Explore with Giovanni da Verrazzano

In the early 1500s, Italian-born explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano led France's exploration in the New World. In a fierce rivalry with Spain to claim new territories, King Francis I sent Verrazzano to find a westward route across the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and East Asia. Verrazzano mistakenly believed he had discovered the route. In fact, he had sailed along much of the eastern coast of North America, and his travels greatly increased Europe's knowledge of the New World. However, the F...