Spanish successes in the Caribbean attracted the attention of other European nations. Like Spain, France was a Catholic nation and committed to expanding Catholicism around the globe. In the early sixteenth century, it joined the race to explore the New World and exploit the resources of the Western Hemisphere. In 1534, navigator Jacques Cartier claimed northern North America for France, naming the area around the St. Lawrence River New France. Like many other explorers, Cartier made exaggerated claims about the area’s mineral wealth and was unable to send great riches back to France or establish a permanent colony.
Slavery played the central role during the American Civil War. The primary catalyst for secession was slavery, especially Southern political leaders' resistance to attempts by Northern antislavery political forces to block the expansion of slavery into the western territories.
