European nations?

Question

THere were at least three European nations who established colonies in North America between 1500-1700. Name 3 European nations, and for each nation, describe:
*Where the nation colonized in North America
*The name of the colony
* Why the colony was founded


Explain two reasons why early settlers had a difficult time establishing successful colonies.


Explain two ways Native Americans played an important role in helping European nations to establish successful colonies.


Contact between the Europeans and Native Americans caused a number of things to happen. Descibe 4 of them

Answer 1

The following European countries established colonies in the Americas: England (also known as Great Britain), France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, and the Hopsburg Family (who at the time ruled Prussia, Austria, and Romania). At first, the only two players in the colonizing the Americas game was Portugal and Spain. They split South America into two sections. The Western Half of South America went to Portugal, so they mainly got Brazil and parts of Argentina as well as a few other smaller countries. Spain took the eastern half of South America as well as all of Central America and the Western half of North America. At the time, it seemed like Spain got the worse deal because it was much harder to reach the western half of South America because they had to circle around the whole continent of South America to get there. Later, it became evident that Spain got the better deal. Spain also colonized Florida and established the first colonial city in the entire Western Hemisphere. The city became known as Saint Augustine, which is located in Florida and was established in 1565 (I have a house there). A bit later in the game, in the 1600's and 1700's, France and England started playing for the Western Hemisphere. France and England were rivals and soon became the dominent powers in North America. France claimed all of Canada and what would later be called "the Lousiana Purchase" (the area which Luis and Clark ventured into, which is mainly Lousiana, Georgia, and many states North of them). It was clear that France had the dominent power over the Great Lakes area (Michigan, Niagra Falls, etc.). But down in the South, England ruled Supreme. England ruled what is known as "The Original Thirteen Colonies." These were New York, Virginia (at the time Virginia and West Virginia was one colony), Penneslyvania, Carolina (at the time North and South Carolina was one colony), Delaware, Rhode Island, Georgia, and some other states which I forgot right now(it's past 1 am here, sorry). Virginia and Carolina quickly became the powerful colonies since they had the largest population, the largest slave population, the largest cotton producers, and the largest tobacco producers. New York wouldn't become an important colony until long after the United States was formed. The Carribean and surrounding islands were split between the British, Spanish, Portugese, Dutch, and French with most of the islands going to Great Britain and Spain. Spain used Florida as a place to send its prisoners to. Spain used its other colonies to send its rich aristocrats to in order to "civilize" the territories (brutally bring religion to the natives). England used its colonies as a major agriculture producer. France used Canada as an outpost for trades and their navy. Portugal used its territories the same way as Spain and England did. The Dutch were really just a thorn in England's heel (England's heel being their American Territories) and didn't really use their conquered land to the upmost effectiveness. The two biggest reasons that earlier settlers had trouble building colonies is because they were so far from home and they were so destructive. Since they were so far away, it took months or even years to receive supplies if they came at all. Many times entire colonies would starve to death or die from plagues since their supplies didn't come in time. In many more ways than one, the early settlers were extremely destructive and fearful. Most colonies were too afraid to ask for the Natives to help them and the colonials would frequently start wars and kill Natives for no reason other than fear or greed. In addition, the colonials tore up the land to make way for farms and houses. They did this with complete disregard to the environment and destroyed entire forests. This was completely against the Native American philosophy and mentality. This made Natives want to help colonials even less. If that wasn't enough, the colonials brought tons of diseases to the Americas which killed hundreds of thousands if not millions of Natives. This made the Natives see the colonials as a curse and therefore Natives tried to and sometimes succeeded in wiping out entire colonies. However, there were some Native American tribes that did help out Colonials. Because of the Natives, the Pilgrims managed to survive and establish a colony. I'm not very familiar with that area of Colonial History (or Colonial History in its entirity for that matter), I'm more of a WWII person, so I can't help you anymore there. That's about as much as I remember from my U.S. History classes. Good luck with your tests. Don't forget to give me the best answer! : )

Answer 2

Spanish - St. Augustine, Florida - Part of exploration - Established fort. They were not really trying to bring large numbers of settlers to stay.
French - Quebec - Outpost for trade (primarily furs) with natives -"Indians"
English- Jamestown, Virginia then Plymouth, Mass. & others: Jamestown, Virginia colonization was for economics - primarily tobacco. It was part of a joint stock company.
Motivation - profits
Plymouth, Mass. colony (English) was for religious freedom - Puritans
Maryland (English) - Religious freedom - Catholics
Pennsylvania (English) - Religious freedom - Quakers
other English colonies - more than you need
Dutch - Manhattan Island& Hudson river valley
Motivation - both trade and new lands for their people to settle since space was limited in the Netherlands.
Two reasons why colonies difficult to start:
1. Settlers had trouble feeding themselves. Food from home country needed to sustain them until farming established.
2. Defense was a problem as the early colonist were outnumbered and were not always very diplomatic in dealing with the natives.
Two ways native Indians helped:
1. They did help with food supply in New England and at least very early on in Virginia
2. Trade with the Indians - especially between the French and Indians in Canada - provided economic gains making the colonies worth continuing
Contacts between natives and Europeans - 4 things - Hmmm
1. Spread of disease was number one - very harmful to Indian populations who had no immunity to measles, small pox. tuberculosis, and others
2. Warfare almost invariably developed after initial cordial relations. the Europeans were not very good neighbors - except for the French who got along rather well with Indian people - mainly because the French did not insist on taking over the land completely. The French preferred trade.
3. Trade did develop since Europeans had metal goods the Indians could readily use (knives, hatchets, etc) and also cloth - particularly woolens - blankets. The Indians could supply furs and skins including deer hides called buck skins which would be shortened to "bucks" worth about a dollar.
#4 is a bit more difficult to figure. Intermarriage happened much more in South America and Mexico with the Spanish, but there was some intermarriage in North America. Women were scarce among early colonists especially in Virginia.

Answer 3

THE THREE MAJOR EUROPEAN COUNTRIES INVOLVED IN COLONIZATION OF THE AMERICAS WERE ENGLAND, FRANCE AND SPAIN. ALSO INVOLVED TO A MUCH LESSER EXTANT WERE PORTUGAL AND HOLLAND.
THE FRENCH WERE INVOLVED IN CANADA AND THE NORTHERN PORTION OF WHAT IS NOW THE USA. ENGLAND WAS INVOLVED WITH THE EAST COAST OF PRESENT DAY USA AND SPAIN WITH SOUTHERN AND WESTERN USA,, MEXICO AND SOUTH AMERICA. THE COLONISTS WERE TO A GREAT EXTANT GENTLEMEN ADVENTURERS, WHO DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO GROW A CROP AND FELT THEY WERE TOO GOOD FOR THAT SORT OF WORK. THE FRENCH WERE MORE INTERESTED IN TRADING RATHER THAN COLONIZING, AND THE SPANISH WERE INTERESTED IN AMASSING HUGE FORTUNES TO SEND BACK TO SPAIN TO FINANCE HER CONSTANT WARS. AS FOR THE NATIVE AMERICANS THEY INTRODUCED THE EUROPEANS TO NATIVE CROPS WITHOUT WHICH THEY WOULD HAVE STARVED. THE INDIANS WERE DECIMATED BY THE EUROPEAN DISEASES SUCH AS SMALL POX FROM WHICH THEY HAD NO NATURAL RESISTANCE. AS A RESULT OF THIS AND CONSTANT WARS WITH THE INDIANS THE NATIVE POPULATION WAS REDUCED TO PERHAPS A TENTH OF WHAT IT HAD BEEN PRIOR TO DISCOVERY OF THE NEW WORLD. THE SPANISH ALSO TOOK MANY PERHAPS MILLIONS OF INDIANS AS SLAVES AND WORKED THEM TO DEATH IN THE GOLD AND SILVER MINES.