French explorers established trading posts along the St. Lawrence River in Canada and allied with Algonquian tribes to trade furs. This fur trade attracted competition from other European powers and changed Native American culture by introducing firearms. While economic interests drove colonization, French Jesuit missionaries also aimed to convert Native Americans to Christianity. By the 17th century, warfare with the Iroquois endangered the French colonial presence in North America.

1. French Colonies of North America Michael Huey