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1524
Giovanni da Verrazzano set sail
he sailed to North America in search of a sea route to the Pacific. While he did not find the route, Verrazzano did discover what is today New York harbor. -
Samuel de Champlain set sail
he sailed up st. Lawrence with about 32 colonist. They founded Quebec, which became the base of France’s colonial empire in North America, known as New France. -
French Jesuit priest Jacques Marquette and trader Louis Joliet
they went and explored the Great Lakes and the upper Mississippi River. -
Sieur de La Salle
he explored the lower Mississippi. He claimed the entire river valley for France. He named it Louisiana in honor of the French king, Louis XIV. -
New france
By the early 1700s, New France covered much of what is now the midwestern United States and eastern Canada.