History of French-era Tunisia which France approached, traded with and financed, invaded, and then administered Tunisia. It will be seen that modern French politics not only guided the direction of the French colonial venture, but also informed indirectly and in combination with traditions the politics of their clients, the Tunisian people and their leadership. France was not unfamiliar with rule over foreign lands, i.e., two distinct phases of expansion outside Europe, and one within: the 16th–18th century ventures in North America and in India, which lands were lost by the monarchy in 1763 prior to the French Revolution; the Napoleonic conquests over most of
Catholic Church in the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The Catholic Church's part of the history of the United States has its background in the European colonization of the Americas. The first Catholics arrived with the Spanish missions in the Americas with Christopher Columbus' second voyage to the New World in 1493. In the 16th and 17th centuries, they established missions in what are now Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, Puerto Rico, Texas, and later in California. In addition to the Spanish, the French in the 17th century, via New France, began missionary work in Michigan, New York, Wisconsin. French colonization in the early 18th century