Why did England colonize America 115 years after Spain did? (Roman, Britain, Mexico)
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Spain first colonized the Americas shortly after Columbus discovered it in 1492. Portugal got in the game a bit later but much sooner than the others around 1500, 8 years after the discovery. The French started colonies in 1604 and then England came in at 1607. The Dutch came in 1609, the Scots came in 1622, Swedes in 1638 and so on. So why did the majority of the European powers didn't start colonizing the Americas until over a 100 years after Columbus's discovery? And if England and France came in a century earlier, how different would things be?
They saw the money pouring into Spain by the shipload and wanted to get some. Not only out of avarice but out of fear for what might happen back home if Spain got too rich and powerful.
Spain had a lot of failed attempts at colonizing the East Coast. England had a failed attempt in Newfoundland and Roanoke, and Jamestown was a death trap. North America originally didn't hold any appeal to England but, overtime, colonization would provide many things, to include a buffer against Spain, an outlet for English goods, and a source of timber, furs and tobacco.
France came earlier than England, especially in Canada, down
the St. Lawrence and founding Quebec. One of my ancestors
was a founder of Montreal and Three Rivers.
So you ask why the English came late. England was in a lot of
turmoil at the time. So you should consider all that was happening
inside England which made the New World not a priority.
The pilgrims were religious malcontents seeking freedom at any cost.
Virginia was some wealthy businessmen with a lot of 2nd+ sons
who did not inherit a land title in England, as their first-born brothers did.
Many factors contributed to Britain's tardiness. England was not the most powerful European nation in the 16th century. Spain was most influential. Along with Portugal, Spain dominated New World exploration in the decades that followed Columbus. France, the Netherlands, and Sweden all showed greater interest in the Western Hemisphere than England did. Late Expectations
One of England's most adventurous sea captains, Sir Walter Raleigh was granted a charter in 1584 to seek out new lands. A voyage by John Cabot on behalf of English investors in 1497 failed to spark any great interest in the New World. England was divided in the 1500s by great religious turmoil. When Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church in 1533, decades of religious strife ensued. Finally, under Henry's daughter Elizabeth, the English were prepared to stake their claims. Although England was an island and therefore a seafaring nation, Spain was the undisputed superpower of the seas in the 16th century. Many of England's adventurous sea captains found that plundering Spanish ships was a far simpler means of acquiring wealth than establishing colonies.
Many factors contributed to Britain's tardiness. England was not the most powerful European nation in the 16th century. Spain was most influential. Along with Portugal, Spain dominated New World exploration in the decades that followed Columbus. France, the Netherlands, and Sweden all showed greater interest in the Western Hemisphere than England did. Late Expectations
One of England's most adventurous sea captains, Sir Walter Raleigh was granted a charter in 1584 to seek out new lands. A voyage by John Cabot on behalf of English investors in 1497 failed to spark any great interest in the New World. England was divided in the 1500s by great religious turmoil. When Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church in 1533, decades of religious strife ensued. Finally, under Henry's daughter Elizabeth, the English were prepared to stake their claims. Although England was an island and therefore a seafaring nation, Spain was the undisputed superpower of the seas in the 16th century. Many of England's adventurous sea captains found that plundering Spanish ships was a far simpler means of acquiring wealth than establishing colonies.
Thank you, this is the kind of answer I was looking for, so what about other countries such as France, Netherlands, or any other European power. It wasn't just England, all of them started colonization about a 100 years after Spain did except for Portugal. Also now that I think of it why did't the Ottoman Empire colonize the Americas, surly the fertile lands in the Americas would have seamed more appealing than the deserts of north Africa and the middle east.
England was convinced there would be a northwest passage to the orient and kept sending ships and crews out to find it. The first attempt was probably in 1499. John Cabot and others went out to Newfoundland and some distance along the coast. Cabot was Venetian sailing with Henry VII's authority but he wasn't interested in settlements. In 1575, Martin Frobisher tried to find the northwest passage and then again in 1577 and then 1578...to no avail. Prior to that the English were also trying to go north and east around Russia. They seemed to be more interested in trade than colonization and Bristol merchants were behind the early voyages. The ill-fated Roanoke colony was sent out a little later in 1585 but no one came to their relief until 1590 when it was found to be abandoned (the English were occupied with the Spanish Armada of 1588). Jamestown was finally established in 1607 but there had been various trading expeditions up and down the coast. You might recall that Squanto spoke English and possibly made two trips to Europe before the Pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts in 1620.
The Spanish established St. Augustine in 1565 and were already in northern New Mexico in 1598.
Spain first colonized the Americas shortly after Columbus discovered it in 1492. Portugal got in the game a bit later but much sooner than the others around 1500, 8 years after the discovery. The French started colonies in 1604 and then England came in at 1607. The Dutch came in 1609, the Scots came in 1622, Swedes in 1638 and so on. So why did the majority of the European powers didn't start colonizing the Americas until over a 100 years after Columbus's discovery? And if England and France came in a century earlier, how different would things be?
In addition to what others said, the Treaty of Tordesillas divided the colonial world into spheres for both Portugal and Spain. When those two nations were still strong in the 1500s, it sort of put a damper on other European nation's colonial aspirations because the fear that any new colony they founded would be attacked by Spain or Portugal. Spain in particular had a huge navy in the 1500s.
A good example of this is when the French tried to start a colony in Florida in the 1560s. They started building Fort Caroline (Jacksonville, Florida) in 1564 and the Fort was attacked a year later by the Spanish in 1565.
The Spanish assault on French Florida began as part of imperial Spain's geopolitical strategy of developing colonies in the New World to protect its claimed territories against incursions by other European powers. From the early 16th century, the French had historic claims to some of the lands in the New World that the Spanish called La Florida.
The Spanish regarded the destruction of Fort Caroline as necessary to the security of their colony at St. Augustine, the first permanent European settlement in what is now the United States. By the doctrine of uti possidetis de facto, or “effective occupation",[11] they legitimized their claim to Florida, stretching from the Panuco River on the Gulf of Mexico up the Atlantic coast to Chesapeake Bay,[12] leaving England and France to establish their own colonies in regions farther north.[13]
Look at a map. Why in the world would the Ottoman Empire try and colonize North America? In addition, if you think all of the Ottoman Empire was sand, again, look at a map. The OE consisted of a huge piece of the Western world, to include all of Turkey, Greece, Romania, Hungary, etc., etc. They were conquering their neighbors -- they didn't need to go overseas. The OE was on established trade routes and they already had a market for their goods.
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The Treaty of Tordesillas
