Unit 1: Imperial Goals of the British, French and Spanish

Katahira-Ables, Yuto

Ready

AP US History, period 2

16 October 2013

Imperial goals of the British, French, and Spanish in North America

The imperial goals of the British, French, and Spanish were similar in that they all had the same commercial incentives- extracting resources for their markets and expanding their colonies in North America. However, their goals differed in their colonization efforts as the British wanted to establish permanent settlements and colonize in the New World where as the French and Spanish arrived in North America to spread Catholicism and establish good relationships with the Native Americans.

The British, French, and Spanish sailed across the ocean to find a shorter route to Asia, however, they ran into North America- an undiscovered land for Europe. Mercantilists saw this opportunity to extract valuable resources from the New World because they believed that resources on Earth are finite and therefore must take from places other than theirs. Mercantilism inspired them to search for gold in the New World. As time surpassed, they saw opportunities for establishing new markets like tobacco for the British and the fur trade for the French and Spanish. As years past, tensions grew between the British, French, and Spanish. All of their goals transitioned into one similar category, expansion. This new similarity among them started when the French wanted to expand westward towards California. The Spanish wanted California for themselves so they tried to force Catholicism on the natives of California to establish their dominance there, but it didn’t work. The Spanish lost control of California and retreated back to Florida to protect their last piece of land in the New World. The British, also in need of expansion, wanted to take Florida from the Spanish. The British achieved this goal in the St. Augustine War.  The British then wanted control of everything west of the Ohio Valley where the French were. This led to the Seven Years War against the French and the Iroquois. The British won and took all of the French land in the Peace of Paris which virtually left nothing for France.  Despite the outcomes of their goals, the British, French, and Spanish were in need of expanding their colonies.

Although they had similar ideas of commercialism and expansion, they also had different plans in establishing their colonies. The British, when arriving to the New World, established their first permanent settlement in 1607, Jamestown. This allowed the British to form families and eventually expand their colony. On the other hand, Spain and France were sent to the New World primarily to spread Catholicism and extract resources such as gold. However, they failed to establish permanent settlements which led to their downfall during Britain’s expansion. Another difference in their goals was their relationship towards the Native Americans. The British established their colonies on the Atlantic Seaboard because they didn't want to get too involved in Indian affairs. This led to constant skirmishes and fights among British colonies, like Jamestown, with neighboring tribes. Jamestown experienced many conflicts with the native americans because they didn't establish good relationships with them. For example, Jamestown wanted to expand their land use for tobacco which angered the native americans.  In contrast, the French established colonies near Native American tribes such as the Algonquins which ultimately led to good relations with them.  The French was involved in the fur trade with these tribes and eventually made them their allies. Spain did the same as they established their colonies in Texas, California, and Florida, near native american tribes which also helped them make good relationships. These relationships would serve well for the Spanish and French in later years as the native americans became allies and business partners.

The similar goals of the British, French, and Spanish were their commercial incentives and their desire for expansion. Their differences included their colonization efforts and their relationships with the native americans.   These were their imperial goals in North America.