Hpefully theres a pro in here somewhere <span>As we turn to the French explorers, let us repeat the litany of hardships that explorers encountered—intense cold, disease and death, unknown hazards and uncharted routes, Indians who might be friend or foe, and </span>other<span> Europeans who might be friend or foe. For Europeans, North America would be a "hard-won achievement," writes historian Karen Ordahl Kupperman. "At times it almost seemed as if the land itself was actively hostile to European lifeways."* With this in mind, we select three accounts of French expeditions in the St. Lawrence and Mississippi River regions:</span><span>JACQUES CARTIER explored the northeast part of the continent intending to find the elusive passage to the Orient. Sailing west of Newfoundland he "discovered" the St. Lawrence River and explored the region in three voyages between 1535 and 1541. He met several Iroquoian tribal groups, establishing friendly relationships, though cautious on both sides. He did not find a route to China; indeed the large sea described to him by the Indians—"there was never man heard of that found out the end thereof"—was probably Lake Ontario.</span>
The United States and Canada both rank as highly developed nations, according to the Human Development Index. The United States ranks fourth on the list and Canada ranks eighth. The Human Development Index measures a country’s standard of living, life expectancy, education levels, and income.
