Colonisation

English colonisation involved more than voyages of exploration. It meant establishing settlements, claiming land and building societies connected to England through migration, trade and government. North America was already inhabited by many distinct Indigenous peoples, so English settlement brought newcomers into contact—and competition—with existing societies.

Exploration could reveal trading opportunities, but colonisation meant something more ambitious: establishing a settlement overseas and attempting to bring the territory under English control. During Elizabeth I’s reign, England hoped that a colony in North America would bring wealth and strengthen its position against Spain.

Carthaginian colonisation here meant establishing and extending control over territory and its communities. It involved military conquest, agreements with local peoples and the development of a centre from which the territory could be governed. It was not just a matter of settlers founding new towns.

Around 500,000 ethnic Germans took over homes and land in the west. This was colonisation in practice: the displacement of existing inhabitants and settlement of a population favoured by the occupiers.