By 1650, Europeans were pouring into North America By 1650, Europeans were pouring into North America. French traders continued into North America. French traders continued to dominate Canada’s rich fur trade. The French also followed the Mississippi river from its origins in Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and claimed the Mississippi Valley for France. The French named the area Louisiana after the French King and founded the city of New Orleans. The Spanish kept their foothold in Florida. The Spanish also started a small colony along the Rio Grande River in an area they called New Mexico. The Dutch colonized the area along the Hudson River, which they named New Netherland. They obtained the rights from the Lenape Indians to settle on Manhattan Island. They called it New Amsterdam.

Most immigrants however settled in English colonies along the eastern seaboard. Jamestown and Plymouth were joined by the colonies of Maryland, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. King Charles I granted Sir Robert Heath a patent to colonize the land south of Virginia. Charles named the area Carolina after himself.Years later, King Charles II sold or granted land for the colonies of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. Since no one had successfully populated the Carolina colony, the transferred Heath’s patent to eight of his supporter who became known as the Lords Proprietors. A proprietor is someone who owns something or has a legal title to something. The Lords Proprietors were not interested in living in Carolina. They planned to encourage people to settle in the colony and profit from the wealth that settlers produced.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o69TvQqyGdg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p47tZLJbdag

Immigration Questions Other than the English, what other European groups settled into North America? Where did the Europeans settle? Where did most settlers go? Who is Carolina named after? Since Carolina wasn’t populated enough what did Charles II do? What is a proprietor? What did the proprietors want?