Spanish Colonization

From the period of the late fifteenth century to the late eighteenth century, settlers from various European countries began to colonize the Americas. These colonists each held various goals in mind when settling the Western Hemisphere that affected how they interacted with those that already inhabited the Americas, leaving both positive and negative consequences. These goals, whether they were the search for great wealth or the implementation of Christianity, would forever change those that occupied the “New World.”
The Spanish had certain goals in mind when first settling the Americas that affected how they treated the Native Americans. Christopher Columbus, a Spanish explorer, was at first hired by Queen Isabella in order to find a route …show more content…

The English, when first colonizing America, had first hoped for gold and silver like the Spanish. Additionally, they wanted to build a North American land empire to strengthen England. With more English land, there would be more job opportunities and consumers to boost the English economy. John Smith, among the first English explorers in the New World, was captured by the Powhatans. Pocahontas, the daughter of the chief, saved him in what was seen as an act of love. However, the entire circumstance may have actually been a welcoming ceremony, not a death threat; the English, much like the Spanish, immediately assumed the Native Americans to be a barbarous civilization, due to their lack of Christianity. However, the English did not quite make it a goal to convert the native peoples. Although conversion did occur, in the southern United States, it was not as big of a deal as finding land was. Due to this, despite Native American and settler interactions occurring, no real assimilation happened between the two groups. The English didn 't learn the natives ' language, and there wasn 't much intermarriage. The English were looking for land and riches, and working by themselves seemed to best accomplish this, due to the money being made in tobacco instead of in stolen gold and silver. The English pushed out the Native Americans in order to gain more land, and brought in indentured servants, and then African slaves, instead of using the indigenous peoples as a workforce. However, the two groups did trade with one another occasionally, due to widespread starvation in the English colonies. The English needed food while the Native Americans wanted their advanced iron tools. Suspicions still existed in the colonies, though, due to both cultural differences and the small raids that would occur, and, later attacks between the Powhatans and the settlers. Due to a fortune being made in