Part of the reason for this is the fact that the Spanish and Portuguese were able to consolidate their hold on South and Central America more quickly than the English and French did North America. The East coast of North America from Florida to Newfoundland saw separate settlements from Scotland, England, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and even Sweden. As North America lacked the mineral wealth of South America, fewer resources were poured into the conquest, and as a result the commerce between North American settlements and Europe dealt with things more like furs and timber-which could be easily obtained by trading with natives-rather than gold or silver-which required territorial acquisitions to take control of mines.

Additionally, the more fragmented nature of North American tribes meant there was no Tenochtitlan to topple and replace to take control of the continent.