Answer: the establishment of Dutch, French, and British colonies in North America.
Step-by-step explanation:
Since the 2nd Century AD, Humans have theorized that there was a way to get to Asia over Europe and from the 15th century AD they began to mount expeditions to find this route.
While the first successful passage was only made in the early 20th century, the expeditions enabled the founding of colonies by the British, French and the Dutch. For instance, Henry Hudson's voyage led him to the Hudson river in New York and this was an important step in the eventual Dutch colonization of the area.