A Comparison of the Three Major Powers in North America in the Eighteenth Century The three major Colonial superpowers

of the Americas all approached the settling of their new found land in different ways. Each had a distinct style in which they inter-related with the natives and a different economic system that allowed the colonies to exist. One of the major ways in which the Spanish and French differed from the British approach was the system in which they implemented towards the natives: Frontiers of inclusion for the French and Spanish and frontiers of exclusion for the British Empire. While the French and Spanish took the same stance on the natives, their approaches were vastly different. Both the French and Spanish intermarried with the Indian population. However, this is where the similarities end. The Spanish used a system of forced conversion that ultimately backfired. In order to control the Indians they converted them to Catholicism so the Spanish crown would have dominion over them (Faragher, 62). They then plunder[ed] that unhappy people according to Friar Bartlolome of Las Casas. While the French had the overall best relations with the natives, many still held a very low opinion of them. Father Paul Le Juene of Quebec wrote, I would not be willing to trust them, except they would fear to be punished (Faragher, 158) Nevertheless, the French proved very capable at making alliances with surrounding tribes. Even though the Indians didnt nessesarily like the French, they preferred them to the encroaching British, most of whom would rather slaughter than cut deals as shown with Bacon However, despite whatever national policy, all three nations benefitted from the natives. Even Britain whose official stance was that of exclusion learned many important things from the natives. As shown through the house of the seven gables (Faragher, 142), the building style taught to the

Scandinavians by the Indians proved to be extremely successful and soon spread throughout the English colony of Pennsylvania. The forms of building and agriculture introduced by the Indians made the pioneers of the day successful. The English, however, did not incorporate the Indians into their society and those who intermarried with them were looked down upon, such as Eunice Williams of Deerfield Massachusetts (Faragher, 131) In fact, those captured in the Deerfield raid were shocked by people who seemed Indian in all respects except for their blue eyes (Faragher, 130) One of the most important differences among North American colonial regions in the eighteenth century was the economic stagnation of New France and New Spain compared with the impressive economic growth of the British colonies (Faragher,148). Whereas New France and New Spain were encumbered by heavy regulations, the British colonies flourished, growing by half a percent a year. (Faragher, 149) Because of this boom, middle and upper class living conditions improved. The difference between the economic stances of the powers was that in the British colonies, hard work translated into more money and one could raise their economic and social standing. In New France and New Spain even the landlords were unable to accumulate any real wealth while those who owed them lived in constant toil (Faragher,148). While there was also a great number of poor people that made up the lower class in Englands colonies, it was the size and strength of the middle class, a rank entirely absent in the colonies of France and Spain (Faragher, 148) that set the British colonies apart. France and Spains colonies still resembled feudalistic Europe with almost no chance of moving up in the world- an ability that sent immigrants pouring into North America centuries later. This also increased English monetary gain, as captains could know make money on their way to pick up goods from the colonies by transporting immigrants.

In short, the colonies of England were made successful by their self-sufficiency and economic mobility while that of New Spain and New France was held back by their rigid structure and their dependency on the natives.