The Spanish colonies in North America failed, in part, because a. they were under constant attack by the French and English, the colonies of which had been established at a far more rapid pace. b. Spanish administrators focused too much on growing their economy and not enough on basic survival. c. the region had a much larger native population than did the population in Central and South America. d. the Spanish focused on searching for gold rather than expanding the population and economy of their settlements. e. the Spanish cared little about converting the Native Americans to Catholicism and, thus, lacked the sort of alliances Native Americans had with the English.