Henry Hudson

Henry Hudson was an Englishman who sailed South from what is now Maine in North America. The Dutch East India Company were the ones to pay for Hudson's voyage in 1609. A second voyage in 1610 took Hudson farther North, the ship became frozen in ice as Winter settled in.

​John Cabot

​An Italian named John Cabot was one of the first to search for the Northwest Passage. He sailed for the English in 1497 and landed in present-day Newfoundland, Canada. He kept searching for the passage as he sailed South along the coast.

​Giovanni da Verrazano

An Italian named Giovanni da Verrazano sailed for the French in 1525. He went from what is now North Carolina North to the mouth of the Hudson River.

​Jacques Cartier

​Jacques Cartier claimed the land near the St. Lawrence River for France in 1534.

​French Missionaries

​French Missionaries had come to convert the Native Americans, but they didn't try to change the Native American Customs. Instead, the Missionaries lived among them and learned their ways.

​The Northwest Passage

​As the Fur Trade grew, the French Explorers continued to look for the Northwest Passage, including Etienne Brule, who searched for it in 1610.

​Christopher Columbus

​Christopher Columbus's intent was to find a shortcut to Asia, but instead, he found two large continents! Still, many people believed there must be a shortcut through North America to the Pacific Ocean.