European Nations Settle in America

  • Apr 17, 1524

    Verrazzano, sailing for France, discovers New York Harbor

  • Jun 9, 1534

    Frenchmen Jacques Cartier navigate the St. Lawrence River names an Island along the River Montreal

  • Jamestown was founded on the coast of Virginia by 100 English settlers

  • French explorer, Samuel de Champlain, founded the colony of Quebec

  • Henry Hudson, exploring for the Netherlands, claims land that will become New Netherland

  • An epidemic of smallpox, brought by Europeans, kills many Native Americans on the New England coast

  • Pilgrims from England found an English Colony in Plymouth, Massachusetts

  • the Duke of York drives out the Dutch in New Netherland. The Duke of York claims the colony for England and renamed it New York

  • King Philip's War begins in colonial villages of Massachusetts, between Colonists and Native Americans

  • Sieur de la Salle explores the lower Mississippi Valley river, and claims the Valley for France and names it Louisiana in honor of the French King Louis XIV

  • War between the British and French, known as the French & Indian War. The war is fought over disputed land claims in the Ohio River Valley