Sante Fe, Jamestown, and Quebec Settlements

Brianna Mosby Mr. Weigand DE U. S History 25 September, 2012 Settlements of Quebec, Santa Fe, and Jamestown Santa Fe Santa Fe was originally founded in1598 by Juan de Onate. He led a mining expedition of about 500 people. He hoped to find rich mines and rich lands. Onate expected the people, Pueblos, to help with the labor to find resources in the region. The mining trip was a bust and Onate and most of his people decided to head home, yet the Franciscan missionaries stayed behind in an attempt to convert the Pueblos to Christianity. 609-1610 is the date that archeologists say that Santa Fe was truly established by Don Pedro de Peralta. Before 1609, Santa Fe was inhabited on a very small scale. Spanish settlers lived amongst the indigenous population. The Pueblo’s population was reacing 100,000 people. They spoke nine basic languages and lived in about 70 multi-storied adobe towns. Santa Fe was thought to be almost abandoned by 1610 along with St. Augustine. The expeditions cost the mainland to much money to only come up with no results. Also there were notmany settlers attracted to this region.

Overall the trips returned to little economic and strategic benefit to the Spanish. The only people to stay once everyone left were the Franciscan missionaries. After a few years the New Mexico region started producing a variety of goods to New Spain (Mexico). By 1680, the Pueblos drove the Spanish out of New Mexico for twelve years.. This was called the Pueblo revolt of 1680. Unfortunately for the natives the Spanish ended up coming back. Quebec Quebec was founded in 1608 by French settlers looking for a beneficial fur trade. As soon as the French landed they struck up an alliance with the

Algonkin, Montagnais, Huron tribes. These natives were the leading traders in the region. The French greatly benefited with this alliance, but it also brought a major problem. It brought a century of conflict with Huron’s enemies, the Iroquois confederacy from south of the Great Lakes. Quebec was also called New France by the French. The leaders in New France pictured a simple, religious orthodox settlement with a handful of fur trading companies and a ruling class who owned agricultural estates. Once seeing the small number of French that came over the plans changed.

The new idea was to converting the natives to Catholicism, French culture, and a simple lifestyle of farm labor on the estates, yet few chose this option. Instead most of the young Frenchman decided to live like the Native people as fur trappers and traders living in the backwoods. The French population struggled the first year on the new land. They started out with a small population. The first winter did not help by killing off most of the immigrants. For years after the only people alive were the missionaries and fur traders. By 1627 the population of the French in New France was only 85.

New France was able to keep its roots down is due to the developed economy and social systems that were organized around a single product. The single was product was fur trading. It was essential to the French, it kept them stabilized and on good grounds with the natives. The New France settlement was an overall peaceful thing. There was never an actual war for land between the natives and the French. The only thing that saved them from having this problem was the small numbers in population. They had a very small demand for the Native’s land, also the policy of the alliance put even less pressure on the indigenous peoples.

Jamestown Jamestown was established in 1607 by Captain John Smith. He sailed over on a charter from King James I with Virginia Company explorers. The Chesapeake region was chosen partly because the English knew who controlled it, the Powhatan people. English settlers expected to receive food and help with tributes in valuable goods. The explorers were mostly military men who were prepared to explore, deal with the Indians, and seek out riches in the area. They were not prepared to grow food crops or fish. When times started getting rough they decided to raid the surrounding Powhatan villages for food.

The first few years were the worst any of the settlers could have imagined. They dealt with famine, disease, frigid winters, failing harvests, and Indian wars. By 1610 the settlers decided to abandon Jamestown and head back to the homeland with a population of sixty. Nearing the end of the James River the settlers ran into their new governor who came with supplies from England. He ordered them to turn around and go back to Jamestown. English and the North Americans traded, negotiated, cooperated, and intermarried with each other. The settlers came into conflicts over land and their demand for the Native’s land.

They also excluded the Powhatan people from their society. Eventually the New World started to flourish once the English accepted the Powhatan people. They became a key factor to the new tobacco economy in colony, changing it to a cash crop in 1613. English leaders on the expedition planned to have a ruling class of wealthy families who owned estates in the New World that were worked by bound laborers. At first the landowners had a hard time keeping the English servants bound to labor until the use of enslaving Africans. All Together Overall these three settlements have much in common yet differ just as well.

Starting out all three were new expeditions to unknown territories. They all promoted strategic expansion plans to match and exceed their rival’s alliances and territorial gains. Also each out “established” a church and prosecuted dissenters in one way or another. Another thing is that they all had a bound labor system, it just varied in each settlement. They were all familiar with types of servitude and slavery in some way. All though they are alike, they are different. It starts off on where they settled Spain: New Mexico and Santa Fe, England: , France: Quebec.

The Spanish and French lived with the natives and allied with them, while the English excluded the Powhatan and raided them. Also the French was the only settlement to not go to war with the natives. They depended on the on the natives and did have such a threat to them because of the small population. Works Cited * www. library. thinkquest. org * www. pequotmuseum. org * www. historyworld. net * www. canadiana. ca * www. ehow. com * www. emexplorers. pbworks. com * www. itsatrip. org * Santafe. org * Apva. org * www. eslarp. uiuc. edu * Sfol. com