Original: June 17 & ndash ; Sir Francis Drake , during his circumnavigation of the world , lands in what is now California , which he claims for Queen Elizabeth I. With an English claim here and in Newfoundland , it becomes the basis for English colonial charters which will claim all land from the Atlantic to the Pacific , from '' sea to sea . ''
Simplified: Drakes claim is called '' Nova Albion '' ( meaning , New England ) , and subsequent maps will show all lands north of New Spain and New Mexico under this name .