The English came to inhabit the land. They quickly built churches and homes, and struggled to survive in an unfamiliar climate. The Germans were similar.
The Dutch were different. They sent men to America to exploit resouces and bring them back to the Netherlands.They came for a time, then they were replaced by someone else and went home.
The French did a little of both. They established themselves as fur traders in Canada, sent clerics and established colonies in North American and some Caribbean Islands. These colonies were exploited for resources. An example is Haiti, which was exploited for sugar cane, used in the production of rum.
The Spanish were the first settlers in what later became the US. They occupied much southern land, including Florida. They came here to settle.
