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Colonial Outposts, 1550-1650
Overview
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Because Spain’s colonies in the New World brought her wealth and power, the other European nations soon followed west with their own dreams of gold and glory. The immediate result was the establishment of colonies designed to bring wealth to the mother country. These early colonies were "outposts in the global economy." Although each nation approached colonization differently they were organized around certain common economic objectives: make money and incorporate or eliminate the Indians. The result was that the colonies developed along distinct lines depending on their economic pursuits. Spain succeeded in scaring the French from the southeast and as a result the French focused their attentions on Canada and the region along the St. Lawrence River. In doing so, the French found a new way to make a profit in North America: they struck up a trade in beaver pelts. The French would not become the fur trappers as such; they relied on the Indians to do that. The French drew the Indians into their global economy and the Indians drew the French into their intertribal relations. Both groups were profoundly changed for the experiences. The Dutch venture into North America resembled France’s. The Dutch relied on the fur trade for wealth and on the Indians to procure those pelts. The Dutch government relied on private companies to set up the trade networks and they lasted as long as they were profitable. England stepped into the void created by Spain’s descent into near powerlessness and like Holland, the English colonies were created to make money for the mother country in strict accordance with the mercantilist theory. But unlike the Dutch, England was also motivated by a strong zeal to export Protestant Christianity to the New World.
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