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As early as 1500, fifty-seven Beothuk of Newfoundland were brought to Lisbon, where they were described as "...somewhat taller than our average, with members corresponding and well-formed. The hair of the men is long, just as we wear ours, and they wear it in curls, and have their faces marked with great signs… Their eyes are greenish and when they look at one, this gives an air of great boldness to their whole countenance. Their speech is unintelligible, but nevertheless is not harsh but rather human. Their manners and gestures are most gentle; they laugh considerably and manifest the greatest pleasure…The women have small breasts and most beautiful bodies and rather pleasant faces. The colour of these women may be said to be more white than otherwise, but the men are considerably darker.”(Upton, p. 311) The initial hospitality and open nature of the indigenous peoples was short lived. They became increasingly wary and hostile as their people were captured and taken back to Europe, and as Europeans gradually encroached further and further into their lands, bringing disease and warfare with them. 
During the first decades of European
presence in the New World, exploration of the discovered
territories generally preceded attempts at long-term
settlement. The early explorations soon gave way to a
rudimentary system of trade, which in turn was followed by
missionaries, colonists, and permanent settlers. The
combination of exploration, conquest, and religious zeal
practised by the Spanish was felt not only in the south, in
Mexico and the Caribbean, but also in the neighbouring
regions of Florida and Texas. The first long-range
colonisation projects were instated by the English, French,
and Dutch. The English colony at Virginia Bay began in 1607
with 107 individuals, many of whom were indentured servants
from the poorest segments of English society. The death rate
for the early years of this colony was a shocking 80 per
cent. Nonetheless, a second colony followed at Massachusetts
in 1620.
Settlements along the Atlantic coast often retained a European style. For example, areas of heavy Scandinavian concentration tended to follow patterns of settlement common in Sweden and Finland, with the population distributed in many scattered farms throughout the region. Areas settled by the Dutch usually contained several villages surrounded by farmland, and areas of French predominance often exhibited the typical style of ribbon farms reaching back from the riverbanks. The British colonies also contained a high percentage of people from other European nations, a result of the English gaining control of areas that had previously been settlements of other countries. For example, the English had seized the New Netherlands from the Dutch in 1644, and the area surrounding the Hudson River remained dominated by Dutch and German settlers (about 59 per cent combined), with the British, Scandinavians, Africans, French, and Flemish/Walloons making up the remainder. This area retained typically Dutch patterns of settlement, with small villages or cities surrounded by rich farmland. The long-range French colonies began with the founding of Quebec City in 1608, where they, like the British in Virginia, were plagued by hardship. Disease, harsh weather, failed crops, malnutrition, and hostile First Nations all made the first years extremely difficult. However, the French persevered in this harsh environment. A series of communities were established in which the French and First Nations groups interacted, primarily through the main economic activity of the fur trade. The colony of New France had a relatively small population of immigrants. The initial settlers were predominantly young single men, in search of opportunity, freedom, or adventure. The émigrés who followed once settlements had been established were more often families. Despite the low rate of emigration from France, the French population in the New World grew. This was almost entirely due to a high rate of natural increase. Families in New France often had many children. The total population of New France in 1700 was about 15,000. By 1750 it had risen to 50,000. And on the West Coast, Russian fur hunters were migrating east across the Bering Straits as they sought sea otter pelts as early as the eighteenth century. They travelled as far south as northern California. In 1792 they established the permanent settlement of Kodiak, which was used as a base for further hunting expeditions. They employed the Aleut as hunters and domestic servants. By the 1820s a second generation of fur hunters had arisen of mixed Russian and Aleut parentage. The Spanish were also involved in trading and exploration, moving north from the region of the Gulf of Mexico. In the east, the region that is now the Atlantic Provinces of Canada received little early immigration. The society that evolved in the years following initial European contact was highly homogenous, consisting of three main populations: Amerindian, British, and French. There were also smaller yet still important groups of Germans and Africans. The physical and social isolation of the Maritimes meant that specific traditions and structures of Old World societies survived more easily here than in other areas. On the whole, European settlements in the New World followed a broad general pattern in the early years. Exploration was quickly followed by the establishment of more long-range contacts, often in the form of trading networks. The elaboration of these initial contacts led to increasingly permanent and more and more extensive interactions, and it was not long before Europeans had settled permanently in the region. Expansion of the settled territory was the next step. This did not often occur in a smooth wave pushing into the interior or along the coast. Rather, most expansion consisted of relatively isolated pockets of settlement, surrounded by territory that had yet to be definitively claimed as European. These isolated pockets often occupied prime agricultural land, were located on easily defensible territory, or had immediate access to transportation by sea or river. As more and more Europeans arrived in North America, the territory between these isolated settlements gradually filled in, while at the same time those in search of adventure or opportunity continued to create solitary communities beyond the frontier. |
