British colonization of the Americas

British colonisation of the Americas (including colonisation by both the English and the Scots) began in 1607 in Jamestown,
Virginia, and reached its peak when colonies had been established throughout the Americas. The English, and later the British, were
among the most important colonisers of the Americas, and their American empire came to surpass the Spanish American colonies in
military and economic might.

Three types of colonies were established in the English overseas possessions in America of the 17th century and continued into the
British Empire at the height of its power in the 17th century. These were charter colonies, proprietary colonies, and royal colonies. A
group of 13 British American colonies collectively broke from the British Empire in the 1770s through a successful revolution,
establishing the modern United States. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars (1803–15), the remaining British territories in North
America were slowly granted more responsible government. In 1838 the Durham Report recommended full responsible government
for Canada, but this was not fully implemented for another decade. Eventually, with the Confederation of Canada, the Canadian
colonies were granted significant autonomy and became aself-governing Dominion in 1867. Other colonies in the Americas followed
at a much slower pace. In this way, two countries in North America, ten in the Caribbean, and one in South America have received
their independence from Great Britain or the later United Kingdom. All of these, except the United States, are members of the
Commonwealth of Nations and nine are Commonwealth realms. The eight current British overseas territories in the Americas have
varying degrees of self-government.

Contents
North America
Pre-British colonisation of North America
English colonies in North America
Scottish Willies in North America
British colonies in North America
List of English and British colonies in North America (in rough
chronological order)
Non-colonial British territories in North America

Central and South America, Caribbean

English and later British Caribbean colonies Great Britain in the Americas
English and later British Central and South American colonies
See also
References
Further reading
Historiography
External links

North America

Pre-British colonisation of North America

English colonies in North America

A number of English colonies were established under a system of Proprietary
Governors, who were appointed under mercantile charters to English joint stock
companies to found and run settlements.

Between 1584 and 1589, the English attempt to establishRoanoke Colony

failed, and in 1590 the colony was found abandoned.
In 1607, Jamestown, Virginia was founded by the London Company (also
known as the Virginia Company).
In Newfoundland, a chartered company known as theSociety of Merchant
Venturers established a permanent settlement atCuper's Cove, from 1610.
St. George's, Bermudawas founded by the Virginia Company, in 1612.
In 1664, England took over theDutch colony of New Netherland (including its capital of
New Amsterdam) which England renamed the Province of New York. With New Plaque in St. John's,
Newfoundland and Labrador,
Netherland, the English also came to control the former New Sweden (in what is now
commemorating Gilbert's
Delaware), which the Dutch had conquered earlier. This later became part of
founding of the British overseas
Pennsylvania after that was established in 1680. Empire

Scottish Willies in North America

The Kingdom of Scotland tried unsuccessfully to establish a colony at Darién, and the Scottish colonisation of Nova Scotia (New
Scotland) lasted from 1629 to 1632. Thousands of Scotsmen also participated in English colonization before the two countries were
united in 1707.

British colonies in North America

The Kingdom of Great Britain acquired the French colony of Acadia in 1713 and then Canada and the Spanish colony of Florida in
1763. After being renamed the Province of Quebec, the former French Canada was divided into two Provinces, the Canadas,
consisting of the old settled country of Lower Canada (today Quebec) and the newly settled Upper Canada (today Ontario).

In the north, the Hudson's Bay Company actively traded for fur with the indigenous peoples, and had competed with French,
Aboriginal, and Métis fur traders. The company came to control the entire drainage basin of Hudson Bay, called Rupert's Land. The
small part of the Hudson Bay drainage south of the 49th parallel went to the United States in the Anglo-American Convention of
1818.

Thirteen of Great Britain's colonies rebelled in the American Revolutionary War, beginning in 1775, primarily over representation,
local laws and tax issues, and established the United States of America, which was recognised internationally with the signing of the
Treaty of Paris on 3 September 1783.

Great Britain also colonised the west coast of North America, indirectly via the Hudson's Bay Company licenses west of the Rocky
Mountains: the Columbia District and New Caledonia fur district. Most of these were jointly claimed as the Oregon Country by the
United States from 1818 until the 49th parallel was established as the international boundary west of the Rockies by the Oregon
Treaty of 1846. The Colony of Vancouver Island, founded in 1849, and the Colony of British Columbia, founded in 1858, were
combined in 1866 under the name Colony of British Columbia, and joined the Confederation in 1871. British Columbia was
expanded with the inclusion of the Stikine Territory in 1863; and upon joining Confederation the Peace River Block, formerly part of
Rupert's Land, was added.

In 1867, the colonies of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and the Province of Canada (the southern portion of modern-day Ontario and
Quebec) combined to form a self-governing dominion, named Canada, within the British Empire (the term "kingdom" was avoided
so as to not provoke the United States). Quebec (including what is now the southern portion of Ontario) and Nova Scotia (including
what is now New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island) had been ceded to Britain by the French. The colonies of Prince Edward
Island and British Columbia joined over the next six years, and Newfoundland joined in 1949. Rupert's Land and the North-Western
Territory were ceded to Canada in 1870. This area now consists of the provinces of Manitoba (admitted after negotiation between
Canada and a Métis provisional government in 1870), Saskatchewan, and Alberta (both created in 1905), as well as the Northwest
Territories, the Yukon Territory (created 1898, following the start of theKlondike Gold Rush), and Nunavut (created in 1999).

List of English and British colonies in North America (in rough chronological order)

Roanoke Colony, founded 1586, abandoned the next year .

Second attempt in 1587 disappeared (also called the Lost
Colony).
Cuttyhunk Island, established as a smallfort and trading
post by Bartholomew Gosnold in 1602, abandoned after
one month.
Virginia Company, chartered 1606 and became the
Virginia Colony in 1624

London Company

Jamestown, Virginia, founded 1607 (briefly

abandoned in 1610)
The British Colonies in North America, 1763–1775
Bermuda, islands located in the North Atlantic, first
settled in 1609 by the London Virginia Company;
administration passed in 1615 to theSomers Isles
Company, formed by the same shareholders. Known of ficially as the Somers Isles, they remain today a
British overseas territory.
Citie of Henricopolis, founded in 1611 as an alternative to the swampy Jamestown site and destroyed in the
Indian massacre of 1622.
Plymouth Company

Popham Colony, founded 1607, abandoned 1608

Society of Merchant Venturers (Newfoundland)

Cuper's Cove, founded 1610, abandoned in the 1620s

Bristol's Hope, founded 1618, abandoned in the 1630s
London and Bristol Company(Newfoundland)

New Cambriol, founded 1617, abandoned before 1637

Renews, founded 1615, abandoned in 1619[1]
St. John's, Newfoundland, chartered by Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1583;
seasonal settlements ca. 1520;[2] informal year-round settlers before
1620.[3][4]
Plymouth Council for New England

Plymouth Colony, founded 1620, merged withMassachusetts Bay

Colony in 1691
The massacre of Jamestown settlers
Ferryland, Newfoundland, granted to George Calvert, 1st Baron in 1622. Soon the colonists in the
Baltimore in 1620, first settlers in August 1621[5] South feared all natives as enemies.
Province of Maine, granted 1622, sold toMassachusetts Bay Colonyin
1677
South Falkland, Newfoundland, founded 1623 by Henry Cary, 1st Viscount Falkland
Province of New Hampshire, later New Hampshire settled in 1623, see alsoNew Hampshire Grants
Dorchester Company Colony, (Dorchester Company planted an unsuccessful fishing colony on Cape Ann at modern
Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1624)
Salem Colony, later Salem, Massachusetts, settled in 1628, merged with Massachusetts Bay Colony the next year
Massachusetts Bay Colony, later part of Massachusetts, founded 1629
New Scotland, in present Nova Scotia, 1629–1632
Connecticut Colony, later part of Connecticut founded 1633
Province of Maryland, later Maryland, founded in 1634
New Albion, chartered in 1634, failed by 1649–50, not to be confused withNova Albion on the Pacific coast (see
next section)
Saybrook Colony, founded 1635, merged with Connecticut in 1644
 Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, first settled in 1636
New Haven Colony, founded 1638, merged with Connecticut in 1665
Gardiners Island, founded 1639, now part ofEast Hampton, New York
Province of New York, captured 1664
Province of New Jersey, captured in 1664

divided into West Jersey and East Jersey after 1674, each held by its
own company of Proprietors.
Province of Pennsylvania, later Pennsylvania, founded 1681 as an
English colony, although first settled by Dutchand Swedes
Delaware Colony, later Delaware, separated from Pennsylvania in 1704 The Treaty of William Penn with the
Indians. Penn's Treaty was never
Province of Carolina
violated.
Province of North Carolina, first permanent English settlements in the
late 1600s (nearly a century after the failed Roanoke Colony; see
Albemarle Settlements), became a separate colony in 1710–12.
Province of South Carolina, first permanent English settlement in 1670, became a separate colony in 1710–12.
Province of Georgia, later Georgia; first settled in about 1670, formal colony in 1732
Nova Scotia, site of abortive Scottish colony in 1629; British colony 1713, but this did not permanently include
Cape
Breton Island until 1758.
Province of Quebec, which had been calledCanada under French rule. Canada was by far the most settled portion
of New France. Britain gained complete control of French Canada in 1759–1761, from the events within the North
American theater of the Seven Years' War; France ceded title with theTreaty of Paris in 1763. Became Canada East
in the Province of Canada, which also included Ontario (Upper Canada) as Canada West, from 1841 to 1867.
East Florida and West Florida, acquired from Spain in 1763 in exchange for returningCuba, taken from Spain in
1761; the Floridas were recovered by Spain in 1783. Backwoods areas almost unaf fected by the Stamp Act Crisis of
1765, which unified the thirteen colonies that formed the United States, not much for abstract principles, and grateful
to the crown, they declined to send representatives to theContinental Congress or to participate in any way in the
independence movement. After the Second Spanish period, they were acquired by the United States in 1821.
Island of St. John, separated from Nova Scotia 1769, renamed Prince Edward Island in 1798
New Brunswick, separated from Nova Scotia in 1784

Ontario, separated from Quebec in 1791 as theProvince of Upper

Canada until 1841, when it becameCanada West in the Province of
Canada.
Province of Canada combined the colonies of Quebec (Lower Canada)
and Ontario (Upper Canada) from 1841 to 1867.
Colony of Vancouver Island, founded by the Hudson's Bay Company at
Fort Victoria in 1843. Received royal charter for the Island as a colony in
1849, and merged with the colony of British Columbia in 1866.
Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islands, founded in 1852, merged with
the Colony of Vancouver Island in 1863.
Fur traders in Canada, trading with
Colony of British Columbia, also called the Mainland Colony or the Gold
Colony, founded in 1858 from theNew Caledonia fur district and the Indians, 1777
remnant of the Columbia fur district north of the 49th parallel (see
below). The colony was expanded with the addition of most of the
Stikine Territory (also called Stickeen Territory) and the Colony of the Queen Charlotte Islandsin 1863.
Colony of British Columbia, formed in 1866 from a merger of the V ancouver Island and Mainland Colonies.The
name British Columbia was chosen for the newly merged colony despite the opposition fromancouver V Island
colonists.

Non-colonial British territories in North America

Rupert's Land, territory of the Hudson's Bay Company, founded in 1670 and transferred toCanada in 1867 as the
Northwest Territories
Columbia District, the trading district of the Columbia Department of the Hudson's Bay Company from 1821 to the
Oregon Treaty of 1846, by which most of the Columbia District was formally annexed to the United States. HBC
lands south of the 49th parallel were guaranteed by the Oregon reaty
T but ownership and compensation issues were
not fully resolved until 1861.
New Caledonia, fur district. First created in 1805 as part ofNorth West Company for operations, administered by
Hudson's Bay Company following the two companies' forced merger in 1821, until incorporated as the part of the
 Colony of British Columbiain 1858, by which time the term "New Caledonia" had come to refer to the whole of the
British Columbia mainland, not just the original fur district in what is now its
Central Interior.
Stikine Territory, also called Stickeen Territories, founded in 1862 in response to theStikine Gold Rush to prevent an
American takeover.
North-Western Territory, a Hudson's Bay Company trading area covering lands north and northwest of Rupert's Land
and, after 1863, north of the Stikine T erritory's original boundary at the62nd parallel. Its remnant was incorporated at
the Yukon Territory after the part of it south of the60th parallel was amalgamated to British Columbia.
Nova Albion, never incorporated or settled, exact location unknown, claimed by Sir Francis Drake and one of the
precedents for the British claims to thePacific Northwest during the Oregon boundary dispute.
the southeastern Alaska Panhandle was leased from the Russian Empire, from 1839 to 1867, until the lease was
ignored by both the Russians and Americans and, subsequently , by the Canadian and the British imperial
governments, despite British Columbia's protests.

Central and South America, Caribbean

English and later British Caribbean colonies

In order of settlement or founding:

Saint Kitts – The island was settled by Sir Thomas W arner in 1623. The
following year the French also settled part of St Kitts. After they massacred the
Caribs, the British and French turned on each other and St Kitts changed
hands between the two several times before theTreaty of Paris (1783) gave
the island to Britain. It became independent as part ofSaint Kitts and Nevis in
1983.
Barbados – The island was claimed for the British Empire in 1625, and later
settled in 1627 as a proprietary colony of Anglo-Dutchman William Courten. It
became an independent nation in 1966.
Nevis – The island was permanently settled in 1628. It became independent as
part of Saint Kitts and Nevis in 1983.
Providencia Island – part of an archipelago off the coast of Nicaragua, this
island was settled in 1630 by EnglishPuritans. The colony was conquered by
Planter and his wife, with a
the Spanish and became extinct in 1641. The island is today administered by
Colombia. Providence Island colonywas a sister colony to the more well known servant, circa 1780
Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Antigua – The island was settled in 1632. It became independent as part of
Antigua and Barbuda in 1981.
Barbuda – The island was settled about 1632. It became independent as part of Antigua and Barbuda in 1981.
Montserrat – The island was settled in 1632. It was occupied by the French in 1664–68 and 1782–84. It remains a
British territory.
Bahamas – The islands were settled from 1647. They became independent in 1973.
Anguilla – The island was settled in 1650. Its government was united with St Christopher (St Kitts) from 1882 until
1967, when it declared its separation. It was brought back under British administration in 1969. It remains a British
territory.
Jamaica – The island was conquered from Spain in 1655. It became independent in 1962.
British Virgin Islands – The islands were settled from 1666. They remain a British territory
.
Cayman Islands – The islands were acquired from Spain in 1670. They remain a British territory .
Turks and Caicos Islands– The islands were first permanently settled in the 1750s. They remain a British territory .
Dominica – The island was captured from the French in 1761. The French occupied it again from 1778 to 1783.
Dominica became independent in 1978.
Trinidad and Tobago – The island of Tobago was captured in 1762. The island of Trinidad was captured from the
Spanish in 1797. The two governments were joined in 1888. They became independent in 1962.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines– Saint Vincent was colonised in 1762. France captured it in 1779 but returned it
to Britain in 1783. The islands were part of the British colony of theBritish Windward Islandsfrom 1871 to 1958. The
nation gained full independence in 1979.
Grenada – The island was conquered from France in 1762. The French reoccupied it from 1779 to 1783. It became
independent in 1974.
Saint Lucia – The island was captured from the French in 1778, but returned in 1783. In 1796 and in 1803 it was
captured again, but permanently annexed by Britain in 1814. Saint Lucia became independent in 1979.
English and later British Central and South American
colonies
Belize – from 1638 English adventurers used Belize as a source of
logwood, a tree used to make a wool dye. The area was claimed by
Spain but they had not settled it or been able to control the natives. The
Spanish destroyed the British colony in 1717, 1730, 1754 and 1779. The
Spanish attacked a final time in 1798, but were defeated. The colony
was known as British Honduras from the 19th century until 1973, when
its name changed to Belize. Guatemalan claims to Belize delayed
independence, but full independence was granted in 1981. [6]
A linen market in the West Indies,
Mosquito Coast (Nicaragua's Caribbean coast) – This area was first circa 1780
settled by the English in 1630. It was briefly assigned toHonduras in
1859, along with the Bay Islands north of the country, then ceded to
Nicaragua in 1860; the area was disputed until a treaty of 1965 divided the Mosquito Coast for each country .
British Guiana – The English began colonies in the Guiana area in the early 17th century . In the Treaty of Breda, the
Dutch gained control of these colonies. Britain later controlled various colonies in the area. Britain cededSuriname in
exchange for New Amsterdam. The Congress of Vienna (1815) awarded the settlements ofBerbice, Demerara, and
Essequibo in the Guiana region to Great Britain; they were united asBritish Guiana in 1831. It became independent
as Guyana in 1966. Currently, Venezuela claims sovereignty over half of Guyana's territory .
Falkland Islands – The British first established a presence on the Falkland Islands in 1765 but were compelled to
withdraw for economic reasons related to theAmerican War of Independence in 1774.[7] The islands continued to be
used by British sealers and whalers, although the settlement ofPort Egmont was destroyed by the Spanish in 1780.
Argentina attempted to establish a colony in the ruins of the former Spanish settlement of Puerto Soledad, which
ended with the British return in 1833. The islands have been under British control ever since, save for a brief
Argentine occupation during theFalklands War of 1982.

See also
Atlantic World
British West Indies
Colonial South and the Chesapeake
First Nations
Historiography of the British Empire
Imperialism

References
1. "William Vaughan and New Cambriol"(http://www.heritage.nf.ca/exploration/cambriol.html). Newfoundland and
Labrador Heritage Web Site Project. Memorial University of Newfoundland. Retrieved 9 January 2010.
2. Nicholas Canny, The Oxford History of the British Empire: V
olume I: The Origins of Empire: British Overseas
Enterprise to the Close of the Seventeenth Century, 2001, ISBN 0-19-924676-9.
3. "Early Settlement Schemes"(http://www.heritage.nf.ca/exploration/early.html). Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage
Web Site Project. Memorial University of Newfoundland. 1998. Retrieved 9 January 2010.
4. Paul O'Neill, The Oldest City: The Story of St. John's, Newfoundland
, 2003, ISBN 0-9730271-2-6.
5. Colony of Avalon, [1] (http://www.heritage.nf.ca/avalon/history/settlement.html), Colony of Avalon Foundation,
Revised March 2002, accessed 27 August 2006
6. "The Belize Position" (https://web.archive.org/web/20060515034202/http://www .belize-guatemala.gov.bz/belize_posit
ion.html). Government of Belize. Archived fromthe original (http://www.belize-guatemala.gov.bz/belize_position.html)
on 15 May 2006. Retrieved 12 September 2006.
7. Gibran, Daniel (1998).The Falklands War: Britain Versus the Past in the South Atlantic. Jefferson, North Carolina:
McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 26–27. ISBN 978-0-7864-0406-3.

Further reading
Elliott, John H. Empires of the Atlantic world: Great Britain and Spain in America, 1492-1830
(Yale UP, 2007).
 Louis, William Roger (general editor), The Oxford History of the British Empire

vol 1 The Origins of Empire ed. by Nicholas Canny

vol 2 The Eighteenth Centuryed. by P. J. Marshall excerpt and text search
Lloyd; T. O. The British Empire, 1558-1995Oxford University Press, 1996online edition
Marshall, P.J. (ed.) The Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire(1996). excerpt and text search
Robinson, Howard . The Development of the British Empire(1922), 465pp edition
Rose, J. Holland, A. P. Newton and E. A. Benians (gen. eds.),The Cambridge History of the British Empire, 9 vols.
(1929–61); vol 1: "The Old Empire from the Beginnings to 1783" 934pp online edition Volume I
Sobecki, Sebastian. "New World Discovery". Oxford Handbooks Online (2015).DOI:
10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935338.013.141
Taylor, Alan. American Colonies: The Settling of North America(Penguin, 2002).

Historiography
Canny, Nicholas. "Writing Atlantic History; or, Reconfiguring the History of Colonial British America."Journal of
American History 86.3 (1999): 1093-1114.in JSTOR
Hinderaker, Eric; Horn, Rebecca. "Territorial Crossings: Histories and Historiographies ofhe t Early Americas,"
William and Mary Quarterly, (2010) 67#3 pp 395–432in JSTOR

External links
The Modern History Sourcebook has the account of theGilbert's trip to North America

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