The British, French, and
Spanish all sought to capture the wealth and commerce in North America. The
British imperialistic goals in the New World included utilizing the North
American as a means to acquire raw materials, such as lumber, to be made into
finished goods in England; similarly, the French commercial goals consisted of
capturing the lucrative fur trade in North Eastern America; likewise, the
Spanish used their imperial holdings to obtain valuable resources such as gold
and silver for vast wealth in Spain. Although the English and French both
initially sought gold in North America, it was soon discover that no gold was
present in the French and British imperial holdings and they sought out other
means to acquire wealth and commerce in North America—the continuous economic
imperial goal of the British, French, and Spanish. All three European states had
goals of using their imperial possessions as a source for agricultural
surpluses. The British used their
colonies for tobacco and other cash crops such as wheat to be transported to
England in the Triangle Trade; similarly, both the French, with their prized
colony of Saint-Dominique, and the Spanish, with their holdings in the
Caribbean—such as Cuba—established large plantations or Encomiendas for the
production of sugar, rice, and cotton to be transported back to Europe for
consumption and use. Perhaps the most
reinforcing evidence that the British, French, and Spanish has similar economic
goals for their North American imperial holding was that they all had a common
motive. All three European powers were driven in their economic goals of
imperialism by mercantilism and the idea that the world’s wealth was finite. The
imperial goals of the British French and Spanish were also similar in that they
all sought to increase the authority of their respective states.
The British, French, and
Spanish all had imperial goals of increasing the influence and authority of
their society. The desires of the British, French, and Spanish to expand their
influence are best demonstrated with the continuous state of conflict in and
around their imperial holdings. For example, The British colony at Jamestown
found itself in constant conflict with the Native American Powhatan tribe.
Moreover, these three European often came into conflict with one another.
Instances like Queen Anne’s War and eventually the French and Indian War were
causes of each state’s desire to expand their influence. The desire for
territorial expansion was fostered by the influence of nationalism and
mercantilism in Europe. Nationalism, through its belief that one’s ethnic group
or state was superior to others, encouraged territorial expansion through
patriotism. Mercantilism encouraged territorial expansion because it firmly
expressed the idea hat the world’s wealth was finite; therefore, mercantilism
created a sense of urgency among the European nations to posses as much of the
limited amount of wealth as possible by acquiring new territories where new
wealth was present. This territorial expansion incorporated native inhabitants
into the European empires and each of these empires dealt with these natives in
different ways.
The British, French, and
Spanish all differed in their treatment of natives. The British sought to
isolate themselves from natives or “transplant” British society in North
America, visible in their construction of forts such as the one at Jamestown;
however, in contrast, the French formed an integrated relationship with
natives, especially the Algonquin, in order to gain access to the coveted fur
trade; moreover, the Spanish differed from the French and British in that they
exploited the native peoples by making them work and die on sugarcane
Encomiendas in the Caribbean and in gold and silver mines in Mexico. The
British goal from 1580 to 1763 was one of isolation; overtime, however, the British
came into increasing interaction with natives, although they still pursued the
goal of isolation. Another difference amongst the imperial goals of the
British, French, and Spanish was that of a religious nature.
The religious goals of the
British were those of asylum; whereas the French and Spanish sought to gain
converts. The religious dominations of
the British colonists were mostly puritan and were mostly persecuted groups,
for example, the Quakers and Puritans both immigrated to North America to
escape persecution in England; however, in contrast, the French and Spanish
were both Catholic and the Jesuit missionaries of both states made efforts to
convert the masses of North America to Catholicism; moreover, the Spanish
established missions on the Camino Real such as Mission San Diego and Mission
San Luis Obispo.
The British, French, and
Spanish imperial goals were mostly consistent from 1580 to 1763. The British,
French, and Spanish all sought to acquire raw materials and increase commerce
with their imperial holdings in North America and they all had imperial goals
of expanding their territory, authority, and influence; however, they differed
in that the British sought religious asylum in the New World, while the French and
Spanish sought to convert and in that they all wanted to form different
relationships with the indigenous population of North America.
