Notes

BRITISH:
After a failed attempt at Roanoke Island, in what is now North Carolina, Jamestown, Virginia, became the first permanent British colony in 1607. Part of Jamestown's success was due to the help of local tribes, like the Powhatan Confederacy, that helped the British grow their crops. Relations with the Native Americans soured when the settlers needed more land to grow tobacco and pushed many Native Americans off their land. Britain claimed all North American territory from Newfoundland to Florida. This was impossible to enforce due to the lack of permanent settlements. Other European nations colonized land previously claimed by the British, which led to fighting.
SPANISH:
Christopher Columbus's tales of riches led to European colonization of the New World. Spain was the dominant European presence in the New World in the 1500s. The strength of the Spanish Armada made it difficult for other European powers to settle in the New World. One of the main motives for Spanish colonization was to find gold and other resources and send them back to Spain. To accomplish this, the Spanish set up colonies in Mexico, the Caribbean, and South America. For labor, many conquistadores enslaved Native Americans and treated them poorly. Spanish missionaries tried to convert the natives to Catholicism. In 1588, Britain defeated the Spanish Armada, which made colonization in the New World easier for other European powers.
DUTCH:
The Dutch challenged British claims to the area of present-day New York in 1609, and called it New Netherland. The Dutch rivaled England as the largest commercial power in Europe during the 1600s. The Dutch opened a post at Port Orange in 1624 to help with fur trading. They also negotiated the purchase of Manhattan Island from the Native Americans and called this settlement New Amsterdam. The English saw the Dutch as invaders on British land claims. In 1664, Britain sent 400 soldiers to New Amsterdam to force the Dutch out. Outnumbered and already weak from fighting with Native American tribes, the Dutch turned over their settlement to the British without a shot being fired.
FRENCH:
The French set up their first permanent settlement in North America in Quebec in 1608. Initially, the French focused on fishing, fur trading, and missionary work, converting Native Americans to Catholicism. They expanded their settlements into the Mississippi Valley region, which was partially claimed by the British. The French set up several forts to protect their profitable fur trade and their claims to the region. The French settlements grew slowly, so the Native Americans were not pushed off their land as they were in the British settlements. Unlike the Spanish, the French did not try to change the Indian customs, which led to a more peaceful coexistence between the French and the Native American tribes.



EUROPE:
For many, the motivations for coming to the New World were the profits and adventure it promised. Europe was filled with rumors that the New World was overflowing with gold for those brave enough to embark on the adventure.

Those fortune seekers were given an incentive to travel when the Virginia Company introduced the headright system. This system was designed to attract new people to the British colonies to help farm. Each colonist was given about 50 acres of land in exchange for settlement. Wealthy European men gained a large amount of land this way. They sent indentured servants, collected the headright for each of their servants, and had the labor to farm the new land.
Scarcity of resources and overpopulation in Europe led many to try their luck coming to the New World. Many were trying to escape poverty and disease in Europe.

The demand for labor was low in Europe but high in the New World. Laborers were needed to help grow tobacco that was very profitable when sold in Europe. Many people became indentured servants, who agreed to a seven-year contract on their labor in return for passage on a ship bound for the New World.
In the 1600s, two groups of Puritans traveled for months to make settlement in the New World. Pilgrims traveled aboard the Mayflower to settle in Plymouth. Separatists, who were persecuted over their religious beliefs, settled in Massachusetts Bay. Both groups traveled to America in family units and believed that once they were in the New World, they would be able to worship freely.