European colonization of the Americas
The people in the southern English colonies sought gold at first. However, they had good soil, and because of this they could grow cash crops, starting with tobacco. The English people in colonies further north could not grow these crops so easily. The ones who started New England were Puritans and wanted to be free from the Anglicans back home.  The Middle Colonies were more commercial. They traded furs, and grew food for themselves and the other English colonies and later exported some back to England.