Which European power focused their colonization efforts on converting Native Americans to Catholicism? Question 3 options: Dutch British French Swedish

Answer: France.

France's main doctrine in its colonizing mission was that of "assimilation," with full citizen rights for its subjects. The motivation behind it was a sense of responsibility for educating those they considered to be less "civilized." Jules Ferry, a major proponent of colonialism, summarized it in the following phrase:

"The higher races have a right over the lower races, they have a duty to civilize the inferior races."

In order to do so, the dissemination of French culture, and more importantly, French language and Catholicism, were the main goals, as opposed to settling down in new territories or obtaining resources. This is one of the reasons why, for the most part, very small populations of French citizens moved permanently to the colonies.