British America

For American people of British descent, see British Americans.

British America and the British West Indies
1607–1783
Flag of Great Britain and British America (after 1707)
British colonies in America (red) and the island colonies of the British West Indies of the Caribbean Sea (pink)
Status	Colonies of England (1607 — 1707) Colonies of Scotland (1629 — 1632) Colonies of Great Britain (1707 — 1783)
Capital	Administered from London, England
Common languages	English (de facto official) Spoken languages: English German French Spanish Dutch Swedish Finnish Welsh Cornish Irish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic Manks Ojibwe Indigenous languages
Religion	Anglicanism, Protestantism, Lutheranism, Roman Catholicism, Judaism, American Indian religion, Traditional African religions
Government	Constitutional monarchy
Monarch
• 1607 — 1625	James VI and I (first)
• 1760 — 1783	George III (last)
History
• Colony of Virginia	1607
• Newfoundland Colony and Province of Avalon	1610
• Bermuda	1614
• Plymouth Council for New England (Massachusetts Bay Colony)	1620
• Province of Maryland	1634
• Colony of Jamaica	1655
• Rupert's Land	1670
• Treaty of Utrecht	1713
• Treaty of Paris (French and Indian War)	1763
• American Revolutionary War	1775–1783
• Treaty of Paris	1783
Currency	Pound sterling, Spanish dollar, bills of credit, commodity money, and many local currencies
Preceded by Succeeded by New France New Netherland New Sweden Spanish Florida British North America United States Spanish Florida British West Indies

British America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in the Americas from 1607 to 1783. These colonies were formally known as British America and the British West Indies before the Thirteen Colonies declared their independence in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) and formed the United States of America.

After the American Revolution, the term British North America was used to refer to the remainder of Great Britain's possessions in North America. The term British North America was used in 1783, but it was more commonly used after the Report on the Affairs of British North America (1839), generally known as the Durham Report.

In the Caribbean, the British West Indies and other European sugar colonies were at the center for the Atlantic Slave Trade.

The English established and expanded a number of colonies in the 17th century in the New World. British America later gained large amounts of territory with the Treaty of Paris (1763), which ended the French and Indian War in America and the Seven Years' War in Europe. At the start of the Revolutionary War in 1775, the British Empire included 23 colonies and territories on the North American continent. The Treaty of Paris (1783) ended the war, and Britain lost much of this territory to the newly formed United States. In addition, Britain ceded East and West Florida to the Kingdom of Spain, which in turn ceded them to the United States in 1821. Most of the remaining colonies to the north formed Canada in 1867, with the Dominion of Newfoundland joining in 1949.

History

Main article: English overseas possessions § The Americas

Further information: First British Empire

British map of North America, 1710

A number of English colonies were established in America between 1607 and 1670 by individuals and companies whose investors expected to reap rewards from their speculation. They were granted commercial charters by King James I, King Charles I, Parliament, and King Charles II. The London Company founded the first permanent settlement in 1607 on the James River at Jamestown, Virginia upstream from Chesapeake Bay. This was followed in 1620 when the Pilgrims established the Plymouth settlement in New England. English Catholics settled the Province of Maryland in 1634, under Cecilus Calvert, second Lord Baltimore.

A state department in London known as the Southern Department governed all the colonies beginning in 1660, as well as a committee of the Privy Council called the Board of Trade and Plantations. In 1768, Parliament created a specific state department for America, but it was disbanded in 1782 when the Home Office took responsibility for the remaining possessions of British North America in Eastern Canada, The Floridas, and the West Indies.

North American colonies in 1775

The Thirteen Colonies that became the original states of the United States:

New England Colonies

• Province of Massachusetts Bay
• Province of New Hampshire
• Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
• Connecticut Colony

A view of Fort George and the city of New York
c. 1731

Middle Colonies

• Province of New York
• Province of New Jersey
• Province of Pennsylvania
• Delaware Colony

Southern Colonies

• Province of Maryland
• Colony of Virginia
• Province of North Carolina
• Province of South Carolina
• Province of Georgia

Colonies and territories that became part of Canada:

• Province of Quebec northeast of the Great Lakes (including Labrador until 1791)
• Nova Scotia (including New Brunswick until 1784)
• Island of St. John
• Colony of Newfoundland
• Rupert's Land
• North-Western Territory
• British Arctic Territories

Colonies and territories that were ceded to Spain or the United States in 1783:

• Province of East Florida (Spanish 1783–1823, U.S. after 1823)
• Province of West Florida (Spanish 1783–1823, U.S. after 1823)
• Indian Reserve (U.S. after 1783)
• Province of Quebec southwest of the Great Lakes (U.S. after 1783)

Colonies in the Caribbean, Mid-Atlantic, and South America in 1783

Bermuda

Divisions of the British Leeward Islands

• Saint Christopher (de facto capital)
• Antigua
• Barbuda
• British Virgin Islands
• Montserrat
• Nevis
• Anguilla

Island of Jamaica and its dependencies

• Island of Jamaica
• Settlement of Belize in British Honduras
• Mosquito Coast
• Bay Islands
• Cayman Islands

Other possessions in the British Windward Islands

• Island of Barbados
• Island of Grenada
• Island of St. Vincent
• Island of Tobago (detached from Grenada in 1768)
• Island of Dominica (detached from Grenada in 1770)

See also

• Evolution of the British Empire
• British colonization of the Americas
• Colonial history of the United States
• Former colonies and territories in Canada
• British colonization of Australia
• British colonization of New Zealand
• British North America Acts
• British overseas territories