Which countries could have colonized America? Why didn't they?

Other European nations did colonize North America. The other major colonial powers at the time were the Spanish, French, and the Dutch. Each of these countries had possessions in North America. The Spanish had colonies in Florida and Mexico (including parts of what is now the southwestern US). The French had several colonies around the Mississippi, including New Orleans. The Dutch held much of the land which later became the Middle Colonies. The English ended up taking the Dutch colonies, but the Spanish and French colonies lingered until after the founding of America. The US purchased France's colonial possessions in the Louisiana Purchase and took Florida from Spain by treaty in the 1820s. No war was fought. Florida had become a burden to a declining Spain and the territory was ceded to the US because Americans had settled in Florida in sufficient numbers to prevent policing by the Spanish. The Southwestern US was taken from Mexico during the Mexican-American War, after Mexico had gained its independence from Spain.