Why did the European powers of the 1500s and 1600s colonize north America?

Because Roanoke Island enconomic venture and Jamestown first permaent English settlement in North America (1670), an enconomic venture by the Virginia company. Plymouth settled by separatists from the Church of England who wanted to avoid religious persecution. Massachusetts Bay settled by puritanswho wanted to avoid religious persecution. Pennsylvania settled by Quakers who wanted freedom to practiced their faith without interference. Geriorgia settled by debtors who hoped to experience a new life colony and econmic freedom in the New World.