Champlain Founds Quebec — New France Established
Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec City on 3 July 1608, establishing the permanent foundation of New France in the St Lawrence valley. Unlike the Spanish and Portuguese colonial systems, New France developed a largely commercial economy based on the fur trade, with relatively small European settler populations but extensive alliances with indigenous nations. Champlain personally mapped large parts of the interior and negotiated military alliances with Huron and Algonquin nations against their Iroquois enemies. New France would eventually encompass the Great Lakes, the Mississippi valley, and much of the continent's interior before its loss to Britain in 1763.
- Year: 1608 CE
- Category: Political
