Essay 1 Compare and contrast the Spanish, French, and British approaches to empire

Thesis for Compare and contrast the Spanish, French, and British approaches to empire in colonial North and Central America. (Use the beginning of the lecture on the Chesapeake to sketch the British attitudes to the land and the indigenous population.) Are the similarities or the differences among the three empires more significant?

Although all three empires involved domination and enslavement, societal structures and economic values were the striking differences that led the Spanish, British, and French to their different approaches in colonial North and Central America.

British Economy

British- Wanted to create a labor force to help grow tobacco (Chesapeake) tobacco was their labor intensive crop Indentured servant (Europeans)- agree to work for a period of time (7 years) and they aren't free during this time People who don't have other good options took this route, other people committed a crime and worked to pay off punishment Enslaved Africans 1619- first ship of enslaved people arrived Early years some Africans were indentured servants or worked to buy their way out of slavery As time went on, number of people who were able to gain land and money after being indentured decreases, this is seen in Bacon's rebellion in 1676 -disgruntled poor people gathered and Bacon leads raid that ousts governor and terrorizes Jamestown, leading colonial authorities to reassert their power but change their ways -Bacon's rebellion stops the cooperation between poor whites and poor blacks, and makes race and slavery much more connected (gave whites more opportunities)

Similarities between all three and how they are not as significant

Domination and enslavement were not as significant in the end result because they all asserted their authority on native americans but due to their differences in religious and economic values, they ended up in different places.

French Articulative empire

French population in North America was small and declining, so they were keen on making connections and creating an empire but without having to put much money into making it or traveling. Through alliances made from trade with the indigenous people, they were able to claim a large amount of territory, and were much less violent than the British. Métis communities (mixed communities) were established because the French believed that it was important to lead empires. They still thought they were superior to Native Americans.

French Economy

French- Based on fur trade (pelts of beaver), would buy the furs from Natives Coureurs de bois: runneers of the woods, learned native languages, took charge of trade, married native women. point of connection with locals, intermediaries, back woodsmen

Spanish economy

Spanish- Encomienda system- replicate European feudalism, Spanish people would be granted land and people that lived on it. Spanish lord would protect indigenous people in exchange for them giving them crops that they grew -system was corrupted

British Exclusive Empire

The British intended to transplant their whole social structure to North America, creating a very exclusive social structure. In their first settlement in Jamestown in 1607, they aggravated the natives (the Powhatans), not interested in trading with, marrying, or converting any of the natives, while also stealing from them. This caused Opechancanough's attack in 1622, with the Indians delivering a swift attack to get the British off the land. In turn, this sparked English response toward most natives, they believed they had to fight back, "destroy them who sought to destroy us", English were determined to take land, without the natives on it.

Spanish Stratified Empire

The Spanish had a hierarchy, it was an empire of layers, similar to a pyramid where the indigenous were at the bottom of the pyramid, then indigenous leaders above them, then spanish settlers, and on the top was spanish leaders. They thought of the indigenous as inferior, but still interacted with them, marrying some. This intermingling played into Hernando Cortés' conquest in 1518. Cortés defeats the Aztec Empire with the help of Aztec enemies.

Topic Sentence for societal structures

Topic Sentence: The differences in societal structures between the stratified spanish empire, the articulated French empire, and the exclusive British empire led each to a different approach in its communication with the indigenous population.

Economic Differences Topic Sentence

While the British had a hierarchical social system for their economy, the Spanish had the encomienda system, and the French were engrossed in trade, and each of these different approaches led to alternative relationships to develop among the natives and settlers.