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MODULE European

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2.2 Colonization

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Historians think comparatively to identify, describe, and analyze similarities and differences among
two or more historical events, individuals, groups, regions, developments, or concepts. Considering
how these different aspects of history relate to each other is a critical step toward gaining a
fuller understanding of the past. While comparison is a fundamental historical reasoning tool, it’s
also important to remember that it is just one aspect of historical analysis. One way historians
strengthen comparative understanding is by examining the causes of the historical developments
they compare. They do so because making meaningful historical comparisons isn’t just recording
observations — historians uncover reasons that help to explain similarities and differences. Making
this connection to underlying causes is an important part of historical analysis.
As you read this module, think about the similarities and differences in the interactions between
European colonizers and Native Americans before 1754. Make sure that, wherever you make these
comparisons, you also ask the important question of why. If you see a similarity between two
European colonies, for instance, ask yourself what factors help explain it. If, let’s say, you discover a
difference between the lives of women in two European colonies, ask yourself what caused it.

n the late sixteenth century, French, Dutch, and English investors became increas-
ingly interested in establishing colonies in North America. But until Spain’s grip on
Ithe Atlantic world was broken, other nations could not hope to compete for an Ameri-
can empire. Throughout the seventeenth century, the French, Dutch, and English estab-
lished colonies in the Western Hemisphere, which led to conflict with both the Spanish
and American Indians.

The French Expand into North America

Although French rulers shared Spain’s Catholic faith, the two nations were rivals, and
the defeat of its Armada by English naval forces in 1588 weakened Spain enough to
allow the rest of Europe greater access to North America. Once in North America, the
French adopted attitudes and policies that differed significantly from those of Spain.
This was due in part to their greater interest in trade than in conquest. The French had
fished the North Atlantic since the mid-sixteenth century, and in the 1580s they built
stations along the Newfoundland coast for drying codfish. French traders then estab-
lished relations with local American Indians, exchanging iron kettles and other Euro-
pean goods for valuable beaver skins.
By the early seventeenth century, France’s King Henry IV (reigned 1589–1610)
sought to profit more directly from the resources in North America, focusing on devel-
oping the increasingly lucrative trade in American fish and furs. In 1608, Samuel de
Champlain founded Québec, the first permanent French settlement in North America.

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