Final answer:
The Jamestown colony was primarily established for the profit of European investors, part of the Virginia Company, with its success eventually rooted in the cultivation of tobacco.
Step-by-step explanation:
The primary reason the Jamestown colony was established was for profit for European investors. Initially, the Virginia Company's goal was to make money for its shareholders. The colony faced many hardships, and it wasn't until John Rolfe cultivated tobacco that they began to see financial success. Tobacco became a highly profitable cash crop, necessitating vast land cultivation and an enormous labor force, eventually leading to the plantation system and the slave trade.
While the settlers also aspired to find gold, the Lost Colony, and a passage to the Pacific none of which materialized the underlying motive remained economic. The Jamestown endeavor was a business venture rather than a quest for religious freedom or other ideological pursuits like those of the New England colonies and Maryland.