Cultural Differences Between North And South America

All vastly different, three major nations first explored and settled the New World. These European nations were Spain, England, and France. Divergent in much more than their nationalities, these powers contributed to what is now North and South America in their own unique ways.

The first major settlers of the New World were the Spanish. Sponsored by the crown, conquistadors set out to find gold and glory, as well as to convert the natives to Christianity. They conquered and created sprawling settlements in South America and the bottom edge of North America. Although mighty, the Spanish explorers and settlers were still governed by the laws of Spain (they could make none of their own). Their economy was controlled by trade, thanks to the rare

goods of the New World and the conquistadors being increasingly more interested in sacking settlements than settling down to grow crops. Within the population of the Spanish, Catholicism reigned supreme, and, as the Catholics started to convert the natives, many intermarried with them, creating a whole new race of people. Although trying to convert and espousing them, conquistadors were cruel to the natives they found in the New World; they enslaved and butchered many, and their diseases killed millions more. Even after the massacre, their cultures ended up meshing together thanks to religious conversion and marriage between them. Today, Spanish influence can still be seen in Mexico and the southern United States in the language they speak, their traditions, and the number of Catholic people who still reside there.
While the Spanish were colonizing the south, the French started to colonize the north. After many dismal failures brought on by bad weather, disease, and/or conflict with the native people, the French finally founded permanent colonies in what is now Canada and the Great Lakes, then continued down the Saint Lawrence river and into the what is now the Midwest (later, colonists continued to the south to establish plantations, but their small number didn’t come close to rivaling those of Spain). Unlike the Spanish, the French didn’t colonize the Americas in great numbers, and the few people that did come to the New World were men, so marriages between the French and native women were common. Thanks to mutual benefits and respect, the French created alliances with the native people that were much stronger than any other European power manged thereafter. Trade also controlled the economy of the French settlements; many of the settlers were fur trappers because it was far more lucrative than farming at that time. Just as the Spanish, the French had no self-government and were subject to their king’s laws. While Protestant missionaries helped create the French settlements in the New World, they fell out of the country’s favor, and the dominant religion shifted to Catholic. While never settling in large numbers, the French heavily influenced what is today Canada and the area that was previously in the Louisiana territory in their language (most clearly seen in Canada) and religion.
Last, but certainly not least, were the English settlers.

Although the English started colonizing the New World more than a century after the Spanish and French, their influenced has proven to hold the most clout in the modern United States. Many areas of English colonization are vastly different than those of the Spanish or French. One such difference was in the economy of the English colonies; while it’s true that the English depended on trade as the Spanish and French did, they started out as an agricultural society. Where the French were trading furs and the Spanish were selling gold and other precious metals, the English were exporting tobacco and other cash crops. Another difference can be found in the multitude of religions that the English brought to the Americas. Where the Spanish and French were predominantly Catholic, the English first came to the New World as Puritans then splintered into many different religions (and they even accepted those who were non-religious in some colonies). Also unlike their European neighbors, the English had the opportunity for self-government as long as they didn’t revolt against the crown (ha!). The blind eye turned to the little democracies that popped up in the English colonies made the settlers more independent and stubborn than many of their European predecessors. When it came to the native people, the English were cordial at first. They worked together with the Native Americans until they could stand on their own, then they slaughtered or drove them from their homes with a cruelty that surpassed that of the Spanish conquistadors. While cruel to the natives, the English could be surprisingly lenient to their own people, compared to the Spanish or French; peasants and refugees weren’t allowed in the Spanish or French colonies because their settlers were there to make money, not coddle society’s refuse, but the English were seeking a new home as well as a way to profit, so they were far more welcoming to settlers looking

to start a new life, no matter what social class the immigrant was from (especially in Rhode Island and Pennsylvania). English influence can be seen almost everywhere in the modern United States, from our language, customs, and capitalistic society down to our perceived supremacy.
Although the contrasts between the three major nations that settled the New World are glaringly obvious in some cases, our European ancestry can be seen all over the melting pot that is the modern United States whether it be Spanish, French, or English. Some contributions may be small, but without them, we wouldn’t have the America that we know and love today.