Final answer:
Spanish objectives in the New World were primarily tied to conquest and resource extraction, while French interests were largely economic, focusing on trade and establishing profitable colonies. The French also sought to weaken Spanish influence by targeting strategic locations and trade routes, as opposed to the Dutch who engaged in piracy and capturing key locations to disrupt Spanish control.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Spanish and French had varying objectives upon their arrival in the New World. The Spanish, driven by the Treaty of Tordesillas, were already established in the Americas and focused largely on conquest and the extraction of precious resources to enhance their wealth and power. However, their hegemony was challenged as the French and Dutch pursued their interests, which contrasted sharply with Spanish approaches.
The French interests in the New World tended to be primarily economic, particularly through trade. Establishing fur trade networks in North America became a central aspect of their colonial policy. Unlike the Spanish, who sought more direct control and the spread of Catholicism through conquest, the French looked toward trade relationships with native groups and setting up profitable enterprises such as fur trading posts and colonies on West Indian islands to engage in sugar plantations using slave labor.
The French and the Dutch wanted to weaken the Spanish influence. The French tried to contest Spanish power politically by establishing colonies in strategic locations like Florida. On the other hand, the Dutch engaged in weakening the Spanish and Portuguese through economic means, such as engagement in piracy and capturing small but crucial territories in Brazil, destabilizing Iberian control without creating large colonies.