Author: Jerry Ma
Excerpt:
Unlike European colonists further south, the New Englanders very quickly began to reproduce themselves, quadrupling their numbers between 1650 and 1700. Indeed, theirs was probably the highest birthrate in the world. In Britain, only around three-quarters of people actually married; in the American colonies it was nine out of ten and the age of colonial women at marriage was also significantly lower – hence their fertility was higher. Here was one of the key differences between British American and Latin America. Spanish settlers tended to be solo male encomanderos. Only around a quarter of the total of 1.5 million Spanish and Portuguese migrants to pre-independence Latin America were female.
Analysis:
In Empire, Ferguson describes the process in which England started its colonization of the Americas. This began with the systematic colonization of Ireland in attempts to stabilize England’s empire, and England’s colonization of Ireland served as the basis (or test subject) for the rest of England’s subjugation efforts to occur in the Americas. Ferguson discusses the multifaceted reasons as to why colonists chose to settle in the “New World”, and its consequences on both Native Americans and English society.
In the excerpt, Ferguson points out a major difference between English and Spanish settlements – while Spanish settlers were mainly men, most English settlers came with their wives and children. He writes: “New Englanders very quickly began to reproduce themselves, quadrupling their numbers between 1650 and 1700. Indeed, theirs was probably the highest birthrate in the world”, which, in comparison with the Spanish, draws a stark contrast between the two. While the Spanish arrived as “solo male encomanderos”, colonists coming to New England were encouraged to arrive with their families, and there was a higher ratio of young women who came to New England as well, creating a boom in population in New England. This boom in population is significant because it allows us to infer why, unlike Spanish colonies, New England’s colonies became more akin to a “New England”, while Spanish colonies did not. The demographic of New England’s population being mainly those from England or from English descent allowed for a continuation of English culture even in a faraway land, creating a sense of community, which may have had a positive impact in attracting other English people to come to the Americas. Additionally, the sense of community created may have encouraged a more united effort by colonists to provide for themselves, especially remembering the fact that they had to provide for the families they brought to the Americas. Whereas with the Spanish, the main demographic being only men, their main goal was not to settle or farm land, but to personify the gold, god, and glory ideal, focusing on conquering but not providing for others (as evident by their reluctance to send gold to Spanish monarchs), and growing cash crops rather than actually farming the land. This difference between English and Spanish colonial settlements provides insights as to why Spanish colonies were not as successful as English in actually having a “New Spain” in the Americas.
The Megaphone 