Spanish Colonization Of North America

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A Whole New World The colonization of North America has a far vaster history than what is often taught to students as they learn about the beginnings of the United States of America. The American educational system has somewhat dumbed down the discovering of North America, especially the USA, by crediting Christopher Columbus as our great founder. Thankfully, self-educating oneself has taught me about the various other individuals who, alongside their men, graced the shores of the Americas and interacted with the lands indigenous people far before Columbus ever set sail. Watered down truth aside, the brave individuals who set forth to discover what the world had to offer them were all essentially out for the same common goals: freedom and…show more content…
In the case of the Spaniards, they began their migration to North America decades before Britain. The Spanish were mostly motivated by trade and the spreading of Christianity as they began their voyages. Their earliest mark on the North American continent was Christopher Columbus landing in the Bahamas in 1492. Columbus and his crew didn’t voyage to the new land looking for a place to escape their miserable homeland, they were on a mission to strengthen their people and be regarded a success by their monarchy. “Columbus presented the Spanish monarchs with small items of gold, parrots, and other 'exotic' things. He profited by using the labor of native slaves for agriculture and to mine gold. He attempted to sell native people as slaves in Spain, bringing five hundred people back. (Spanish Colonization of the Americas, Various).” Much like the Spaniards, France’s interest in the new world was as a mean to stimulate their economy. Although France was battling with their own religious war, placing their claim on the new world was of great to King Francis I. Giovanni da Verrazzano is noted as the first Frenchman to make it across the Atlantic Ocean in representation of France. Verrazzano’s voyage began in the early 1500s, the Italian born explorer rose the Atlantic coast between the Carolinas and Newfoundland. France’s next most prominent explorer was Jacques Cartier, his journey to North America followed in the lines of building wealth and opportunity for his people. Unlike many other explorers of the 16th century, Cartier focused on building with the native people of the land his country has taken claim of. “New France had a rather small population, and relied heavily on friendly contacts with local Native American communities. Because the French settlers lacked the appetite for land that characterized English settlement, and
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