ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the beginnings of Portuguese, French, and Dutch colonization. Portugal had the only claim to territory in South America which Spain recognized albeit reluctantly. The area which fell under Portuguese rule received its name from the large number of valuable red-trunked dyewood trees found there, which were similar to the so-called Brazil trees of the Far East. France was unsuccessful in planting any settlements in North America during the sixteenth century. However, French fishermen continued to visit the Grand Banks regularly and began to trade with the Native Americans for beaver skins. Dutch merchants, well aware of the high profits to be made in the fur trade, formed the New Netherland Company in 1614. All three non-English empires in the New World, namely Portugal, France, and the Netherlands failed to attract large numbers of settlers to their colonies.
