The Europeans started off colonies because of numerous reasons, with the biggest being the wealth and territory. In order to get to more wealth, the Europeans had to find new routes and markets first, and they did lot of exploration about this, eventually resulting in discovering and colonizing of new territories. The natural resources and raw materials that these places offered gave the Europeans the basis for making lot of wealth out of them, and so they did. The religion was also an important factor, as it was important for the Europeans to spread it out because of bigger influence, but also gaining of new followers. Alliances with the natives were not really a reason for colonization, and considering the manner in which the Europeans treated the natives, it is the total opposite.
