North American Exploration

  • Feb 11, 1524

    Verrazzano sailing for France discovers New York Harbor

  • Feb 11, 1534

    Frenchman Jacques Cartier navigates the St. Lawrence River names an island along the river Montreal

  • Jamestown is founded on the coast of Virginia by 100 Englush settlers

  • French explorer, Samual de Champlain, founds the colony of Quebec

  • Henry Hudson, exploring the Netherlands, claims land that will become New Netherlands

  • An epidemic of smallpox, brought by Europeans, kills many Native Americans on the New England coast

  • Pilgrims from Engand found an English Colony in Plymouth, Massachusetts

  • The Duke of York drives out the Dutch in New Netherland. The Duke of York claims the colony for England and renames it New York

  • King Phillip's War begins in colonial villages of Massachusetts, between colonists and Native Americans

  • 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

  • War between the British and Frencg, known as the French & Indian War. The war is fought over disputed land claims in the Ohio Valley