“The Protestant Reformation had also helped frame the character of French and English settlements in the Americas.” Religion was clearly important to all. The English, renouncing the Protestant faith came as Pilgrims and Puritans and later Quakers. The Spanish and French wanted to spread the Catholic faith among indigenous people. The English were not focused on missionary type goals.
To some extent, English, French and Spanish colonists, all had the backing of their countries ruling parties. The English colonies were established by Royal Charter, and “Crown supported conquests gained riches for Spain and expanded its empire”. The first French colonies were missionaries working for the Crown of France. Therefore, the populations which came were predominantly coming for religious reasons, although economic gains were also very important. Most of these people were regular citizens, with a few wealthy emigrants. “London investors took up the challenge of colonizing the