Spain dominated southwestern and southeastern North America until the late seventeenth century. Within twenty years of that time, however, Spanish influence had gone into decline as a result of English expansion into present-day South Carolina and Georgia (see Chapter 4). Native Americans came to rely on English trade goods and formed alliances with the English settlers against the Spanish. During this time, France had been establishing New France in present-day Canada. Like the Spanish and English, the French were attracted to North America by promises of great wealth in gold, silver, and other precious metals. Like the Spanish, the French also wanted to convert the "pagan" (one who is not Christian, Muslim, or Jewish) Native Americans to Roman Catholicism, thus combining conquest with a Christian mission. (Roman Catholicism is a Christian religion based in Rome, Italy, and headed by a pope who has...