Only several hundred years ago, the world existed under entirely different rules. Strong countries divided every piece of land and ocean between themselves and established their colonies in different parts of the globe. North America was colonized just as every other continent. The colonies were parts of Spanish, Dutch, French, and English possession. The economic, political, and demographic situations were different in these colonies.
Every colony in 1500-1700 years had its unique purpose and goals. Some colonies, such as Virginia, were meant to be short-term. This English colony was located on the coast of North America and was found in 1607 at Jamestown. As it is known, the colonists came from a “joint-stock Virginia Company” (Khan Academy, 2016). People who went there expected to find gold, become rich, and live a wealthy life in Europe for the rest of their lives. It did not happen as they expected, and it turned out that there was no gold there. Only fifteen percent of the colonists survived because of starvation and the diseases carried by mosquitos, but after they left, other colonists found tobacco, and this colony became successful.
Spanish people were the first to settle colonies in North America. That is why they occupied a big part of the land. Dutch and French colonists decided to “focus their efforts around two rivers: the Saint Lawrence and the Hudson Rivers” (Khan Academy, 2017). Their goals and building relationships with Native Americans were drastically different. French and Dutch colonists were interested in trade, and that is why they communicated with local people using gifts and other friendly methods to ask them to get pelts or other precious things. At the same time, Spanish colonists used weapons to force natives to work for them. Spanish colonies were primarily obsessed with gold and plantations. The English middle colonies, like New York and Pennsylvania, were propriety colonies. That means that the colonists who lived there could set their rules. That way, these colonies were more “ethnically diverse and more religiously tolerant” (Khan Academy, 2017). Also, the middle colonies were more balanced in terms of wealth, and unlike other territories, only half of the population was English.
All of the colonies had specific features that characterized them. I think the middle colonies were the best to settle during that period because of many factors. They were tolerant of religions like Catholics and Jews, while most of the colonies were authoritarian in that sense. The middle colonies found a good balance in living because they built all the rules for themselves.
References
Khan Academy. (2017). French and Dutch colonization [Video]. YouTube.
Khan Academy. (2016). Jamestown – John Smith and Pocahontas [Video]. YouTube.
Khan Academy. (2017). The Middle Colonies[Video]. YouTube.