New France

Cartier traded with Native Americans and fur trade continued after he explored

Beaver fur was most popluar

King Henry IV said merchants who wanted to trade furs had to build a colony in N. America

1603 Samuel de Champlain sent to map N. American where beavers were found

Champlain explored the forests of now Canada

He named it "New France"

His reports made people want to go

Champlain explored for 5 years and started a colony along St. Lawrence River called Quebec

Early French Settlements grew slowly due to civil war in France

English and Dutch colonists started settling southern coast of New France -->disagreements over fur trade

King Louis XIV made New France a royal colony and appointed governor-genearal

Native Americans spoke of great river to the west --> French thought it was Northwest Passage

Expedition sent out led by Jacques Marquette to explore the river

They soon figured out with it flowing south it wasn't the Northwest Passage

Established trading posts

Rene-Robert Cavelier a.k.a. Sieur de la Salle set out to explore the Mississippi

Explored from mouth of Illinois River to Gulf of Mexico

Claimed all Mississippi River valley for France naming it Louisiana in honor of the king

Area stretched from Appalachians to the Rockies and from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico