British America

For the British Empire’s colonial territories in North America after 1783, see British North America.

Not to be confused with United Colonies.

British America and the British West Indies
1585–1783
Top: Flag of Great Britain Bottom: Colonial Red Ensign Royal coat of arms
British colonies in continental North America (red) and the island colonies of the British West Indies of the Caribbean Sea (pink), after the French and Indian War (1754–1763) and before the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783)
Status	Colonies of England (1585–1707) 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 Scottish Gaelic Manx Ojibwe Indigenous languages West African languages (spoken among the imported African slaves in the beginning)
Religion	Anglicanism, Protestantism, Lutheranism, Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Native American religions, Traditional African religions, Sunni Islam (practiced by some West African slaves in the beginning)
Demonym(s)	British American
Government	Constitutional monarchy
Monarch
• 1607–1625	James VI and I (first)
• 1760–1783	George III (last)
History
• Colony of Virginia	1585
• Newfoundland Colony and Province of Avalon	1610
• Bermuda	1614
• Plymouth Council for New England (Massachusetts Bay Colony)	1620
• Province of Maryland	1632
• 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 Confederation period Spanish Florida British West Indies

British America comprised the colonial territories of the English Empire, and the successor British Empire, in the Americas from 1607 to 1783. These colonies were formally known as British America and the British West Indies just before the thirteen of the colonies declared their independence in the American Revolution (1765–1783) and formed the United States of America.

After the American Revolutionary War, the term British North America was used to refer to the remainder of Great Britain's possessions in what became Canada, and British West Indies to various islands and what became Belize. 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, published in 1839 and generally known as the Durham Report.

History

Main article: English overseas possessions § The Americas

Further information: First British Empire

A 1710 British map of North America by John Senex, Charles Price, and John Maxwell

Fort George and New York City, c. 1731

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 Kings James I, Charles I, and Charles II, and by the British Parliament. In 1607, the London Company founded the first permanent settlement on the James River at Jamestown, Virginia upstream from Chesapeake Bay. This was followed, in 1620, with the Pilgrims establishing 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 along with 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.

British America gained large amounts of territory with the Treaty of Paris of 1763, which ended the French and Indian War in America and the Seven Years' War in Europe. At the start of the American Revolutionary War in 1775, the British Empire included 23 colonies and territories on the North American continent. The Treaty of Paris of 1783 ended the Revolutionary 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.

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

North American colonies in 1775

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

New England Colonies

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

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
• Old Providence Island Colony

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