English and Spanish Policies in the New World, Part 2

Read Part 1 here.

Britain had a much different start than her rival, Spain. As early as 1578, Humphrey Gilbert had received a royal patent, guaranteeing the "rights and privileges of English men" to all settlers and their descendants. Spanish explorers came to find and plunder, whereas the British colonist came to settle, and to establish long-term trade. The English spirit, perhaps having already gone through its adventurous phase, was looking upward rather than just forward. While Spain was conquering and plundering, the protestant reformation and and its effects were molding British character. A new enterprising spirit which "spawned prosperity and Empire" was born of English liberties, and the opportunities they offered common people to better their lives. It was entrepreneurial corporation, with stockholders who expected returns on products and raw materials, that initiated colonization, not the government or professional explorers. Impoverished people had the chance to better their station by emigrating, and they were willing to work very hard and settle down in an unfamiliar land. However, they had their work cut out for them to catch up to the efforts of the Spanish, who had been in the Americas for almost a century before the first English explorations were made. At the time Queen Elizabeth died in 1603, there were no British colonists in North America, unless some survivors of the lost Roanoke colony still roamed the woods.

Roanoke Colony.

The British modus operandi was to set up permanent settlements and to transplant familiar ways of life there. English liberties, a habit of self-government, and English Law with its precedents, warrants and right to trial by jury had given people the confidence and independent spirit which was to form the basis for American society. In Great Britain, there had been strong traditions of local governance, and the new colonists were ready to expand this autonomy. They were industrious, and realized the value of setting up comfortable settlements, increasing their numbers, adapting Native knowledge, and trading with the Indians, sometimes intermarrying with them. Besides, there was no gold to be found on the east coast of North America anyway. The newcomers came with a variety of Christian faiths, with lots of freethinkers and radical sorts thrown in. The crown gave settlers some autonomy, and made profits on the settlers labors, which included the production of tobacco, indigo, fish, sugar, wheat, iron, and cattle. All tobacco and indigo had to be sold and shipped to England, but no-one else was allowed to grow them at all, even in Britain. This greatly restricted the producers ability to sell their wares, but guaranteed them a market. The government also passed Navigation Acts which specified where specific products could be shipped. Some of these said that the colonies couldn't trade with other countries, and that ships and sailors involved in the transport had to be British.

King John signs the Magna Carta, paving the way for English freedoms and representative government.

Unlike the Spanish, they had no great empire to fight, only sparse Native populations here and there. The British, although to a lesser extent than the French, recognized that cooperation with indigenous tribes could bring greater profit and stability in the long run, a lesson that was lost on Spanish efforts. "Rather than engage in hard bargaining for immediate profit, early traders learned the language of gifts, recognizing that over time, gifts given were sure to bring a good return" and were necessary to establish mutually beneficial business relationships. British and French traders found that being accepted by a tribe could bring protection, freedom and large financial returns. They often married Native women, which brought them a fixed place in tribal society, as well as companionship in the vast, sparsely populated wilderness. Gradually though, the Natives began to be pushed back more and more as colonists needed room to expand. Instead of looked upon as partners in trade, by the 1760's the Indian was increasingly regarded as a barrier to expansion.