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COLONIES
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Samuel de Champlain was a French
explorer. In 1603, he was part of an
expedition that explored the St. Lawrence
River in present-day Canada.
The expedition was hoping to find the
Northwest Passage, a waterway
connecting the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans.
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Explorers had been searching for
over 100 years the Northwest
Passage because this is a
waterway would make it easier
for trading ships to sail from
Europe to Asia.
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Many countries as France,
England, and the Netherlands
hoped to find the Northwest
Passage but no one ever found it
because one does not exist.
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In 1608, Champlain founded the
French colonie of Quebec on the
St. Lawrence River. This proved to
be a good location for a colony,
because millions of beavers lived
in the forest of this region.
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The French started other colonies
in North America, including the
town of Montreal These French
colonies were called New France.
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In 1609, Dutch leaders sent an
English captain named Henry
Hudson to search new water
routes to Asia.
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Like Champlain, Hudson sailed up
a wide river, hoping it would
prove to be the Northwest
Passage. However the river
became too shallow for his ship.
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But before turning back, Hudson
claimed the land he explored for
the Dutch. In honor of Henry
Hudson, this river was later
named the Hudson River.
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The Dutch colonies in North
America became known as New
Netherlands.
The Netherlands is another
named for Holland.
In 1624, Dutch settlers began
building the town of New
Amsterdam on Manhattan
Island.
New Amsterdam became the
biggest and most important
Dutch settlement in North
America.
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To help their colony grow, the
Dutch encourage people from
Belgium, France, Germany,
Finland, Norway and many other
countries to settle in New
Netherlands.