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John Cabot decided that a more northern route to Asia would be shorter and easier. In 1497 England financed a voyage where he explored the area around Newfoundland.
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In 1519 Ferdinand Magellan set out to find an Atlantic Pacific passage. He found a strait in South America near present day Argentina and his crew bacame the first people to circumnavigate the Earth.
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Cortes destroys Aztec capital city Tenochtitlan, and built Mexico City in its place.
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In 1533 King Henry split from the Roman Catholic Church and set up a protestant church which he called The Church of England.
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The first English colony was established on Roanoke Island. However, this colony did not last long and was abandoned a year later.
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Champlain made 11 voyages to explore and map the lands along the St. Lawrence River. He established a settlement along the banks of the river which he called Quebec.
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In 1608 John Smith was sent from London to lead the colony of Jamestown who's conditions were extremely bad. His most important rule was "He who works not, eats not."
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Henry Hudson was in search of a northwest passage. He made four different voyages. In his final voyage in 1611 his crew mutinied and he was never heard of again.
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In 1620, 100 Pilgrims sailed fgor Virginia aboard a ship called the Mayflower. There ship was blown off course and they landed in what is now Massachusetts. Since they landed outside of Virginia, they believed they weren't under the English law so they developed the Mayflower Compact. This document called for self government and "just and equal laws."
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In 1630 900 hundred Puritans, led by John Winthrop, formed the Massachusetts Bay Company which received a charter to establish settlements in what are now Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
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After being forced to leave Massachusetts Roger Williams moved south to Rhode Island and founded the town of Providence.
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Thomas Hooker disagreed with the Puritan leaders so he and about 100 fallowers and established the town of Hartford.
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In 1638 Anne Hutchinson questioned some of the Puritan teachings. She was put on trial and was expelled from Massachusetts. She then established a settlement on an island that is now part of Rhode Island.
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John Wheelright got into trouble for agreeing with some of Anne Hutchinson's views so he and some fallowers moved to New Hampshire where they founded the town of Exeter.
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In 1673 Marquette and Louis Joliet paddled their canoes along the shore of Lake Michigan until they reached the Mississippi River. They sailed this river for a month looking for a northwest passage.
