Comparison Of Colonist Powers-Spanish, French And English Essay Examples

Spanish, French and British had all come with one intention- make the best use of the available resources in newly and strengthen the economy of the parent nation. But they varied in the measures they took. Spanish conquered vast lands in America, made the native people slaves and got the most out of them. On the contrary, French treated the locals as trading partners. The British, on the other hand, brought in people from other countries, which were under the British colonial rule.
The Spanish, pioneers in colonization, used harsh measures to subjugate the natives. In order to reach their selfish motive, they employed the native Indians as slaves. They forcefully imposed their religious beliefs on the local people. They built cathedrals and were very keen to spread their Catholicism. They forced the locals to work in farms for their profits.
The French colonists, on the other hand, gave some free hand to the native Indians. French colonists shared some similarities with the Spanish as the French were also keen to convert the local population into Catholics. But, unlike Spanish, they tried to bring in French culture as a whole into newly found colonies. Their maintained a live and let live policy in the newly established colonies. The colonists gave a feeling to the locals that the locals were also a part of the French.
The English colonists adopted a completely different and innovative approach. They did not rely on local population for trade and commerce, in contrast to the Spanish and French. They started bringing in people from the other colonies, previously occupied by the English. The colonists started colonizing with a long term goal of settling in the new colonies established. They, however, did not impose religious constraints on the locals, which prompted the people in other areas to come the English colonies to enjoy religious freedom. The education system introduced by English is an evidence of English’s innovative approaches in colonizing.
Though all the three colonist powers had the same motive of maximizing profits, the approaches they adopted were somewhat different. The Spanish and French colonization were somewhat similar in characteristics. But the method of colonization adopted by English was altogether a different one. No matter what the differences were, the three colonist powers left a long lasting impression on the locals.