The main reason behind the establishment of the Jamestown colony in 1607 was economic opportunity. The Virginia Company, a joint-stock company, sought to capitalize on the wealth of the New World by establishing a settlement that could export valuable resources such as tobacco and gold. Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in North America, and its establishment represented an important step in England's colonial ambitions. Challenges such as food shortages and conflicts with Native Americans initially threatened the colony, but it ultimately laid the foundation for British colonization and the expansion into the Americas.