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This period raises a lot of opportunities for comparison/contrast, so as you’re reading through the summaries be sure to look out for similarities and differences.
Spanish Colonization
Spanish colonies in the Western Hemisphere were characterized by efforts to extract wealth from the land—for example, silver mining in Central Mexico and sugar plantations on Caribbean islands. To provide the labor needed to carry out these endeavors, the Spanish used the encomienda system to force the Native Americans to give up their labor. Additionally, the Spanish forced natives to convert to Catholic Christianity.
Spanish colonial society was organized into a hierarchical social structure using a caste system. Those at the top, Peninsulares and Creoles, were of European descent and had the most privileges. People of mixed-European heritage, Mestizos and Mulattos, had few social privileges but were still considered superior to Native Americans and Africans. While those with Spanish ancestry considered themselves culturally superior to natives, they still intermarried because of a shortage of European-born women in the colonies.
French Colonization
Like the Spanish, French colonies, located in modern-day Canada and the Mississippi River Valley, were concerned with monetary profits and spreading Catholicism. However, French colonists profited from raw materials such as animal furs gathered through trading with Native Americans. To do this efficiently, they established cooperative fur trading outposts in places where tribal lands overlapped. This allowed them to trade with multiple tribes in a single location. The French also intermarried with Native Americans. An exchange of language and customs allowed them to form a fraternal bond with the Native Americans. This approach resulted in less hostility generally and later became a source of strength that allowed the formation of war alliances when wars with Great Britain in Europe spread to North American colonies. Since the French were more focused on exporting fur to Europe and less focused on expanding settlement, there was less encroachment on tribal lands and fewer conflicts with Native American tribes.
Dutch Colonization
The Dutch established the colony of New Netherlands in 1610 along the banks of the Hudson River. In 1626, Dutch merchants built the settlement of New Amsterdam, which later became New York City. Their colony embraced free enterprise and allowed religious pluralism. In the early days, Dutch colonists focused on business, functioning as a trade and finance location. Later the Dutch attracted new settlers by awarding patroons with plots of land between 8- and 16-miles square that were to include 50 or more settlers within four years of establishment. This was attractive to a number of wealthy, successful European families. As a result, New Netherlands was an ethnically-diverse place where colonists were most invested in preserving their own liberties and felt little loyalty to the Dutch government.
