Why Britain and Spain Dominated the New World: Cultural and Military Roots

Introduction: The Question of European Dominance

A unified cultural need to establish dominance in another land is among the most important reasons for the footholds established by the English and the Spanish in the New World. It is true that a plethora of different races, ethnic groups, nationalities, and cultures arrived on North American soil prior to 1776, the year that America began its process of embarking upon independence and officially becoming the United States of America.

This raises the question: why did the Spanish (and Spanish Americans) and later primarily the English (and English Americans) become the dominant ethnic groups in the New World, rather than other nations that established settlements — for instance, the Dutch?

This paper argues that the predominant historical evidence, as discussed in The Ethnic Dimension in American History, Major Problems in American Immigration and Ethnic History, and American Mosaic, suggests that the reasons for this dominance were twofold. First, the Spanish and the English dominated the seas and the land militarily in ways that other European nations, such as the French, did not. English settlers in particular had religious as well as economic reasons for developing a cultural, sociological, and economic foothold in the new nation. Second, both the British and Spanish nations were more unified, commanded greater mercantile capital, and were technically more advanced than their rivals — particularly at sea — which, coupled with their greater drive to establish permanent settlements, ensured their dominance.

Military Power and Colonial Conflicts

It is tempting to view English dominance purely as a product of military might. While this undoubtedly played a role, the reasons for both British and Spanish supremacy were ultimately more cultural than purely military or technological, as this essay will argue.

On the level of military technology, the English in particular exercised decisive military dominion, winning what came to be known as King Philip's War — defeating a Native American alliance against the New England colonists. The British also later dominated France and the still-powerful Native American tribes in what came to be known as King William's War in 1689. In May of 1702, England declared war on France following the death of the King of Spain, Charles II, in order to prevent a union of France and Spain. This conflict, called the War of the Spanish Succession, was known in the colonies as Queen Anne's War, and English and American colonists continued to battle the French, their Native American allies, and the Spanish for the next eleven years.

Militarily in the New World, the English dominated both the French and the Native American peoples the French had allied with. In terms of population, the Anglo colonists far exceeded the French. Some French had fled feared persecution in their homeland, yet the English domination of the land was so long-lasting and entrenched — in terms of existing governmental structures — that the French and eventually even the Spanish had no corresponding, long-standing geographic and political presence from an organizational standpoint in the New World.

The Role of Settlement, Unity, and Governance

Despite the French alliance with Native American peoples of the region, the British triumphed because of their superior technology and superior numbers, but most importantly because of the greater unity of their alliance. The Native Americans were at war among themselves, and the French, Spanish, and Native American coalition was consequently tenuous. The English colonists were united by pre-existing and stronger governmental structures, and also by a more common culture than their enemies possessed.

In contrast to the French, the British settlements' permanent footholds in the New World stretched back to 1620, when the Mayflower landed at Cape Cod in Massachusetts with over a hundred colonists and a permanent settlement was established. The Mayflower Compact established a form of purely local government in which the colonists agreed to abide by majority rule and to cooperate for the general good of the colony. America did not begin as a country founded on religious toleration, it is true, but this early colony was formed on the basis of shared ideals — making it quite distinct from the contrasting efforts by earlier explorers of Dutch and French extraction to establish colonies.

The duration of British settlement gave the settlers a greater knowledge of the terrain as well as a greater sense of unity as a developed community. Technologically, these settlers were accustomed to the hard work necessary to create a colony and survive in the New World. The Southern colonies, too, had long-established patterns of producing exportable goods, fueled — it must be sadly acknowledged — by the labor of enslaved Africans imported to the New World.

The English colonists were united by pre-existing and stronger governmental structures, and also by a more common culture than their enemies. Their unity arose from both their long-standing political organization in the region and their greater need to maintain a cohesive community. Like so many historical developments, a greater cultural unity — developed out of a previous need for survival among the population — united the settlers, despite their internal differences, in their desire for religious expression and the creation of more permanent governmental structures.

Conclusion: Culture as the Decisive Factor

The reasons for the eventual British domination of the New World can be summed up in terms of their greater numbers, their greater military might, and their greater sense of internal unity. All of this was further solidified by the intense need of British religious dissenters who had experienced persecution. Their greater unity arose from both their long-standing political organization in the region and their greater need to maintain a cohesive culture. Like so many historical developments in the colonial period, a greater cultural unity — forged out of prior necessity — united the settlers in their desire for religious expression and the creation of permanent governmental structures.