French explorers
Voyageurs seeking territory
French explorers are people from France who undertook expeditions to discover, map, or claim unfamiliar territories.
The term most commonly refers to figures from the Age of Exploration through the colonial era—Cartier, Champlain, La Salle—who charted North American waterways and established French claims in the New World: The French explorers mapped much of the Mississippi River basin.
- CanadaNorthern North American nation
- fur tradeCommercial exchange of animal skins
- Louisiana TerritoryVast 1803 land acquisition
- coureurs des boisIndependent colonial fur traders
- cartographyCreating geographic representations
Jacques Cartier · Samuel de Champlain · Ojibwe · portage · birch bark canoes · missionary efforts · trade routes · South America · territorial claims · uncharted territory · Africa · Great Lakes · Southeast Asia · Indian Ocean · Northwest Passage · outposts · canoes · native guides
- ExplorersColumbus, Christopher Columbus, Magellan, Cortez, Marco Polo
- French AmericaCajun, Creole, French Quarter, New Orleans, Cajun French
- French seafaringsailors, seamen, ship captains, naval officers, Champlain
- Illinois historyAbraham Lincoln, Chicago, Springfield, Chicago Fire, Great Chicago Fire
- Midwest historyChicago, Detroit, Great Lakes, Mississippi River, Ohio River
- French Culturebaguette, baguettes, beret, berets, brie
French explorersEnglish explorers
Adventurers from Britain abroad
British explorers · English colonists · Spanish explorers · Italian explorers