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Why were the British more successful than the French and Dutch in colonizing North America?
Quick answer:
The British were more successful in colonizing North America because they allowed a diverse range of settlers and granted colonies significant self-governance, attracting more colonists. In contrast, the Dutch failed by trying to establish feudal manors, which deterred settlers. The French centralized their colonies, restricted immigration to only loyal French citizens, and excluded dissenters like the Huguenots, limiting their colonial expansion and appeal compared to the British approach.
The Dutch were unable to succeed because they tried to recreate feudal manors in their colony of New Netherlands. This failed because very few people were interested in coming to the New World to be serfs on the estate of a patroon.
The French failed largely because they tried to be too centralized. They tried to keep very close control of their colonies. They did not allow people from other European countries to come to their colonies and they did not allow dissenting French people (like the Huguenots) to come over either.
By contrast, the British allowed essentially anyone to come to their colonies. There were many different colonies and they were allowed to have a large degree of self-government. These things attracted many colonists to the British colonies while the French and Dutch had relatively few.
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