Comparison of the Methods Used by Spain and France in Creating North American Colonies

While the desire to create colonies in North America was for power and wealth, Spain and France adopted different approaches in the way they dealt with the Native Americans, their way of governance as well as the goods that they sought. This implies that these two colonial powers had different ways of approaching the different issues concerning the colonization of the North American Colonies that comprised Canada, the United States and Mexico. First, the French forged alliances with the Native Americans despite the conversion by the missionaries, which allowed them to collaborate in the wars against the British. On the other hand, the Spanish missionaries viewed the Native Americans as heathens who could not be converted to Christianity, with some soldiers killing or subjugating them. 1 Similarly, while the French were largely Protestants, the French Catholic Church controlled the colonial life, while Spanish colonizers insisted on a strict Catholic way of life, occasionally persecuting the Protestants in the colonies. In terms of the economy, the French government encouraged the farming efforts in North American Colonies as they viewed the trade in fur as lucrative. 2 Contrary to this, the Spanish who were largely trading economies controlled trade and commerce through the Spanish board of trade, which was helped in the enforcement of the regulations by the Spanish military. Colonization by the French meant that the colonies were subject to the King of France and there were no representative governments or the allowing of assembly without the express permission of the French monarch. However, the Spaniards used viceroys and governors that were appointed by the Spanish Crown, and the settlers had to pay the laws imposed by the king without any other choice. 

Bibliography 

Corbett, P. Scott, Volker Janssen, John M. Lund, Todd J. Pfannestiel, Paul S. Vickery, and 

Sylvie Waskiewicz.    U.S. History . 2014. http://openstaxcollege.org/textbooks/us-history . 

1 Corbett, P. Scott, Volker Janssen, John M. Lund, Todd J. Pfannestiel, Paul S. Vickery, and Sylvie Waskiewicz.    U.S. History . 2014: 11 

2 Ibid at 17.