Alternate American Colonization

Would it be possible for a European nation, preferably a small nation, to make successful trading post colonies in the Americas that develop into legitimate large cities without significant expansion into the surrounding hinterlands?

If so, would it be possible for a symbiotic relationship to develop between the natives and the trade city colonies, in which the traders ally with various native factions and sell them European weapons and goods? I'd love to see an Aztecs having a kind of warring states period where the Europeans manipulate them but don't destroy them, and I'm wondering if such a thing is plausible.
 
Would it be possible for a European nation, preferably a small nation, to make successful trading post colonies in the Americas that develop into legitimate large cities without significant expansion into the surrounding hinterlands?

If so, would it be possible for a symbiotic relationship to develop between the natives and the trade city colonies, in which the traders ally with various native factions and sell them European weapons and goods? I'd love to see an Aztecs having a kind of warring states period where the Europeans manipulate them but don't destroy them, and I'm wondering if such a thing is plausible.


Maybe either the Dutch or Swedes could have done something like this. But it would then require Britain and France to remain away from North America and I don't think that that would be possible. Just my guess. Joho:)
 
I was thinking that, for whatever reason, the initial discovery of the Americas does not yeild any potential valuables, and most of the great powers ignore the finding, while some of the smaller powers or independand mercant companies continue to persue the possibility, either in hope of finding a northwest passage or in hopes of finding valuables, until they find Mesoamerica and begin to establish profitable colony cities there.

I think good candidates would be the Dutch, Portugese, and possibly alt versions of the Crown of Aragon, Scotland, Burgundy, and Denmark. I also wouldn't rule the Italian states entirely out, so long as they are friendly with the Spanish, since they do have a large number of wealthy investors, a reason to attempt to bypass the Ottomans for eastern trade.
 
An Aragonese Kingdom that never united with Castille would have been a good fit. Alternatively, the Norse who colonized parts of North America would have been a good candidate to bring in Nordic influences to the Native Americans, which could result in the Iroquois or the Cherokee tribes becoming the dominant empire in North America.
 
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