What were the European powers competing over?

The Europeans were fighting over land that they could colonize. Having these colonies was a sign of power.

explanation:

actually, not all representation was acceptable based on this little piece of article, in 1776, the second continental congress issued the declaration of independence, stating their specific grievances with the british monarchy and why they were going to create a separate government. after the colonies separated from the british monarchy and formed the united states of america, they had to answer some crucial questions: 1) if not a monarchy, what type of government was the united states going to have? 2) what kind of government was going to protect the people without violating their individual liberties?

it gave them more rights