The Dutch colony of New Netherlands was established in 1609, two years after the English Colony at Jamestown, Virginia, by the Dutch East India Company.  They hired the English explorer, Henry Hudson to find a Northeast Passage to India. After searching for a route around Norway, Hudson turned west hoping to discover a “Northwest Passage”  … Read more

Following in the footsteps of Italian Explorer Giovanni da Verrazano – whose 1523 expedition had been commissioned by King Francis I of France – Jacques Cartier planted a cross in the Gaspe Peninsula in 1534, which was the first province of New France.  In 1535, he sailed up the St. Lawrence and visited Native American  … Read more

France, which was the major continental European power in the 17th century, was a major colonial Power in North America. The colony of New France existed from the early 17th century to the early 19th century when the Jefferson Administration bought the territory from Napoleon. It initially covered the shores of the St. Lawrence River,  … Read more