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Taylor, in his last chapter of American Colonies, provides several interesting points. First, Taylor brings in another interesting viewpoint to the table that he has spoken little about before–the Russians. In this chapter Taylor explains how the Russians, in search of new lands as well as animal hides, encountered many native peoples. The Russian fur traders, known as promyshlenniki, “became notorious for their brutality to native peoples” (Taylor 447). As these fur traders moved south-eastward, they destroyed any rebellion in their path. I find it interesting that Taylor only brings up the Russians in the last chapter of his book, as almost insignificant, when in fact, the Russians brutality paralleled that of the Spanish conquistadors. Perhaps, Taylor could have placed more emphasis on this treatment as he did with most of the other great massacres in early North American History.
Secondly, Taylor states that the main cause for the exploration and attempted colonization of the Pacific coastal area was because of mutual fear of the opposing European countries’ colonization–mainly Spanish fear of the British fur traders (Taylor 454). This claim has only some partial truth. As ROMANGONE http://sites.davidson.edu/his141/winning-the-west/ expressed earlier, the reasons for expansion have greater motives than simply to beat the British or Russians to the land. Spanish Missions contributed to a large part of the expansion, which was ultimately funded by the Catholic church instead of the Spanish government. If the government wanted to truly prevent British conquering, then a more concrete plan of action funded by the Spanish government would have been appropriate and probably more effective. However, because the Spanish and Natives relied upon each other for survival, the colonization attempts prevented further British colonization (if there ever was a serious attempt west during this time). The fear of British expansion certainly created an interest in further exploration in the West, but overall the driving exploration force rested in the Spanish missions.