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British America refers to the territories under the control of the Crown in present day North America (including Bermuda), Central America, the Caribbean, and Guyana. Colonial America consisted of the English and later British Empire in continental North America in the 17th and 18th centuries. Formally, the British Colonies in North America were known as British America[1] and the British West Indies until 1776, when the Thirteen British Colonies located along the Atlantic seaboard declared their independence and formed the United States of America. After that, British North America (or, simply but not inclusively, Canada) were used to describe the remainder of Britain's continental North American possessions. The term "British North America" was first used informally in 1783, 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 which ended Britain's involvement in the Seven Years' War. At the start of the American War of Independence in 1775, the British Empire included 20 colonies north and east of New Spain (Present day areas of Mexico and the Western United States). East Florida and West Florida were ceded to Spain in the Treaty of Paris (1783) which ended the American Revolution, and then ceded by Spain to the United States in 1819. All but one of the remaining colonies of British North America apart from the British West Indies united together from 1867 to 1873 forming the Dominion of Canada. Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949.
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List of colonies in 1775 [edit]
There were twenty British colonies in North America in 1775.[2] These were:
1) The Thirteen Colonies that eventually formed the original states of the United States of America:
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- Province of Massachusetts Bay
- Province of New Hampshire
- Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations – founded in 1636 as a sanctuary for religious freedom by Baptists expelled from Massachusetts Bay by the Puritans and formally authorized by charter of King Charles II on July 8, 1663.[3][4]
- Connecticut Colony
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- Southern Colonies
- (Virginia and Maryland may also be grouped as the Chesapeake Colonies)
2) Other British colonies and territories (ruled by Britain since 1763) that were later ceded by Britain to Spain in 1783; these eventually became part of the United States of America:
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- Province of East Florida
- Province of West Florida
- Indian Reserve
3) British colonies and territories that would eventually become part of Canada:
List of colonies in 1783 [edit]
The colonies remaining under British rule after 1783:
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- Province of Quebec (the southwest portion was lost to the newly created United States)
- Colony of Newfoundland
- Province of Nova Scotia
- Province of New Brunswick
- Island of St. John
- Rupert's Land
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- Divisions of the Colony of the Leeward Islands
- Saint Christopher (de facto Capital)
- Antigua
- Barbuda
- British Virgin Islands
- Montserrat
- Nevis
- Anguilla
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- Other Possessions in the British West Indies
- Colony of the Bahama Islands
- 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 [edit]
- British colonization of the Americas
- British Empire
- Evolution of the British Empire
- British North America Acts
- British North America
- British West Indies
- British overseas territories
- Former colonies and territories in Canada
Footnotes [edit]
Citations [edit]
- ^ "A Summary View of the Rights of British America – Thomas Jefferson".
- ^ "Canada and the American Revolution". Museum of the American Revolution. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
- ^ "Rhode Island Royal Charter of 1663". sos.ri.gov. Secretary of State of Rhode Island. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
- ^ "Charles II Granted Rhode Island New Charter". christianity.com. Christianity.com. 8 July 1663. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
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