USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Samuel Champlain went to the New World, first to report on what he saw and later to start a fur-trading center in what is now Canada. But he also wanted to go up the Ottawa River to see if it was the Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean.

Detailed explanation-2: -He was key to French expansion in the New World. Known as the “Father of New France, ” Champlain founded Quebec (1608), one of the oldest cities in what is now Canada, and consolidated French colonies. He also made important explorations of what is now northern New York, the Ottawa River, and the eastern Great Lakes.

Detailed explanation-3: -King Henry IV wanted to the French to begin settling in the New World in hopes that wealth could be brought back to France. So he sent an expedition to locate a place in the New World to establish a French colony and fur trade settlement. Samuel de Champlain would be among the men who would take part in this venture.

Detailed explanation-4: -Champlain recommended further exploration and settlement of St. Lawrence area to allow the French to take advantage of the river for the valuable fur trade. He founded Quebec in 1608, and made his famous explorations in present-day New York State and on Lake Huron and Lake Ontario in 1615.

Detailed explanation-5: -Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first to successfully navigate the Northwest Passage in 1906.