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1000
1. Norse explorer Leif Erikson leads a Viking expedition to Iceland and sees unfamiliar land. Later he returns to formally explore this new world.
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Aug 31, 1142
2. Iroquois Confederacy creates their own constitution known as Great Binding Law. This is still in effect today.
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1400
3. The First Nations on Canada's west coast establish a large trading network.
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Jun 24, 1497
4. John Cabot, an Italian explorer reaches land near Labrador and claims this new land for Henry VII, King of England
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1534
5. French explorer Jacques Cartier sets sail searching for a passage to Asia, but instead arrives in the eastern part of what is now Québec. He marks the land with a cross, and claims it for the King of France.
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1540
6. European settlers from France arrive on the east coast of Canada. The settlement of Acadia is established. It will be a rich source of agriculture and fishery.
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7. Samuel de Champlain, a French citizen, establishes a new French settlement named New France in Québec City.
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8. While searching for a route between Europe and Asia called the North West Passage, English explorer Henry Hudson finds the area now called Hudson’s Bay.
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9. Montreal is established by Paul de Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve. He is a French military official.
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10. The Iroquois people attack the Huron villages around the Great Lakes. The villages were destroyed in the attacks. Many Huron people were killed in this attack.
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11. The Hudson’s Bay Company is officially formed. This company will control almost all of the trading that occurs anywhere in the Hudson’s Bay watershed for two hundred years.
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12. Under the Treaty of Utrecht, France agrees that Britain has control over the Hudson’s Bay area, Acadia and Newfoundland.