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In 1497, John Cabot , was funded by the English king to find a route to Asia.
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Europeans began exploring and colonizing North America in the 1500s.
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Sir Humphrey Gilbert, a British explorer, formally claimed the island for England in 1583 Trading with the local First Nations.
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By 1600, the fur trade was flourishing lead by Jacques Cartier.
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In 1608, Champlain founded the city of Quebec. It soon became the hub of the fur trade and the heart of New France.
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By 1635, it had fewer than 200 inhabitants. The French saw the colony as an opportunity to spread Christianity among the First Nations peoples.
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By 1700, the French had built a mighty inland empire. It stretched from present-day Québec to the Gulf of Mexico.
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Then in 1744, North America was dragged into the War of the Austrian Succession. This war was called King George's War in North America. When it ended in 1748.
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The British Take Control In 1763, the French colony on the north side of the St. Lawrence River was reorganized as the British province of Québec.
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In the winter of 1775, the Americans tried unsuccessfully to take the town of Quebec. British sea power prevented further attacks from the 13 colonies.
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Britain recognized the independence of the United States in 1783. More than 40,000 American colonists who remained loyal to the British king fled north to British territory.
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By 1800, the British colonies in North America consisted of Upper and Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland.
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Competed for western furs with the Hudson's Bay Company. Mackenzie, Simon Fraser, and David Thompson explored much of the western half of British North America in the service of the North West Company. The Hudson's Bay Company also began an aggressive westward advance. There was fierce competition between the two companies until 1821.
