Why did England want to explore and colonize?

Answer 1

Spain had demonstrated, through the exploration and colonization of Latin America, that such an enterprise was lucrative. As a result, the English wanted their share of the wealth, leading them to replicate the process. The English were helped in this by certain religious minorities that wanted to flee the direct control of the English sovereigns and, therefore, could seed these new colonies.

While the Spanish were strongly motivated by the three "G"s, God, gold, and glory, only gold really motivated England. Converting the native peoples of the Americas to Christianity and achieving fame were not as important to the English as wealth was.