Colonization of America

Paper Summary:

The paper begins by listing the objectives of various countries in the colonization of the Americas. It gives a history of England at the time of the discovery of the"New World," concentrating on the area of colonization. The paper looks at Spain's colonization of South America in the light of its religious motivations and discusses the conquering of the Aztecs. It studies the French and Dutch desire to find the Northwest Passage, their failure to do so and their subsequent colonization of North America. The paper also gives a picture of the relationships between these colonizing countries. The paper concludes by stating that the original motivations of the colonizing countries differed from their final motivations for colonization of the Americas.

From the Paper:

"The promise of new riches and the potential discovery of the fabled Northwest Passage were the primary objectives, which fueled the exploration of the New World. Yet these goals were not practical enough when the European nations decided to colonize the Americas. Of all the reasons for the colonization of America, "none perhaps was more important than the desire of the centralized national state to be economically self-sufficing and politically independent" (Carman & Syrett 19). This would prevent an autocratic and rigidly controlled colony in which everything was to benefit the parent country. The degree of success in colonizing the Americas would be measured by this fact. As long as a country could quickly populate its colonies and establish a self-sufficient economy, it would be ahead in the race to colonize the New World. Although the new riches and the Northwest Passage were still sought after, they weren't the final motivations for colonization any longer."

More papers on Colonization of America:

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• Analytical Essay # 72243 : "The Colonization Of The Americas"

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