The First European group to colonize Brazil was...The Spanish
Spain - Hernan Cortez
The first effort to colonize what is now New York was by the Netherlands. Other explorers from other nations had visited, but the Dutch West India Company came to stay.
Two major reasons for Europeans to colonize the American continent are freedom and opportunity.
Since 1492 when Columbus discovered the Americas.
disease
Nothing "made Europeans colonize"; it was an active decision that they chose to do. They did this for material resources, labor resources, prestige, strategic positions, and religious evangelism.
Columbus "discovered" North America, But he was not the first one; vikings were the first. Columbus was the second, and he believed that he could find India by sailing westward. So in effect, what Columbus did was provide an awareness of the new continent to Europeans, who soon after began to colonize the land.
They wanted to colonize it.
to be jackasses
The Dutch were the first Europeans to colonize New York City.
The Europeans respected that America had already colonized that territory and created a viable nation-state there.