1603
Sieur de Monts obtains charter to all the land lying between 40th-46th degree north latitude
1605
Port Royal, the first permanent French settlement in North America, founded
1608
Quebec City founded by Samuel de Champlain
1610
Etienne Brule lives among Huron and is first European to see Great Lakes
1613
Port Royal sacked by Samuel Argall and his pirates from Virginia
1621
James I of England grants Acadia to Sir William Alexander who renames it New Scotland (Nova Scotia)
1627
Company of One Hundred Associates is founded to establish a French Empire in North America
1629
Quebec City captured by an English fleet led by David Kirke, (he also captured Port Royal the year before)
1631
Charles de la Tour builds Fort La Tour (a.k.a. Fort Saint Marie) at the mouth of the Saint John River
1632
British lose control of Acadia due to the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye
1632
Isaac de Razilly sails from France with 300 people hoping to establish a permanent French settlement in Acadia
1636
French crown grants Gulf of Maine and Bay of Fundy to d’Aulnay; La Tour gets Nova Scotia peninsula
1639
Smallpox epidemic decimates Huron people; population reduced by 50%
1642
Montréal is founded
1649
Attacks by the Iroquois disperse the Huron; disrupts fur trade over the next fifteen years
1652
Massachusetts General Court licenses traders going from Massachusetts to Acadia
1660
English Navigation Act prohibits foreigners from trading with English colonies
1663
Louis XIV assumes personal control of New France
1667
France, England and the Netherlands sign the Breda Treaty in July and with this England gives Acadia to France
1667
First census of New France records 668 families, totalling 3,215 non-native inhabitants
1670
Hudson’s Bay Company is formed and granted trade rights over all territory draining into Hudson’s Bay (the largest land grant in world history)
1676
West Country merchants attempt to enforce restrictions on settlement in Newfoundland
1682
French explorer La Salle reaches the mouth of the Mississippi
1686
King James II & Louis XIV sign neutrality pact handing forts of St. John’s & Port Royal back to the French
1690
Sir William Phips captures almost all of the French possessions in Acadia
1697
Treaty of Ryswick restores the status quo between France & England; Acadia is returned to the French