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British America and the British West Indies
1607–1783
Flag of British America (1707–1775)
British colonies in North America (red) and the island colonies of the British West Indies near the Caribbean Sea (pink)
Status	Colonies of England (1607–1707) Colonies of Great Britain (1707–1783)
Capital	Administered from London, England
Common languages	English (official) Spoken languages: English German French Spanish Dutch Irish Scottish Gaelic Ojibwe Indian languages
Religion	Anglicanism, Protestantism, Lutheranism, Roman Catholicism, Judaism, American Indian religion
Government	Constitutional monarchy
Monarch
• 1607–1625	James I & VI (first)
• 1760–1783	George III (last)
History
• Colony of Virginia	1607
• Bermuda	1614
• Plymouth Council for New England (Massachusetts Bay Colony)	1620
• Province of Maryland	1634
• Jamaica	1655
• Rupert's Land	1670
• Treaty of Utrecht	1713
• Treaty of Paris	1783
Currency	Pound sterling, Spanish dollar, colonial money, bills of credit, commodity money, and many local currencies
Preceded by Succeeded by New Netherland New France Spanish Florida New Sweden British North America British West Indies United States Spanish Florida
Today part of	Countries today  Anguilla  Antigua and Barbuda  Bahamas  Barbados  Belize  Bermuda  British Virgin Islands  Canada  Cayman Islands  Dominica  Grenada  Guyana  Honduras  Jamaica  Montserrat  Nicaragua  Saint Kitts and Nevis  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines  Trinidad and Tobago  Turks and Caicos  United States

British America comprised the British Empire's colonial territories in North America, Bermuda, Central America, the Caribbean, and Guyana from 1607 to 1783. The American colonies were formally known as British America and the British West Indies before 1776, when the Thirteen Colonies declared their independence in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) and formed the United States of America.^[1] After that, the term British North America was used to describe the remainder of Britain's continental North American possessions. That term was first used informally in 1783 by the end of the American Revolution, but it was uncommon before the Report on the Affairs of British North America (1839), called the Durham Report.

British America gained large amounts of new territory following the Treaty of Paris (1763) which ended the French and Indian War in America, and ended British involvement in the Seven Years' War in Europe. At the start of the Revolutionary War in 1775, the British Empire included 20 colonies north and east of New Spain, including areas of Mexico and the Western United States. East and West Florida were ceded to the Kingdom of Spain in the Treaty of Paris (1783) which ended the American Revolution, and then ceded by Spain to the United States in 1819 after treaty negotiations to settle the old southwest border with Spanish Florida (eastern Louisiana, southern Alabama, Mississippi, and western Georgia). The remaining continental colonies of British North America to the northeast formed the Dominion of Canada by uniting provinces between 1867 and 1873. The Dominion of Newfoundland to the east joined Canada in 1949.

History

A number of English colonies were established in North America between 1606 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 first permanent settlement was founded in 1607 on the James River at Jamestown, Virginia upstream from Chesapeake Bay by the London Company. This was followed in 1620 when the Pilgrims established the Plymouth settlement in New England. English Catholics settled the Province of Maryland in 1634, with Cecilus Calvert, second Lord Baltimore.

In London beginning in 1660, all colonies were governed through a state department known as the Southern Department, and a committee of the Privy Council called the Board of Trade and Plantations. In 1768, a specific state department was created for America, but it was disbanded in 1782 when the Home Office took responsibility.^[2]

North American colonies in 1775

Thirteen Colonies

The Thirteen Colonies formed 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^[3][4]
  


• 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

Former French colonies and the Floridas

Several British colonies and territories were ruled by Britain from 1763 after the Seven Years' War, but were ceded to Spain (the Floridas) or the United States (the Indian Reserve and Southwestern Quebec). Others became part of Canada.

Territories that became part of the United States of America:

• Province of East Florida
  


• Province of West Florida
  


• Indian Reserve


• 
  Province of Quebec (southwest of the Great Lakes)

British colonies and territories that became part of Canada:

• 
  Province of Quebec (northeast of the Great Lakes)


• Province of Nova Scotia
  


• Island of St. John


• Colony of Newfoundland


• Rupert's Land

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

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 West Indies

• Colony of the Bahamas
  


• Colony of Bermuda
  


• Island of Barbados
  


• Island of Grenada
  


• 
  Island of St. Vincent (detached from Grenada in 1776)


• Island of Tobago (detached from Grenada in 1768)


• Island of Dominica (detached from Grenada in 1770)

See also

• British colonization of the Americas


• British North America Acts


• British overseas territories


• Colonial history of the United States


• Evolution of the British Empire


• Former colonies and territories in Canada

Citations