European Exploration and Settlement of North America

Introduction

European Exploration and Settlement of North America icon Three main European countries were competing for conquering the new lands of North America. The British predominantly focused on the Eastern Coast, and France explored the Canadian region and Mississippi River. Spain focused mostly on the south expanding on their territory of Florida. All of these nations continued to explore and claim lands for their European crowns. As they continued to expand their territory they began to establish settlements to protect their land claims.

Exploration and Settlement

Motives for European exploration and later colonization of the New World can be categorized as “God, gold and glory.” The explorers wanted to gain indigenous converts to Christianity on behalf of the monarch regardless of which country sponsored the explorer. Additionally, the explorers sought ‘gold’ meaning ‘wealth’ in whatever form that might take---gold, silver, natural resources, land, etc. And finally, the explorers desired ‘glory,’ meaning fame and the favor of the monarch for whom he sailed.The explorers’ wanted to go home famous and live out their lives at court. They were the “rock stars” of their day.

Spain was the first European nation to make a real effort to explore the “New World” (as it is called now) with the Christopher Columbus expedition in 1492. Columbus was an Italian who sailed for Spain’s King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. They had finally expelled the Moors (Muslims) from southern Spain and had money to spend on exploration instead of warring with the Moors.

Spain’s exploration was initiated by conquistadors via administrators and missionaries whose motivations were the conversion of the indigenous people to Christianity and trade and wealth. Spain was mostly represented in southern North America, Central America and South America as well as the Caribbean Islands.

The French began exploring the Americas in earnest in 1524 under the monarch, King Francis I.They established several colonies from present-day Florida to Newfoundland.In addition to the motives of “God, gold and glory,” the French were also searching for a faster water route to the Orient for trading purposes.

The French settlements failed because of disease, weather and conflict with other European powers.

The French were primarily fur traders and missionaries in the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes region of Canada as well as the entire length of the Mississippi River. France claimed all the area, but the vast region was firmly controlled by the indigenous people living there. The French efforts at colonization were modest by comparison to the Spanish and English since the French people were not enthusiastic colonists.

The British settled in 1607 at Jamestown in the Virginia colony and then Puritan families settled the northeast in the 1620s and 1630s.

The British established a dozen colonies along the Eastern Seaboard of North America and the British Crown encouraged emigration more than any other European nation.The population of England had increased dramatically in the 16^th century and the colonies in the New World offered an excellent way to relieve overcrowding and unemployment at home while expanding English influence in the New World.The English explorers (and really colonists) were a century behind the other European nations. The Spaniards and the French explored in the 15^th and 16^th centuries and the English didn’t settle at Jamestown til 1607 (the 17^th century.) So their motives were a little different than the other European nations’ goals.

Essentially the motivations for these three countries were as follows:

Spain: God, gold (and silver) and glory
France: Fur trading (that was their “gold”), God and not so much glory
England: alleviating unemployment and overcrowding at home, God (to some extent) and exploiting the natural resources in the New World (their “gold”)

Of course, these are general “motives” for exploration and the motives for exploration (and later colonization) changed over time.

Review

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Think About This

After the explorers established land claims, the European countries now looked forward to ways to continue to grow their wealth. Beyond establishing expeditions to search for gold, fur, and resources, they were now ready to establish long lasting settlements that would lead to further land disputes, not only between the Europeans, but the Natives who called it home as well.

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