US History Essay 1

My professor never officially graded this when it was turned in, but at the end of the year he said I deserved an A for my writing during his class.

The Colonization of North America

A complete essay by Josiah Teal

The colonization of America began with the coming of three different nations to its unfamiliar shores, the Spanish, the French, and the English. What prompted these men, both entrepreneurs and traders, both warriors and religious purists, to leave their familiar countries and the people they knew for the untamed wilderness of the Americas?

In the sixteenth century, Spanish conquistadors began pouring into Central America by the boatload. Prompted by the promise of wealth and the fables of golden cities and wells that endowed youth upon whomever drank from their waters, Spanish soldiers and leaders were arriving on the unfamiliar shores in vast numbers. Many were also drawn by religious convictions to “persuade” the native inhabitants to convert to Christianity.

I have never before considered how the average Spanish soldier would have thought of his adventure. I imagine myself being both excited and scared about what I would encounter on my escapade to the strange new land. Struggling with my own civility after witnessing my own “civilized” leaders exact near extermination on the tribes they deemed “barbaric.” Would I be proud or embarrassed in the end, to have been part of the “taming” of Central America?

The French traders found North America to be tremendously profitable for their fur trading endeavors. The “brown gold” (not molasses) was valued very highly back in Europe and French coureurs de bois or “runners of the woods” worked very diligently to keep up with high demands. The high value in the furs flowing from North American lands prompted many French citizens to pack up and move to America, hoping to cash in on the fur trade profits.

To join a French trader might have been a very appealing undertaking for a young man like myself. As a very avid woodsman, I would probably jump at an opportunity to explore the wooded realms of the north all while making a hefty profit, although profit wasn’t always a guarantee. I imagine cold winters, wet springs, and humid summers. Befriending Indian maidens J and living in the untamed wilderness might have been too much of a temptation to refuse.

The English didn’t begin colonization of the new world as soon as the Spanish or the French, but the reasons that they came would make them more of a permanent resident than both the Spaniards and the Frenchmen. Most of the English came to America for religious reasons; they were experiencing a wave of harsh persecution and ridicule in their native land and for many, a journey to a new land was the only means of escape. For others, a new land presented a chance to make a profit as the French had done with the fur trade. Companies would send a group of settlers to the New World with the task of establishing a reliable source of income for themselves. The settlers would harvest crops and trap and trade with the natives, sending back portions of their loot to the company financing the settlement.

I imagine this to be the least enticing adventure of the three discussed, although it may have had its benefits. Colonial life would have been a challenge and I imagine one would need to work from dawn till dusk to make life tolerable for the first few months. It would have been cold at times, very uncomfortable, sickness would likely fall upon many, and the food wouldn’t be anything to be proud of either. I may not have fared too well in this case; my comfortable and relatively easy 21^st century life may have made me too unlikely to work 12-14 grueling hours a day 6 days a week. I suppose if my life depended on it, I could find the spirit to do what needed to be done.

Whether desperately trying to make a name for themselves, just doing business, or escaping persecution, the first colonists of North America must have had terrific courage to step out into an unknown world and start anew. Without knowing what lie ahead as we now do, these brave men and women dared to risk all for what they wanted or believed. That inspires me.