The Seven Years’ War (1754-1763) established a new balance of power in Europe in which Britain emerged as the dominant empire. European settlers in North America were a diverse group with a wide array of motives.

Many Spaniards came as part of a broader search for “God, Gold, and Glory.” French settlers also hoped to find wealth, although they were more likely than other Europeans to cooperate with rather than exploit… The Virginia Company of England founded Jamestown in an effort to gain wealth, while English Puritans founded communities they hoped would earn profits while also promoting their religious ideology.

balance of power — a situation in which competing nations have approximately equal military power. capitalism — an economic system in which private individuals and companies own the means of production, and free (unregulated) markets set the value of most goods and services based on supply…. bourgeoisie — the social class whose members owned the means of production and whose main goal was the preservation of capital. Marxism — the idea, espoused by Karl Marx, that recognizing class struggle is central to understanding societies.