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An Italian in the service of France. In 1524, he sailed to North America in search of a sea route to the Pacific.
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Verrazzano did discover what is today New York harbor.
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reached a gulf off the eastern coast of Canada that led to a broad river. Cartier named it the St. Lawrence.
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In late 1606, the company’s three ships, and more than 100 settlers, pushed out of an English harbor. About four months later, in 1607, they reached the coast of Virginia.
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Another French explorer, Samuel de Champlain, sailed up the St. Lawrence with about 32 colonists. They founded Quebec
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He did, however, explore three waterways that were later named for him—the Hudson River, Hudson Bay, and Hudson Strait.
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A group known as Pilgrims founded a second English colony, Plymouth, in Massachusetts
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Ten years later, a group known as Puritans also sought religious freedom from England’s Anglican Church. They established a larger colony at nearby Massachusetts Bay.
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French Jesuit priest, Jacques Marquette and trader Louis Joliet explored the Great Lakes and the upper Mississippi River
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years later, Sieur de La Salle explored the lower Mississippi. He claimed the entire river valley for France. He named it Louisiana in honor of the French