Editing History of the United States (section)

====French and Spanish ====
[[File:San Pablo Bastion, Castillo de San Marcos.jpg|thumb|The San Pablo Bastion of the [[Castillo de San Marcos]], completed in 1683, in [[History of St. Augustine, Florida|St. Augustine, Florida]]]]
[[Giovanni da Verrazzano]] landed in [[North Carolina]] in 1524, and was the first European to sail into [[New York Harbor]] and [[Narragansett Bay]]. In the 1540s, French [[Huguenots]] settled at [[Fort Caroline]] near present-day [[Jacksonville, Florida]]. In 1565, Spanish forces led by [[Pedro Menéndez]] destroyed the settlement and established the first Spanish settlement in what would become the United States — [[St. Augustine, Florida|St. Augustine]].

Most French lived in [[Quebec]] and [[Acadia]] (modern Canada), but far-reaching trade relationships with Native Americans spread their influence. French colonists in small villages along the Mississippi and [[Illinois River|Illinois]] rivers lived in farming communities that served as a grain source for Gulf Coast settlements. The French established plantations in Louisiana along with settling [[New Orleans]], [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]], and [[Biloxi]].