which best explains why colonial settlers first went to plymouth colony, maryland, and pennsylvania?

They first went to Plymouth Colony, Maryland, and Pennsylvania primarily to gain religious freedom and to live in communities where they could worship as they chose.

Quick Scoop: The Core Reason

In all three places, religion was the dominant pull factor:

• Plymouth: Separatist “Pilgrims” wanted to escape persecution in England and create a community where they could practice their own strict form of Protestantism.

• Maryland: Founded partly as a haven for English Catholics facing discrimination in Protestant England, even though it also became economically focused later.

• Pennsylvania: Established by William Penn as a refuge for Quakers and other persecuted Protestant groups, with an unusual degree of religious toleration for the time.

So, the best explanation is:

They came mainly to seek religious freedom and build colonies where their faiths could be practiced without persecution.

TL;DR: Economic motives existed, but for these three colonies in particular, religious freedom is the main, shared reason settlers first went there.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.