Compare and contrast the native relations of The English and French with natives

Question

As both England and France solidified their colonial empires, contact with the natives was inevitable. However, each group treated natives differently. Compare and contrast the native relations of each group. Which group created a strong alliance with natives and why?

Answer 1

The French and the English both came to the “New World” to enrich their mother countries. However the primary differences between them are the problems they were trying to solve by colonization and their views of the Native people .

The English were concerned with placement of its excess population and in securing the flow of raw materials back to the homeland. In addition they expected the colonists to bolster England's economy with demands for manufactured goods. To meet these goals, the colonists were encouraged to make permanent agricultural settlements. This created a conflict between the English and the Natives, since the lands they were colonizing where already inhabited. The English considered the Natives to be primitive and inferior themselves. So they tried to enslave or eradicate them.

The French, on the other hand, were more concerned with controlling trade routes, with furs being the driving force. The French and the Native held a mutual-gain relationship. The French came to America mainly for the fur trade, which the Natives was already doing. So instead of being competitors over living space, they were partners in trade. The French acknowledged that there were many things that the Natives knew better than they did. They treated the natives as equal partners to help bolster trade.