The way colonies develop and evolve depends upon a number of things. Firstly, the influence of those who settled the colony is crucial. They bring their culture and their language. Obviously, San Antonio was a Spanish settlement, and as such retrained a heavy Spanish influence. The Spaniards also wanted to convert the indigenous peoples; since Spain was a strictly Catholic country, the people who came wanted to spread their religion. However, the Massachusetts and the Virginia settlements were from people who were fleeing religious persecution. They did not want to share their religion, so much as to be allowed to practice it. These people came from regions of Europe that were involved in the Protestant Reformation. They also were predominantly English and brought the English language and culture to the region (Shi & Tindall, 2015).As mentioned, religion was a crucial component of the early colonization of the Americas. Religious persecution was occurring in many regions of northern Europe. The Huguenots, the Protestants and others needed to escape from the Wars of Religion, including the reign of Bloody Mary, or Mary I. While some of the individuals fled to the New World to avoid persecution, others came to proselytize individuals. Religion was also crucial because the New World was divided by the Pope, Alexander VI. He is the reason why most of the New World was given to Spain, rather than Portugal. He had no control over countries who were no longer Catholic though (The Lehrman Institute of American History, 2015).
The colonies of New England and New France developed in significantly different ways. One of the reasons for this is the landscape. While New England was on the coast and more ideal for farming and fishing, the region of New France was dense wilderness. As such, it was ideal for hunting and trapping. This led to a strong fur trade. The region was not as settled therefore as the New England regions.