Why I Chose The English In The 1600s

The English were the last to participate in the western expansion movement of the other European powers, but right from the start, the English wanted to establish themselves a major player in the western frontier, and they were indiscriminant about removing or trampling any obstacle that got in their way. The first English to become a presence in the west were pirates, or more accurately privateers. These individuals and their seafaring crews were not interested in establishing colonies nor trading with the Indians, they instead wanted to raid and plunder the Spanish, who were sailing back to Europe with the gold that so highly revered. Therefore, the original motive of the English was in fact gold; however, they found a simpler way to acquire it because the Spanish had already acquired it for them. Because of the funding now coming from the Americas, interest in launching an expedition for the establishment of an English land operations base soon became acceptable. An advisor to the English monarch of the era, Queen Elizabeth, drafted a document about why an American foothold would be beneficial for reasons such as "bases form which the privateers might raid the Spanish Caribbean …show more content…
The Indians for their part were initially less hostile to the English that they had bee to the Spanish, however the mood would soon change as the familiar conquest at any cost mindset of the Europeans soon re-appeared; and in the words of Powhatan, the leader of the Indians in the area surrounding Jamestown, said of the English settlers "your coming is not for trade, but to invade my people and possess my country" (H&F 55). This quote, much like the words of the Aztecs many years before regarding the Spanish, well summarizes the ambitions of the English frontiersmen on their journey to the