180 HISTORY OF AMERICA 



from England, when the results of the Spanish Succession War had 

 raised her to the position of the first power in Europe, and in France 

 in particular keen curiosity was aroused in English thought and 

 literature. 



The American Revolution in a measure shifted the centre of interest 

 across the Atlantic, and American political ideas and methods be- 

 came a powerful leaven in France, where the French Revolution gave 

 them a universal hearing and sent forth transforming influences 

 in every direction. Each one of these shifting currents of cultural 

 influences constitutes a rich field of study. The analysis of its parts, 

 the processes by which its work was done, the relative degree of per- 

 manence of the results, all these constitute fascinating problems for 

 the historian. 



If we approach American history from this point of view and 

 make it the study of the transmission of the culture of Western 

 Europe to a new and larger field of development, we find ourselves 

 engaged in the investigation of a most momentous movement in the 

 history of civilization, truly comparable to Alexander's Asiatic 

 empire and to Rome's African and Western European dominion. 

 For the youthful student or for the maturer investigator such a 

 comparative study of the Spanish, French, and English colonization is 

 rich in instruction. It will not only broaden his conceptions of Ameri- 

 can history but throw a new light on the history of Europe. 



There are few fields better adapted for the comparative study of 

 the spirit, the capacities, and the character of these great peoples; 

 nor is it easy to find one where the economic and the human factors 

 which shaped the course of history can be more easily segregated 

 and estimated. Such a study calls first for a survey of the economic 

 and social conditions of the mother country, for a clear grasp of 

 what it aimed to do, and of the physical conditions in the New 

 World which worked for or against those objects. Yet a word of 

 caution is to be uttered against beginning with the comparison of 

 New Spain and Massachusetts, for almost all the conditions deter- 

 mining the character of these communities were very different. Far 

 more suitable is a comparison of New Spain and British India, for 

 there you have two imperial systems imposed upon a mass of native 

 populations, and a certain broad similarity at the start. If it is 

 once realized that British India and not Massachusetts is to be 

 compared with the vice-royalties of New Spain and of Peru, the 

 emptiness of many a generalization about the Spanish and English 

 colonial systems is apparent. The proper physical starting-point 

 for such a comparative study is the West Indies. In the West Indies 

 the Spanish, French, and English met on equal grounds, and the 

 comparison between Cuba, Hayti, and Jamaica is sound and in- 

 structive. It is a fruitful inquiry to examine how these three peoples 



