Political, Economic, Social organizations of the New World

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Prompt: Compare the political, economic, and social organization of two New World Colonies.  

        

During the colonial period countless issues arose. Whether it had to do with politics, economy, or society each colony had its own means of dealing with concerns, some better than others. As evident today, New Britain handled issues more successfully than New Spain for the most part. In terms of politics, although they it wasn’t at all what they sought after, New Britain prevailed, as America is the most democratic nation in our country today. In terms of economy however, Britain had a small amount of control in contrast to New Spain’s strictly enforced policies, although this is not shown today. In terms of society, although not today, the lifestyle of the lower class in New Spain was better off than that of New Britain.

The political structure of New Spain, the former Spanish possessions in the Western Hemisphere, and that of New Britain, the former English possessions in the Western Hemisphere, were different in many ways, but some certain aspects paralleled each other. New Britain seems to be quickly on the road towards democracy, while New Spain appears to be stuck under a monarch and tight control of the church. A democratic government is a form of government by the people, either directly or through elected representatives. A monarch is a sole and absolute ruler of a state or nation, in this care King Ferdinand. With Columbus’s repeated promises of Gold for King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, the political intentions of New Spain were originally solely to ensure maximum profit and gold for the nation. The King and Queen ruled New Spain through Royal Patronage, meaning the King and Pope agree that the King is absolute and controls the church. With Christianity forced upon the people of New Spain along with no religious toleration, the King was only aided in ruling with absolutism in New Spain, meaning all the power vested in him, and away from self-rule, or democracy. The government system of New Spain was classified as a Bureaucracy, an administration of government through bureaus and departments, which consisted of non-elected officials. This shows that the people of New Spain had no say in who was governing them, and they merely lived under the same rules and regulations of Spain, enforced through officials. New Britain colonies, on the other hand, had much more independent control over their government. The English government, at the time, was preoccupied with making money. This caused the English to rule New Britain with a loose hand, and not fully enforce their laws upon the people of the colonies. Although there were representatives of Britain to enforce laws in the majority of the colonies, they grew further and further apart from the British government, and founded systems of their own.  

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New Spain and New Britain both shared paralleling means of dealing with localized laws and decisions. New Spain’s Council of the Indies was a council of colonizers elected by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella made up of members of the Council of Castille, with Juan Rodrigues de Fonseca appointed as the highest power of the council. The King was informed on a weekly basis of the latest decisions reached by the Council. Although the King still claimed and enforced total control, the Council of the Indies was a step away from absolutism, and a step towards democracy. New Britain’s localized ...

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