What was an economic reason that England decided to establish colonies

England decided to establish colonies, because it wanted international power and money to compete with Spain and France, who already had colonies in the Americas. The Spanish conquistadors had acquired lots of wealth since Columbus and the English saw this and wanted to follow suit. With mercantilism, England would exploit the resources in the United States, and convert the money made from it into gold, which they would then pay soldiers with. This made England a stronger nation and made trade easier with America.