Early Colonization

The history of the Americas is a very interesting topic. Many different natives founded the different colonizations of the Americas. Some were looking for a new beginning and some were looking for land or riches. The history of the Americas began during the height of the Ice Age. " Most of the ancestors of today's Native Americans were hunter-gatherers who migrated into North America " ("History of the", n.d., para. 2). The most popular theory of today's migrants is that they made their way to America via the Bering Land Bridge, Beringia, the land mass covered by the cold ocean waters in the Bering Strait. In this paper we will discuss three specific colonizations: the Iberians, the French, and the English. Many of these different cultures eventually turned into civilizations.

The French Colonization

The French colonization began in the 16th century and continued throughout the 17th century. Many of the French colonies were located in Canada, Alabama, and Louisiana. Many of the French colonies were formed to export items such as fish, sugar, and furs. The French colonies were developed very slowly, because the French were initially only interested in the fur trade. The French developed colonies in Canada and the Great Lakes. Because the French were very interested in the fur trade, they pushed their colonies further inland so that they could trade better with the American Indian Tribes. Samuel De Champlain made his first trip to North America while on a fur trading expedition. He would prove himself to be very instrumental in expanding New France. Champlain created a fur trading post in 1608 that would eventually turn into the city of Quebec. While the French gained huge territory in Canada and the Great Lakes, settlement in this area was very sparse. The settlement was sparse because of the fact that the French were so interested in the fur trade and not in colonizing. This all changed when Louis XIV arrived at the throne of France and sent ships containing 775 women for the mostly male populated French Canadian demography serving in the fur trade posts. In as little as 10 years, "the population tripled to 7,000 inhabitants, reaching 15,000 in 1689, and 85,000 by 1754" ("French Colonization", n.d., para. 4). While the French population grew tremendously, the traders and voyagers who came to the Americas attempted to Christianize many native groups throughout the establishment. French Huguenots also established self-governing colonies that were beyond the control of the French state. The Huguenots began making treaties with the local Native Americans to purchase land from the Hudson River to the mountains, and otherwise prospered even after the English took control over the Hudson River and New York. The French also had settled into Louisiana where they also established trading posts and forts. La Salle established a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi River. He left France with 4 ships and also 300 colonists, but the expedition was stopped by pirates, defensive Indians, and poor navigation. The colony did not last very long; only 4 years, when the local Indians overpowered the colony. The colony of what is now Louisiana was developed in 1699. France soon had a conflict with Great Britain, whose colonies bordered the French colonies in many places. This conflict actually led to the French and Indian Wars, otherwise known as the Seven Years' War. Following the French defeat in the Seven Years' War came the declination of the French in North America.

Iberian Colonization

The colonization of the Iberians began when Christopher Columbus arrived in the Western Hemisphere in 1492. The Iberians quickly began small settlements, which eventually expanded into four centuries to include Central America, most of the South America, Mexico, Southern United States, Central United States, British Columbia, Canada, and some of Alaska. "In the beginning of the 19th century, the Spanish possessions in America began a series of independence movements, which culminated in the complete separation from Spain in the 1820's of Mexico, and the colonies in Central and South American" (Wikipedia, 2007, para. 1). What was left of the remaining Spanish colonies, Cuba and Puerto Rico, were lost in the 1898 Spanish-American War. The first settlements of the Spanish were on the islands of the Carribean. The first contact between the Spanish and the civilizations of Central America happened when Christopher Columbus was on his final voyage in 1502 and encountered a large canoe filled with trade goods such as cacao beans, copper, and flint axes. He took one prisoner from the canoe and also took the trade goods that he wanted, then let the canoe continue. The Spanish also wanted to impose Christianity onto the American civilizations, just like the French did. The native population was declined by the outbreak of European diseases such as