Question: what was the primary motivation for the french who came to the new world

title: French colonization of the Americas
text: France Antarctique ( formerly also spelled France antartique ) was a French colony south of the Equator , in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil , which existed between 1555 and 1567 , and had control over the coast from Rio de Janeiro to Cabo Frio . The colony quickly became a haven for the Huguenots , and was ultimately destroyed by the Portuguese in 1567 . On November 1 , 1555 , French vice-admiral Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon ( 1510 -- 1575 ) , a Catholic knight of the Order of Malta , who later would help the Huguenots to find a refuge against persecution , led a small fleet of two ships and 600 soldiers and colonists , and took possession of the small island of Serigipe in the Guanabara Bay , in front of present - day Rio de Janeiro , where they built a fort named Fort Coligny . The fort was named in honor of Gaspard de Coligny ( then a Catholic statesman , who about a year later would become a Huguenot ) , an admiral who supported the expedition and would use the colony in order to protect his co-religionists . To the still largely undeveloped mainland village , Villegaignon gave the name of Henriville , in honour of Henry II , the King of France , who also knew of and approved the expedition , and had provided the fleet for the trip . Villegaignon secured his position by making an alliance with the Tamoio and Tupinambá Indians of the region , who were fighting the Portuguese . 1557