Britain's colonization of America was driven by a combination of political, economic, and religious motives.Not only would it serve as a bulwark against Catholic Spain, it would supply England with raw materials and provide a market for finished products, such as the cultivation of tobacco in Virginia, which became a lucrative enterprise.America would also provide a place to send the English poor and ensure that they would contribute to the nation's wealth

Politically, England aimed to expand its influence and compete with other European powers like Spain and France, who were also establishing colonies in the New World.Economically,During the early and mid-sixteenth century, the English tended to conceive of North America as a base for piracy and harassment of the Spanish.