EuropeanColonization

EuropeanColonization

The Early Years The Early Years

What made it possible for European nations to “discover”

the New World?

What made it possible for European nations to “discover”

the New World?

Scientific Advancements

Renaissance

Merchants

What motivated the Spanish, French, and English

to colonize the New World?

What motivated the Spanish, French, and English

to colonize the New World?

Spanish Colonization Spanish Colonization

Conquistadores explored for God, Gold, and Glory- gold and silver were sent back to Spain

Sponsored by the Spanish Crown

Aimed to convert natives to Catholicism

Most colonists were single males- many married Indian or black women mestizos & mulattos

Encomienda system: Spanish forced natives into hard labor & severe punishment in the New World; monarch rewarded the leaders of conquest w/ Indian villages who had to work in exchange for legal protection

French Colonization

French Colonization

French colonial interests developed slowly

In search for wealth & Catholic converts

Viewed natives as necessary economic partners in the Fur Trade

Needed natives to act as hunters and trappers as the fur trade became France’s most profitable export

Catholic missionaries lived among the natives & learned to speak their language in some cases

English Colonization English Colonization Exploration was initially sponsored by the crown, but then private groups of investors established their own settlements in pursuit of their own goals

permanent settlements depended upon getting to know the land & learning to plant crops that would flourish

Settlement was fueled by economic profit, outposts for trade, & competition with the Spanish

English treated natives with brutality (similarly to how they treated the Irish)