European Exploration and Colonization

In 1497 John Cabot reached the North Atlantic coast of North America (probably eastern Newfoundland) and took possession in the name of Henry VII of England. Others, such as Gaspar Corte-Real, Giovanni da Verrazano, and Jacques Cartier, explored the region in the 16th century.

No attempt at colonization was made until 1604, when Samuel de Champlain, the Sieur de Monts, and Jean de Biencourt de Poutrincourt established a French settlement on an island at the mouth of the St. Croix River. After a severe winter, the colony was moved across the Bay of Fundy to the mainland and named Port Royal. The settlers abandoned Port Royal in 1607, but the colony was reestablished in 1610.