近代早期英国对拉丁美洲的殖民扩张微探

On British Colonial Expansion to Latin America in Early Modern Times

近代早期,英国对拉丁美洲的扩张方式是国际地缘、当地土著、气候等多重因素长期影响的结果。当英国初登美洲时势力尚且弱小,面对强大的西班牙,英国无力正面抗衡,不得不采取海盗劫掠和走私活动的方式来获取殖民利益,同时对西班牙进行打击。当西班牙走向衰微之际,英国殖民者将视野投向其退出的权力真空地区,殖民方式也从海盗、走私转向垦殖。在与其他欧洲殖民者、土著势力、恶劣气候的斗争中,英国逐渐建立了一些稳固的岛屿殖民地,并在新世界站稳脚跟。英国对拉丁美洲的初步殖民扩张为之后殖民帝国的建立奠定了经验基础。

In the early modern times,Britain’s expansion to Latin America was the result of long-term influence of international geography,local indigenous people and climate.When Britain first landed in America,its power was still weak.Facing the powerful Spain,Britain was unable to compete head-on.First,it took piracy and smuggling activities to gain colonial interests,and at the same time,it dealt a blow to Spain.When Spain was in decline,the British colonists turned their eyes to the power vacuum areas where they withdrew,and the colonial way changed from piracy and smuggling to reclamation.In the struggle against other European colonists,indigenous forces and bad weather,Britain gradually established some stable island colonies and gained a firm foothold in the new world.Britain’s initial colonial expansion in Latin America laid an empirical foundation for the establishment of the colonial empire.