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1524
Verrazzano, sailing for France discovers New York Harbor.
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1534
Frenchmen Jacques Cartier navigate the St. Lawrence River names an Island along the River Montreal.
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Jamestown is founded on the coast of Virginia by 100 English settlers.
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French explorer, Samuel de Champlain, founded the colony of Quebec.
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Henry Hudson, exploring for the Netherlands, claims land that will become New Netherland.
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An epidemic of smallpox, brought by Europeans, kills many Native Americans on the New England coast.
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Pilgrims from England found an English Colony in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
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The Duke of York drives out the Dutch in New Netherland. The Duke of York claims the colony for England and renamed it New York.
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King Philip's War begins in colonial villages of Massachusetts, between Colonists and Native Americans.
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Sieur de la Salle explores the lower Mississippi Valley river, and claims the Valley for France and names it Louisiana in honor of the French King Louis XIV.
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War between the British and French, known as the French & Indian War. The war is fought over disputed land claims in the Ohio River Valley.