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British America
British colony
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Flag of British America

Flag from 1707

Location of British America
British colonies in North America in 1763.
Capital Not applicable
Language(s) English
Religion Anglicanism
Government Constitutional monarchy
King
 - 1607-1625 King James I
 - 1760-1783 King George III
History
 - Virginia Colony 1607
 - New England 1620
 - Rupert's Land 1670
 - Treaty of Utrecht 1713
 - Treaty of Paris 1763
 - Treaty of Paris 1783
Currency Pound sterling

British America and the British West Indies was a collection of colonies controlled by the Kingdom of Great Britain in North America and the West Indies.

History of growth[]

While English and Scottish ventures into North America had been taking place since shortly after Europeans learned of its existence, colonisation efforts were limited with little commitment by investors to maintain them. The first serious ventures began with James VI and I who oversaw the creation of the Virginia Company in 1606, which intended to establish coastal settlements 34°N to 45°N to allow for the trade of natural resources of commodities between the continent, themselves and England and Scotland. It was further split into the London Company in the south, and Plymouth Company in the north, who's designated spheres of influence overlapped between 38°N and 41°N.

In 1612 this was expanded to cover the Somers Isles, now Bermuda, where survivors of Jamestown cargo ship were stranded following a wreck, and formally transferred to the new Somers Isles Company in 1615. In 1620 the Plymouth Company authorised the settlement of Puritans, who settled their Plymouth Colony in 1620 at 41°N. The newly established Dorchester Company took part in a failed effort in 1623 to establish a similar colony at Cape Ann. The Virginia Company went out of business in 1624, and its colonies fell under royal control.

James VI and I would die in 1625, with his son Charles I taking over. At this point in time the Dutch had settled their New Netherland colony north of Plymouth, and attention therefore turned to increasing interest south of Virginia and east of New Netherland. Starting in 1628 several colonies east of New Netherland were settled, forming Massachusetts Bay, followed by New Hampshire in 1629, Maryland in 1634 and Rhode Island and Connecticut in 1636. To the south meanwhile was the establishment of Carolina in a new patent placing it south of Virginia from 31°N and 36°N, though serious work did not take place for considerable time.

Between 1639 and 1653 England, Scotland and Ireland suffered a series of civil wars relating to respective political instabilities. Due to the settlement of Puritans, Anglicans and Catholics, intercolonial warfare and purges took place. The New England colonies were merged together in 1643 under the New England Confederation; this was formed under the belief that united they would possess the military capabilities of defence against Indian and Dutch raids, though was deeply unpopular. Charles I was executed in 1649 by the republican government, though this did not slow down the conflict in the colonies. This government collapsed in 1660 with the restoration of Charles II, and all laws enacted in the previous were declared void. Having been slowly settled in the years following Charles I's death, the existence of Carolina became a complication, and its royal charter was established, and in 1663 the Province of Pennsylvania was created. After conflict with the Dutch, New Netherland finally collapsed in 1664 and its land was divided between its adjacent colonies with the creation of New Jersey, New York and Delaware. In 1670 the Hudson's Bay Company was formed which sought to profit from the fur trade north of New England which was at the time a French monopoly; this however overlapped with France's claims and led to intermitted conflicts.

18th century[]

Moving into the 18th century, British America transformed considerably with the formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1708. In 1712, Carolina was formally divided into North and South, owing to the complexities of the colony forming two distinct trading hubs; the Province of Georgia was later created in 1732 from unsettled land which had until then been part of South Carolina's jurisdiction, formed to provide a military buffer against Spanish Florida. To the north, meanwhile, Britain continued its conflicts with the French and was able to make alliances with Indian tribes in their sphere of influence, but ultimately their conquests were reversed with the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. The Seven Years' War however would see the complete loss of French and Spanish territories east of the Mississippi River as well as France's sphere of influence.

The Royal Proclamation of 1663 maintained a ban on settlement west of the Appalachians to allow for the preservation of an allied Indian Reserve with which could protect British interests as well as trading with the Hudson Bay Company. The French trading hub of Quebec was retained with its French identity intact as both a good faith gesture and on the understanding that expulsion was not realistic. Land to the east of Quebec formed Nova Scotia, which was itself broken-up in 1669 to form St. John's Island. In the south meanwhile Spain ceded East and West East Florida. Further British American acquisitions included Dominica, Grenade, Saint Vincent, the Grenadines and Tobago.

Collapse of British America[]

Despite Britain's successes, the political ramifications hurt centralised control over British America considerably, with topics of contention including taxation, the increased Army presence in New England, and land speculators calling for acquisition of territories west of Appalachia and into Quebec. Control collapsed in 1774 with sporadic but increasing fighting between rebelling colonial militias, and the Army and loyalist militias, finally becoming a War of Independence in 1776. Until the early 1780s the conflict was largely fought at a standstill with increasing reliance on foreign volunteers and Indian raiding parties on both sides. After defeating rebel attacks on Quebec, St. John and Nova Scotia, Britain and allied Indians pushed south into New England where they intended to split up Massachusetts to form a small and more manageable New Ireland. The Northern campaigns were however stalled once more in 1779 with the increasing attacks on the Iroquois collapsing their line. The south meanwhile switched hands repeatedly, but was finally lost with the deployment of the French navy, and with the loss of Savannah, it could no longer be realistically recovered. The West Indies also saw considerable fighting, mostly from rebel privateers but with several landings that sought to take over the colonies.

With the collapse of Britain's territories in 1782, the Tory government was pushed out and replaced with a series of short-lived Whig governments that supported peace. The 1783 Treaty of Paris formally recognised the independence of the thirteen colonies under rebel control along with New Ireland, as well as the loss of East and West Florida to Spain and the Indian Territory returning to French control as Louisiana. The remaining northern colonies and sphere of influence became British North America, while the island territories became British West Indies.

List of colonies in 1775[]

Sources[]

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