Colonization and Colonial Life Essay The phenomenon of globalization led to voyages such as that of Christopher Columbus in 1492 which led to a tidal wave of explorers, conquistadors, fortune hunters, missionaries, religious dissenters, and general migrants seeking a better life. The desires of these different groups led to the journey to the New World which is said to have been started by Christopher Columbus, who was sponsored by the Spanish, followed by Portugal, the English, and the French (Corbett, Ch.1). These different group shared similar goals, but their specific agendas differed. Some of their goals include efforts of religious conversion, religious freedom, the pursuit of riches, new homes, and even to escape of persecution. Hardships resulting from the governments within Europe led to the colonization of the New World by different colonies, such as the English colonies and the Spanish colonies, who shared similar goals for what they expected from the New World but had different ways of attaining these goals.
The emergence of the European colonies in the New World led to interaction with Native Americans which was met with friendly and unfriendly relations but ultimately had a negative outcome. Commonly stated motivations for European colonization of the New World are God, glory, and gold. These three motivations can be simply explained as the push for religious conversion or religious intolerance, the want for global superiority, and the search for routes that would bring riches. The Crusades were “a series of military expeditions made by Christian Europeans to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries” (Corbett, Ch.1). The Crusades resulted in Europeans being exposed to goods from the East which led to trade being developed along various routes known as the Silk Road. In the fourteenth century, two strains of the bubonic plague, known as the Black Death, took over Western Europe and killed nearly half of the population. To recover from this devastating plague, Europe was in search of new products and new wealth, and they were anxious to improve trade and communications with the rest of the world.
The lure of profit also pushed explorers to seek new trade routes to the Spice Islands and eliminate Muslim middlemen (Corbett, Ch.1). In search of this route, new wealth, the urge to bring Christianity to new lands, and wanting to be a dominant world power, the Europeans instead stumbled upon the New World. The English and Spanish colonies were similar in their colonial ambitions, notably through the previously mentioned idea of God, glory, and gold. The English and Spanish Colonies wanted to promote religion. The English colonies were mainly Puritans and had restrictive religious practices but there was some tolerance. The Spanish colonies were Catholics who heavily resented other religions, however, both colonies placed an enormous emphasis on religion. The two colonies wanted to increase the power of their leaders in the world. The English and Spanish crowns wanted to explore and build their empire. Both the English colonies and the Spanish colonies wanted to also acquire wealth. The “lure of profit” was a major motivation in voyaging efforts for the two colonies.
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These two colonies heard tales of “untold wealth and the glory of adventure and discovery” in the lands that they intended to find which led to them discovering the New World (Corbett, Ch.1). One very important similarity between the English and Spanish colonies is the search for access to Asia. The search to find access to Asia for its resources, including spices and other culturally and economically beneficial products, led to these colonies journeying on a different route to finding the New World. The Spanish and English colonies differed in the ways in which they tried to achieve their goals for their separate colonies. The Spanish colonies were more focused on God and glory than the English colonies. The Spanish colonies wanted to convert the Native Americans that they found in the New World and in each new place that they would travel to, they would try to proselytize that area to Christianity, specifically Catholicism. If the people did not conform, they would either be killed or forced out of that area. The Spanish colonies also strived to assert the power of the Spanish crown and be recognized as a world power. The English colonies were less focused on God and glory but more focused on the aspect of gold. The English colonies promoted being Puritan and they were more tolerant of other religions than the Spanish colonies.
The English colonies were motivated by the Spanish colonies’ efforts to become a world power and they wanted to achieve this same dominance themselves. The English colonies were more focused on their opportunities for economic gain and drive to increase the wealth of the English crown. The arrival of Europeans to the New World meant tremendous change for Native Americans. In general, the biggest changes regarding European interaction with Native American were the introduction of diseases, new trading opportunities, shifts in their Native culture, and destructive slavery (“American Indians at European Contact”). As the English, Spanish, and even French explorers came in contact with the Native American tribes, they were all in search of resources, but their methods of acquiring these resources differed. In the beginning, the English explorers were initially friendly towards the Native Americans because they relied on them for resources to trade and to help them to survive in the New World. However, the English settlers yearned for more which led to conflicts with the Native Americans accompanied by the spread of “diseases such as smallpox, influenza, measles, and even chicken pox which proved deadly to American Indians” (“American Indians at European Contact”).
The Spanish explorers had a condescending view of Native Americans because they saw them as heathens who needed to be converted to Christianity so if they could not subjugate the Native Americans, they would kill them. Also, the Spanish established the encomienda system which was a Spanish labor system used as a method to not only gain resources but to also instill Catholic religious practices in the Native Americans. As it pertains to Native enslavement, “enslaved natives tended to sicken or die from disease or from the overwork and cruel treatment they were subjected to, and so the indigenous peoples proved not to be a dependable source of labor” (Corbett, Ch.1). The French explorers also tried to convert the Native Americans, but they decided to forge alliances rather than forcing them into conversion. Native Americans “were victims of the arrogance of the Europeans, who viewed themselves as uncontested masters of the New World, sent by God to bring Christianity to the “Indians”.
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