Question

In the 1600s and 1700s, Europeans established themselves in the West Indies to

Answer 1

to increase their empires, begin colonies, trade, and they did this for resources like spices and wood. 

Answer 2

The first English settlement on any island in the west Atlantic is the result of an accident. Castaways from an English vessel, wrecked on its way to Virginia in 1609, find safety on Bermuda. When news of the island reaches England, a party of sixty settlers is sent out (in 1612).