FREE ESSAY ON COLONIZATION

COLONIZATION

Colonization
The promise of new riches and the potential discovery of the fabled Northwest Passage
were the primary objectives, which fueled the exploration of the New World. Yet these
goals were not practical enough when the European nations decided to colonize the
Americas. Apparently, a prosperous and enduring colonial empire depended on
self-sustaining economic development (page 33) rather than an autocratic and rigidly
controlled colony in which everything was to benefit the parent country. The degree of
success in colonizing the Americas would be measured by this fact. As long as a country
could quickly populate its colonies and establish a self-sufficient economy, it would be
ahead in the race to colonize the New World. Although the new riches and the Northwest
Passage were still sought after, they weren't the final motivations for colonization any
longer. 
Each country also had their individual set of objectives for exploring the Americas.
Spain, along with its quest for riches became determined to convert the heathens to
Catholicism. The French and the Dutch stuck to the primary objectives of new riches and
the discovery of the Northwest Passage. England, spurred by growing national rivalries
with France and especially Spain, explored the New World for the purpose of harassing the
Spanish and also in the hopes that it would not get left behind in the exploration race.
Spain became the only country whose original intentions for exploring the New World
translated into its final motivation for colonization. The Spanish rigorously tried to
convert the Indians and continued their search for silver and gold. England's initial
quest for national superiority over Spain was added to its numerous motives for
colonization, while France and Holland digressed the most from their initial intentions
by setting up lucrative fur trading scenarios with the local natives in the frontiers of
their colonies.
Prior to England's victory over the Spanish Armada in 1588, English exploration had been
limited by religious and political turmoil. There were only two notable English explorers
during this period: the Italian John Cabot who was sponsored by the king of England to
search for the Northwest Passage in 1497, and Sir Francis Drake who at the approval of
Queen Elizabeth I, raided Spanish settlements and boats in the New World while
circumnavigating the globe. Newly Protestant England's motives for exploration were
fueled by a sudden newfound rivalry between the Catholic nations of France and Spain.
This sense of national pride and rivalry translated well to England's final motivations
for colonization. The final Spanish defeat in 1604 established England as a great naval
power and cleared the way for English colonization of America.(pg.43) England's final
motivation for colonization still included its sense of national greatness which was
promoted by Richard Hakluyt: to extend the reformed religion, to expand trade, to supply
England's needs from her own dominions, to provide bases in case of war with Spain, to
enlarge the queen's revenues and navy, to discover a Northwest Passage to the Orient, and
to employ the growing number of people made idle by the surge of population growth. (pg.
43) This sense of national rivalry and looming greatness as well as the search for
religious, political and economic freedom became the final motivations for the
colonization of America by England.
At the outset of the exploration of the New World, Spain had a very simplistic goal: God,
Gold and Glory. Gold (i.e. new riches) was at the forefront of every explorer's mind as
expeditions ranged from as far north as Northern California and as far south as the
southern tip of South America during the 16th century. After the discovery of
sophisticated cultures on the mainland of Central and South America, the Spaniards
decided to conquer these cultures. The first of the conquests began in present-day Mexico
in 1519, when Hernando Cortes and his army arrived and systematically began to conquer
the advanced civilization of the Aztecs. This was followed by numerous other conquests of
the other major civilizations (e.g. the Incas and the Mayans) in the Americas by the
Spanish. Conquering these cultures yielded a wealth of Indian treasure which dramatically
increased Spanish revenue. The logical next step for Spain after conquering such a vast
area, was to colonize the New World. Since they had to live with the native Indians, the
Spanish sought the need to displace the 'pagan' civilizations throughout the Americas
with their Catholic-based culture(pg. 29). As New Spain came into existence, the
motherland continually advocated the search for gold and the conversion of the Indians.
Spain's initial motivation for exploring the New World was the search for riches, and
when they decided on colonization that motive remained intact. Yet it also saw a new
religious element added to their final motives for colonization: the quest to save the
heathens. This religious motive fit into the scheme of the Spanish plan for colonization
since the Spanish were coexisting with the Indians in the first place.
The French and the Dutch both had the same goal of searching for the Northwest Passage as
a purpose for exploring the New World. Both countries also ended up with fur trading as
their final motivation for settling the New World (although France's colonies were
considerably larger while Holland's dwindled under British pressure). France's search for
the Northwest Passage began in the early 16th century, when the king of France authorized
the expeditions of Italian, Giovanni da Verrazzano (1524) and Jacques Cartier
(1534-1542). Both explorers skimmed the coasts of North America looking for the Northwest
Passage but only claimed parts of the land for France. Nearly a century later in 1608,
when France decided on colonization, Samuel de Champlain established a trading post in
Quebec, an area previously claimed by Jacques Cartier. From this hub, a lucrative trade
economy was established as a means for colonization. In 1609 the Dutch began their
exploration of America when they sent an Englishman named Henry Hudson to likewise search
for the Northwest Passage. In this endeavor Hudson discovered the river (and later the
bay) that bears his name. Of course the Northwest Passage was never discovered and
therefore the Dutch decided to colonize. In 1614 Dutch trading outposts were established
on Manhattan Island (New Amsterdam) and at the site of present-day Albany (Fort Orange).
A profitable fur trade was carried on and became the main source of revenue for the Dutch
West India Company, the joint-stock company that ran the colony. The original intentions
for the Dutch and the French was to search for the Northwest Passage, but as both nations
decided to colonize they had to change their goals to establishing a viable market
economy.
The initial intentions of the European nations were preoccupied with exploitive and
extractive economic objectives (page 33) but as colonization began England, France, and
Holland realized the need to develop a viable market economy within their colonies.
France and Holland' colonies developed their economy through the fur trade while the
colonies of England was able to develop an economy due to its freedom from the parent
country. The original intentions of England, France, and Holland for exploration did not
translate into their final motives for colonization because they realized those original
intentions would not work. Spain's final motivation was transferable from the original
intentions because Spain never realized they needed to change their priorities.