ABSTRACT
Although the Spanish opposed English colonization of Virginia, claiming the exclusive right to colonize North America, the colony did not seem a grave threat to Spanish interests, and they made little attempt to remove it, as they had done with the French settlement in Florida. Likewise, the Spanish did not prevent other European powers from colonizing to the north of Virginia. The Spanish did not consider these lands strategically or economically valuable, as they lay distant from Spanish colonies in the Caribbean, South America, and Mexico and were believed to possess no precious metals. The English, French, and Dutch, however, set their sights on the lands to the north. For even if these lands did not have gold and silver, they might bear other valuable commodities. The economic gains Spain made from its American colonies were too hard to ignore; other European powers hoped to reap similar benefits. Precious metals and finding a new route to Asia remained as goals. But the chances of finding either were remote. Nevertheless, valuable commodities might be available given the presumed riches of the land and the abundance of animals.
