Compare and Contrast the British, French, and Spanish Imperial Goals in North America Between 1580 and 1763

Compare and contrast the British, French, and Spanish imperial goals in North America between 1580 and 1763.

The novelty of the “New World” rushed into the minds of the French, the British, and the Spanish. Thinking about the possibilities which the fresh mineral packed land could contain brought ambition to these countries. It all started in 1492, when spanish explorer Christopher Columbus set sail with the hopes of finding a faster route to India. This voyage subsequently triggered the French and the British into joining the expeditions to the New World in order to compete for power, territory, and overall wealth in the americas. This was the time period of “who can obtain the most power in the new world”. While all three nations seeked to strengthen their economies and spread their religion, their methods largely varied.

The English strengthened their economy though mercantilism. Mercantilism is a system where a country acquires precious minerals by establishing colonies, and maintains a positive balance of trade between home and colony. Virginia is an excellent example, since it produced tobacco, which was sent and sold in Great Britain. The British seeked religious freedom in the new world, unlike the other nations who seeked to spread it. A perfect example on how the English were looking for religious freedom were a group of separatists, meaning that they chose not to follow the Church of England, that on 1620 set sail aboard the Mayflower and landed on massachusetts and established their own colony which they named Plymouth. In their own land in the New World, they were free to practice their religions in any way they wanted. They celebrated Sabbath weekly, and had two special holidays, Fasting Day and Thanksgiving Day.

The French goals, however, were to establish trade routes and spread catholicism. Over the course of time, they developed a very strong alliance with the indians, resulting in very helpful resources trade market between both parties. The French would trade the indians goods such as metals, guns, and cloth in exchange of fur, which was extremely demanded on Europe. A secondary objective for the French was to spread Roman Catholicism, French missionaries usually attempted turning large groups of Natives into Roman Catholics. However, unlike the Spanish, the French settled in the more unsettleable areas of the Americas (Quebec and Nova Scotia), so their impact on the natives was not as great as the Spanish’s impact.

Spain’s primary objective in the americas was to explore the new world and extract the precious minerals for the benefit of Spain. In fact, Spain gave little to no thought into colonizing. The spanish wanted to obtain as much gold and silver as possible and ship it back to Spain. By 1580, their goal was to establish and defend a mercantilist policy that would ensure that