The Europeans wanted to find a water route west of Europe to India. When they found "India" they sent more Europeans over. They extracted lots of precious metals. The Europeans wanted to colonize, explore and discover due to the fact that most of them wanted power and resources. What better way to get resources than to colonize and extract for example the Spanish. They sent over lots of Spaniards to conquer or take over. The Spanish took over most of South America. They also took over the Aztecs with ease. Some other countries that colonized in the new world include Portugal, France, and England. England colonized the east coast which includes New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia. Some of the first colonies colonized James town, New York City, Philadelphia, Charlestown, Boston, etc. The French wanted to do the same thing as the rest of Europe and explore and set up settlements. Without all this exploration America would not be what it is today due to the fact that all the exploration changed America forever. When the English started to settle they wanted more land. This led to the French and English fighting. This war was called "The 7 years war" or "French and Indian war." The English ended up winning this war. The English expanded west of the Ohio valley. In the end the Europeans thought that they were exploring India which was later discovered to be the "New World." They come over to the new world to explore, extract resources, and settle.