By: Marcos Zhang

The British had a large impact in spreading their culture or traditions to far-away lands. India was changed of its traditions that have been there for about a thousand years, such as sati, which is putting a wife in fire if her husband passes on.

Britain was at first very nice to the American colonies. Most of the settlements were royal charters, or land given by the king. Governments were put that could rule locally as long as they weren’t against the king. This is how the House of Burgesses, a government that made laws.

The Dutch ruled through the East India Company. They made a class system were they put themselves on top, very smart Indonesians next, and laborers at the bottom. To make money, they made farmers plant one-fifth of their land for export. Dutch men also began to have wives that are Asian.

South America Circa. 1800

The British colonies in America were mostly Protestant, also like the Dutch and had many different sects. The Spanish, on the other hand, like the French, were Catholics.

The Dutch built a colony in New Amsterdam (now called New York) after buying land for a small price. They did not care much for the colony, but they traded with Hudson River Indians. They impacted the trade connection between Britain and other Indians.

Aerial view of New Amsterdam

All of the colonial rulers, such as France, believed in a system called Mercantilism, which means to make more money from colonies and to export (sell stuff) more than you import (buy stuff).

In most of the British colonies in the New World, religious tolerance was accepted. But this was not the same in places such as France and Spain, where non-Catholics were excluded or even put in danger.

Crown-appointed viceroys ruled the people of the Spanish colonies. They had an focus on military conquests, or spreading by force. The Spanish did have some farming, but they made a trading economy. Those who did not convert to Catholicism were being attacked.

French rule of the New World was very strong. Individual freedoms are not allowed and every decision is made by the King. They started farming but found out that fur trading, a resource that was found easily, made more money and they specialized (focused on) this type of business.

France made their impact on Indochina, or Cambodia, Laos, and Northern Vietnam. They made people eat less rice so that the French government can sell it for money. This made many Vietnamese people mad, and it lead to them resisting French control.

The many imperial powers ruled in different ways and treated natives in different ways. For example, French people were able to join forces with Native Americans in battles, while some Spanish soldiers thought of them as killing targets. It is safe to say, though, that the colonies were different in governing bodies, such as a representative government in Britain and a viceroyalty in the Spanish colonies.

While the economy of British New World colonies was focused on growing crops with African slaves, France focused on trading fur and the Spanish colonies focused on trading that was controlled by Spain. Raw materials (stuff that isn’t made yet) were exported to Europe for factories to create products for money.

With the slave trade not earning money anymore, Europeans wanted to conquer Africa for raw materials. People back in Europe were becoming homeless, so many settler communities were made, which brought the culture of Europe to places in Africa. Many African natives were taught by the customs of the Europeans.

Although the make-up of the colonies, with religion and the type of rule, they all were used for the same reason. All of the colonies were used for money for the daddy country.

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2. "The Colonization of Africa." http://exhibitions.nypl.org/. N.p.. Web. 10 Feb 2014. <http://exhibitions.nypl.org/africanaage/essay-colonization-of-africa.html>.

3. "Imperialism in Southeast Asia."http://mrtrainor.sharepoint.com/. N.p.. Web. 10 Feb 2014. <http://mrtrainor.sharepoint.com/Documents/W5F27EAD Imperialsim in Southeast Asia.pdf>.

4. "The Dutch Colonies in the New World."publicbookshelf.com. N.p.. Web. 10 Feb 2014. <http://www.publicbookshelf.com/public_html/The_Great_Republic_By_the_Master_Historians_Vol_I/dutchcolo_db.html>.