What were some similarities and differences between the French and the Spanish colonies in the Americas?

I
respectfully disagree that the Spanish colonies were more "civilized" than the French.
Quite the contrary was true. The Spanish forced Indians to work as slaves in gold and silver
mines and also on sugar plantations. The Spanish government in fact created a settlement system
known as the encomienda in which large grants of land were disseminated
together with the right to enslave and work the Indians within the territory. Spanish priests
made half hearted attempts to convert Indians to Christianity, but were more interested in
destroying Indian religious artifacts as "pagan," the end result of which meant that
much of Indian culture was lost forever.  The Spanish were much more concerned with hauling away
gold and silver than with establishing permanent settlements; as a result they never attempted
to set up permanent colonies with the possible exception of St. Augustine.

Spanish settlements in North America had one purpose only: to protect their shipments
of gold and silver from competing European powers. The first successful settlement in North
America, St. Augustine, Florida was built to protect Spanish fleets from attack by privateers.
The statement above that the Spanish had "big cities. large farms" is patently
incorrect.

It should be noted that the first successful rebellion in America;
Pope's rebellion, also known as the Pueblo revolt, was the result of numerous failed promises on
the part of the Spanish. Four hundred Spaniards were killed in the revolt and the Spanish lost
control of New Mexico.

The French did attempt permanent settlements based on
trade with the Indians. The French realized early on that peaceful relations with the Indians
was more productive than the confrontation that had marked the Spanish policy. The French
adopted Indian customs, wore Indian clothes, often married Indian wives, and overall treated the
Indians with fairness and respect. The French often allied with Indians in wars with other
Indian tribes. French interference in a dispute between the Huron and Iroquois Indians led the
Iroquois to side with the British in the French and Indian war whereas the Huron sided with the
French. French settlements were NOT sparsely settled; in fact Quebec was a major French
settlement and Detroit a major French fort. Had the French territories been sparsely settled,
there would have been a "Spanish and Indian War" which obviously there was
not.