Why did European countries colonize the Americas?

The first European to take steps towards the colonization of the Americas was Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer who traveled with a Spanish expedition in 1492. The members of the Spanish expedition sought a new trade route, but once they found the first lands of what would soon become known as the "New World," they began to colonize.
Spain began to colonize the New World when the Spanish voyagers arrived because they found a bounty of gold and silver in the lands of the Aztec and Inca empires in parts of what is now known as Central America and South America. These early movements paved the way for later settlers from Spain who sought wealth and riches on the Western coastlines of the New World. The Age of Exploration soon transitioned into the bloody Spanish Conquest, entire civilizations falling under the power of the Spanish.