When colonizing the New World, each European nation had different motivations for doing so. Joint stock companies in Great Britain wanted to colonize to prove it was possible and could be a lucrative enterprise, but failed. Later, Great Britain's focus primarily became colonizing for land gains and for the King. Spain wanted to colonize to find gold and silver, which would give them immense power, and used the local Native Americans and other slaves from Africa to help them achieve that. The Dutch wanted to colonize to create a trade network with the local Native Americans and treated them with respect instead of as an inferior people. The French colonized in a similar way and respected the local tribes to get the goods and services that they wanted.
There were a variety of different reasons for colonizing America, and this shows us something about how America developed. Each colony developed at a different rate than the other colonies, and had different beliefs, thoughts, and ideals than its neighbors. Progress occurred at different times and places throughout the American colonies. These same things still occur today: different states enact different laws at varying rates. America was diverse when it was being colonized, and still is today.
I think the most important thing that we learned is how differently the Spanish and the Dutch treated the local peoples. The Spanish treated the Native Americans like dirt and tried to use them as their slaves, which led them not getting what they wanted. The Dutch treated the Native Americans more or less as equals, and as a result were able to establish vital trade networks that led to them achieving their goals. Today, we try to apply the principles of the Dutch to how we handle diplomacy. We do our best to acknowledge other countries as equals, and then move on from there in a case by case basis.
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