What impact did the search for the Northwest Passage had upon exploration and colonization?

The Northwest Passage achieved the crossing from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Crossed completely by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen from 1903 to 1906, the passage opened a new trade route for Europeans. Before that, the Vikings had used the passage as a trade route with the Inuits.

In 1609, Henry Hudson's voyage along the Hudson Bay triggered a Dutch settlement in New York and the area around the Hudson River.