The English

The English and the French both settled in North America around the same time. The English however was more successful than the French. Some historians say that the French was dominant and settled better than the English. However, because of the English being able to settle permanently, religious tolerance, and the active role the English government had on the new colonies, the English had the greatest success in North America.

The English in the early 17th century were looking to North America as a safe place for protestants. They were looking to escape the Roman Catholic Church. These protestants planned to settle in the new world permanently. The French however did not look at North America as a colony but a place to gain money. Many of the English settlers had families and children. These people settled in villages with other settlers and they basically set up communities and towns. The French, however, were mostly young male who didn’t have a family themselves.

The French didn’t settle in North America but they just set up trading posts and used those to ship fur to France. Since the English had families, they started farms and shops. Since they had those, they were more equipped to settle on North America than the French.

To many of the English settlers coming to the new world, they left England because of religious persecution. To the English, the only way to survive was to move to North America where any religion was tolerable. The freedom of religion was enough that almost 5 million people were inhabiting North America by 1650. The French, however, were strict Roman Catholics. The official religion of the colonies were Catholicism. To the French, the new colony was no different than France. By 1700, the French had a population of a mere fifteen thousand. The English were very fortunate because the Protestant reformation and the discovery of North America happened near the same time. This allowed the English to dominate North America and this later on led to the permanent settlement of the English in North America.

Finally, the English government was a huge factor in the English settling in the new world. The English government at the time of the settlement were having a religious problem. The English recently broke off from the Catholic Church. This led to Queen Mary persecuting many puritans. This led to the first settlement in North America. The French did not have the political troubles that England faced. The English government most importantly had a very big role on the economy. The English approved the colonist growing tobacco. Tobacco generated tremendous revenue for England and the new settlers. The English government interested in growing the colony, gave fifty acres of land for colonists who covered their own transportation to America. This led to the new colonies to grow. The French government did not have the same type of role that the English had. The French were mainly interested in fur. Also, the French government only concentrated on Quebec because that was the main trading post.

The French and English both occupied North America but the different idea of settling led to England having the most success. The English with their method of settlement eventually led to the formation of United States. Now in the 21st century, the United States is the most powerful country in the world and that proves that the English, not the French, had the most success in settlement of the new world.