Spain: In 1492 Christopher Columbus, an explorer sent from the Spain crown of Isabella and Ferdinand in search of gold. Columbus intended to sail to India but sailed by accident to the Caribbean and the Americas instead. Realizing his misnomer(wrong designation), he instead looking here in search of gold and silver as well as eventually to exploit natives. This is shown in the areas of el mina and the Potosí. The Columbian exchange is when diseases, was the widespread transfer of animals, plants, culture, human populations, communicable diseases, technology and ideas between the American and Afro-Eurasian hemispheres.
England: A voyage by John Cabot on behalf of English investors in 1497 failed to spark any great interest in the New World. England was divided in the 1500s by great religious turmoil so they escaped to the new world. When Henry VIII broke with the Catholic Church in 1533, decades of religious strife ensued. Finally, under Henry's daughter Elizabeth, the English were prepared to stake their claims.
France: Many French Huguenots came to the British colonies for the same reason. The French came to the Americas in search of a homeland for the French Huguenots(protestants). Because they were not free to profess their religion in France.
Dutch: Most Dutch came to America simply because they calculated that the future promised more prosperity for them and their children in America than in Holland. The Dutch were ever "family, faith, and farming" advocates. And the Dutch — as opposed to the Puritans — enjoyed the materialistic and creature comforts in life that their hard-earned money bought.
