What one goal did the French and Spanish colonist have in common in the new world

The goal that was common between the French and the Spanish colonists was to gain as much wealth as possible. The French and the Spanish colonists were on different sides of the New World, and they experienced different conditions. The biggest goal of them both though was to get their hands on as much wealth as possible. Usually the wealth was manifested through gold and silver. The New World had very large amounts of them both, and lot of it was gained very easily as the indigenous people had a lot of in possession, which the colonists took away from them.

The Spanish though were more successful than the French in this department. The main reason being that the territories that the Spanish controlled naturally had much larger reserves of gold and silver, as well as the later discovered platinum, while the territories which were controlled by the French had much less of these highly valued metals.