The Colonial Strategies of the Spanish

The colonial strategies of the Spanish, French, and Dutch were similar in that they all originally began their colonization through unchartered companies and colonized to spread Christianity and to acquire wealth. Each of these peoples also traded with the local natives. Despite their similarities, these countries’ strategies differed as well. The Spaniards began whipping the natives who practiced polygamy and punished the ones that worshipped their traditional gods. They also began selling these Indians into slavery. They practiced religious conversion, cultural assimilation, and forced labor to control the Indians causing the Indians and Spaniards to begin a war. The French established their first permanent settlement in 1608 known as Quebec, which served as a fur-trading post. New France then developed as an enterprise for acquiring furs, which were in great demand in Europe. Also, the French legal system also gave peasants rights to their lands; however, migrants to New France were oppressed and lived in a feudal system that was dominated by the church. Regarding religion, the French won converts by adapting Christian beliefs to the Indians’ needs. New Netherland became the commercial and financial hub of northern Europe and they dominated banking, insurance, and textile industries in Europe. Similarly to New France, the Dutch were a fur-trading enterprise. They gained control of the Atlantic trade in slaves and sugar as well. The Dutch settlers had little respect for the Algonquian-speaking local natives so they took over the natives’ farming land, and, consequently, the natives took their trading network. These similarities and differences were reflected in the nations’ settlements in the New World. The French and Dutch established fur-trading colonies and the English and Spanish created settler colonies. Also, the way these three peoples interacted with the natives differed as well. The Dutch didn’t seek to