British colonization of the Americas: Difference between revisions

The '''British colonization of the Americas''' is the history of establishment of control, settlement, and colonization of the continents of the Americas by [[Kingdom of England|England]], [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]], and, after 1707, [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]]. Colonization efforts began in the late 16th century with failed attempts by England to establish permanent colonies in the North. The first of the permanent [[English overseas possessions|English colonies in the Americas]] was established in [[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown]], [[Virginia]], in 1607. Approximately 30,000 [[Algonquian peoples]] lived in the region at the time. Colonies were established in North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Though most British colonies in the Americas eventually gained independence, some colonies have remained under Britain's jurisdiction as [[British Overseas Territories]].

[[File:Spanish Empire in 1598.png|thumb|upright=1.0|By the end of the 16th century, the [[Iberian Union]] of [[Spain]] and [[Portugal]] colonized a significant part of the [[Americas]], but other parts of the Americas had not yet been colonized by European powers]]

Following the first voyage of [[Christopher Columbus]] in 1492, [[Spain]] and [[Portugal]] established colonies in the [[New World]], beginning the [[European colonization of the Americas]].<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 69-70</ref>=69–70}} [[France]] and [[England]], the two other major powers of 15th-century [[Western Europe]], employed explorers soon after the return of Columbus's first voyage. In 1497, King [[Henry VII of England]] dispatched an expedition led by [[John Cabot]] to explore the coast of North America, but the lack of precious metals or other riches discouraged both the Spanish and English from permanently settling in North America during the early 17th century.<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 83-85</ref>=83–85}}

Later explorers such as [[Martin Frobisher]] and [[Henry Hudson]] sailed to the New World in search of a [[Northwest Passage]] between the Atlantic Ocean and Asia, but were unable to find a viable route.<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 121-123</ref>=121–123}} Europeans established [[Cod fishing in Newfoundland|fisheries]] in the [[Grand Banks of Newfoundland]], and traded metal, glass, and cloth for food and fur, beginning the [[North American fur trade]].<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 129-130</ref>=129–130}} During mid-1585 [[Bernard Drake]] launched an [[Newfoundland expedition (1585)|expedition to Newfoundland]] which crippled the Spanish and Portuguese fishing fleets there from which they never recovered. This would have consequences in terms of English colonial expansion and settlement.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

In the [[Caribbean Sea]], English sailors defied Spanish trade restrictions and preyed on [[Spanish treasure fleet|Spanish treasure ships]].<ref>James (1997), pp. 16–17</ref> The English colonization of America had been based on the English colonization of Ireland, specifically the Munster Plantation, England's first colony,<ref>{{Citecite journal |urllast1=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20557371Doan |jstorfirst1=20557371James E. |title="'An Island in the Virginian Sea"': Native Americans and the Irish in English Discourse, 1585-1640|last1=Doan|first1=James E.|journal=New Hibernia Review / Iris Éireannach Nua|yeardate=1997 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=79–99 |jstor=20557371 |doi=10.1353/nhr.1997.a925184 }}</ref> using the same tactics as the [[Plantations of Ireland]]. Many of the early colonists of North America had their start in colonizing Ireland, including a group known as the [[West Country Men]]. When Sir Walter Raleigh landed in Virginia, he compared the Native Americans to the wild Irish.<ref>{{Citecite news |last1=Halley |first1=Catherine |title=The Construction of America, in the Eyes of the English web|url=https://daily.jstor.org/the-construction-of-america-in-the-eyes-of-the-english/ |title work=JSTOR TheDaily Construction of America, in the Eyes of the English|date = 4 December 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.carrigdhoun.com/post/from-carrigaline-to-virginia-usa|title = From Carrigaline to Virginia, USA|date = 14 October 2020}}</ref><ref>Taylor, pp. 119,123</ref> Both Roanoke and Jamestown had been based on the Irish plantation model.<ref>{{Citecite journalthesis |lastlast1=Duff |firstfirst1=Meaghan Noelle |date=1992 |title="'This Famous Island inIn theThe Virginia Sea"': The Influence ofOf theThe Irish Tudor andAnd Stuart Plantation Experiences inIn theThe Evolution ofOf American Colonial Theory andAnd Practice |urldate=https://scholarworks.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5227&context=etd1992 |doi=10.21220/s2-kvrp-3b47 }}{{pn|websitedate=William & MaryJune ScholarWorks2024}}</ref>

In the late sixteenth century, [[Protestant]] England became embroiled in a [[Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)|religious war]] with [[Catholicism|Catholic]] Spain. Seeking to weaken Spain's economic and military power, English [[privateer]]s such as [[Francis Drake]] and [[Humphrey Gilbert]] harassed Spanish shipping.<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 98-100</ref>=98–100}} Gilbert proposed the colonization of North America on the Spanish model, with the goal of creating a profitable English empire that could also serve as a base for the privateers. After Gilbert's death, [[Walter Raleigh]] took up the cause of North American colonization, sponsoring an expedition of 500 men to [[Roanoke Island]]. In 1584, the colonists established the first permanent English colony in North America,<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 100-102</ref>=100–102}} but the colonists were poorly prepared for life in the New World, and by 1590, the colonists had disappeared.

There are a variety of theories as to what happened to the colonists there. The most popular theory is that the colonists left in search of a new area to settle in the Chesapeake, leaving stragglers to integrate with local Native American tribes.<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 103-107</ref>=103–107}} A separate colonization attempt in [[Newfoundland]] also failed.<ref>James (1997), p. 5</ref> Despite the failure of these early colonies, the English remained interested in the colonization of North America for economic and military reasons.<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |p. =112</ref>}}

In 1606, King [[James VI and I|James I of England]] granted charters to both the [[Plymouth Company]] and the [[London Company]] for the purpose of establishing permanent settlements in North America. In 1607, the London Company established a permanent colony at [[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown]] on the [[Chesapeake Bay]], but the Plymouth Company's [[Popham Colony]] proved short-lived. Approximately 30,000 Algonquian peoples lived in the region at the time.<ref>{{cite web |title=English Colonization Begins |url=https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=2&psid=3574 |website=Digital History |publisher=University of Houston}}</ref> The colonists at Jamestown faced extreme adversity, and by 1617 there were only 351 survivors out of the 1700 colonists who had been transported to Jamestown.<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 113-115</ref>=113–115}} After the Virginians discovered the profitability of growing [[tobacco]], the settlement's population boomed from 400 settlers in 1617 to 1240 settlers in 1622. The London Company was bankrupted in part due to frequent warring with nearby American Indians, leading the English [[Royal colony|crown]] to take direct control of the [[Colony of Virginia]], as Jamestown and its surrounding environs became known.<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 116-117</ref>=116–117}}

In 1609, the [[Sea Venture]], flagship of the English [[London Company]], a division of the [[Virginia Company]], bearing Admiral Sir [[George Somers]] and the new Lieutenant-Governor for Jamestown, Sir [[Thomas Gates (governor)|Thomas Gates]], was deliberately driven onto the reef off the archipelago of [[Bermuda]] to prevent its foundering during a hurricane on the 25th of July. The 150 passengers and crew built two new ships, the ''Deliverance'' and ''Patience'' and most departed Bermuda again for Jamestown on 11 May 1610. Two men remained behind, and were joined by a third after the Patience returned again, then departed for England (it had been meant to return to Jamestown after gathering more food in Bermuda), ensuring that Bermuda remained settled, and in the possession of England and the London Company from 1609 to 1612, when more settlers and the first [[Governor of Bermuda|Lieutenant-Governor]] arrived from England following the extension of the Royal Charter of the London Company to officially add Bermuda to the territory of Virginia.

Between the late 1610s and the American Revolution, the British shipped an estimated 50,000 to 120,000 convicts to their American colonies.<ref>James{{cite Daviejournal |last1=Butler, "|first1=James Davie |title=British Convicts Shipped to American Colonies," ''|journal=The American Historical Review'' (|date=1896) |volume=2# |issue=1 pp. |pages=12–33 [https://www.jstor|doi=10.org/stable2307/1833611 in JSTOR];|jstor=1833611 }}</ref><ref>Thomas Keneally, ''The Commonwealth of Thieves'', Random House Publishing, Sydney, 2005.{{pn|date=June 2024}}</ref>

Meanwhile, the [[Plymouth Council for New England]] sponsored several colonization projects, including a colony established by a group of English [[Puritans]], known today as the [[Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony)|Pilgrims]].<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 152-153</ref>=152–153}} The Puritans embraced an intensely emotional form of [[Calvinism|Calvinist]] Protestantism and sought independence from the [[Church of England]].<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 178-179</ref>=178–179}} In 1620, the ''[[Mayflower]]'' transported the Pilgrims across the Atlantic, and the Pilgrims established [[Plymouth Colony]] on [[Cape Cod]]. The Pilgrims endured an extremely hard first winter, with roughly fifty of the one hundred colonists dying. In 1621, Plymouth Colony was able to establish an alliance with the nearby [[Wampanoag]] tribe, which helped the Plymouth Colony adopt effective agricultural practices and engaged in the trade of fur and other materials.<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 153-157</ref>=153–157}} Farther north, the English also established [[Newfoundland Colony]] in 1610, which primarily focused on [[cod]] fishing.<ref>James (1997), pp. 7–8</ref>

[[File:English overseas possessions in 1700.png|thumb|upright=1.3|English overseas possessions in 1700]]

[[File:Thirteencolonies politics cropped.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Thirteen Colonies]] of North America:<br /> Dark Red = [[New England Colonies|New England colonies]].<br /> Bright Red = [[Middle Colonies|Middle Atlantic colonies]].<br /> Red-brown = [[Southern Colonies|Southern colonies]].]]

Following the success of the Jamestown and Plymouth Colonies, several more English groups established colonies in the region that became known as [[New England]]. In 1629, another group of Puritans led by [[John Winthrop]] established the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]], and by 1635 roughly ten thousand English settlers lived in the region between the [[Connecticut River]] and the [[Kennebec River]].<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 157-159</ref>=157–159}} After defeating the [[Pequot]] in the [[Pequot War]], Puritan settlers established the [[Connecticut Colony]] in the region the Pequots had formerly controlled.<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 161-167</ref>=161–167}} The [[Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations]] was founded by [[Roger Williams]], a Puritan leader who was expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony after he advocated for a formal split with the [[Church of England]].<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 196-197</ref>=196–197}} As New England was a relatively cold and infertile region, the [[New England Colonies]] relied on fishing and long-distance trade to sustain the economy.<ref name="Taylor 2016, p. 19">Taylor (2016), p. 19</ref>

In 1632, [[Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore]] founded the [[Province of Maryland]] to the north of Virginia.<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 262-263</ref>=262–263}} Maryland and Virginia became known as the [[Chesapeake Colonies]], and experienced similar immigration and economic activities.<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 203-204</ref>=203–204}} Though Baltimore and his descendants intended for the colony to be a refuge for Catholics, it attracted mostly Protestant immigrants, many of whom scorned the Calvert family's policy of religious toleration.<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 303-304</ref>=303–304}} In the mid-17th century, the Chesapeake Colonies, inspired by the success of slavery in Barbados, began the mass [[History of slavery in Virginia|importation of African slaves]]. Though many early slaves eventually gained their freedom, after 1662 Virginia adopted policies that passed [[Partus sequitur ventrem|enslaved status from mother to child]] and granted slave owners near-total domination of their human property.<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |p. =272</ref>}}

As many of the class of moneyed businessmen who were adventurers in the company were aligned to the Parliamentary cause during the [[English Civil War]], Bermuda was one of the [[English overseas possessions in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms|colonies that sided with the Crown during the war]], being the first to recognise [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] after the execution of his father. With control of their Assembly and the militia and volunteer [[coastal artillery]], the Royalist majority deposed the company-appointed Governor (by the 1630s, the company had ceased sending Governors to Bermuda and had instead appointed a succession of prominent Bermudians to the role, including religious Independent and Parliamentarian [[William Sayle]]) by force of arms and elected John Trimingham to replace him. Many of Bermuda's religious Independents, who had sided with Parliament, were forced into exile. Although some of the newer continental colonies settled largely by anti-episcopalianEpiscopalian Protestants sided with Parliament during the war, Virginia and other colonies like Bermuda supported the Crown and were subjected to the measures laid out in [[An Act for prohibiting Trade with the Barbadoes, Virginia, Bermuda and Antego]] until Parliament was able to force them to acknowledge its sovereignty.

Encouraged by the apparent weakness of Spanish rule in [[Spanish Florida|Florida]], Barbadian planter [[John Colleton]] and seven other supporters of [[Charles II of England]] established the [[Province of Carolina]] in 1663.<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 236-238</ref>=236–238}} Settlers in the Carolina Colony established two main population centers, with many Virginians settling in the north of the province and many English Barbadians settling in the southern port city of [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charles Town]].<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |p. =319</ref>}} In 1712, Carolina was divided into the crown colonies of [[Province of North Carolina|North Carolina]] and [[Province of South Carolina|South Carolina]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Hugh T. Lefler and William S. Powell |title=Colonial North Carolina: A History |url=https://archive.org/details/colonialnorthcar00hugh |url-access=registration |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons, New York |year=1973|isbn=9780684135366 |page=80}}</ref> The colonies of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina (as well as the [[Province of Georgia]], which was established in 1732) became known as the [[Southern Colonies]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Southern Colonies [ushistory.org]|url=https://www.ushistory.org/us/5.asp|access-date=2020-09-15|website=www.ushistory.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Settling the Southern Colonies {{!}} Boundless US History|url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-ushistory/chapter/settling-the-southern-colonies/|access-date=2020-09-15|website=courses.lumenlearning.com}}</ref>

After succeeding his brother in 1685, King James II and his lieutenant, [[Edmund Andros]], sought to assert the crown's authority over colonial affairs.<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 290-294</ref>=290–294}} James was deposed by the new joint monarchy of [[William III of England|William]] and [[Mary II of England|Mary]] in the [[Glorious Revolution]],<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 300-301</ref>=300–301}} but William and Mary quickly reinstated many of the James's colonial policies, including the [[Mercantilism|mercantilist]] Navigation Acts and the [[Board of Trade]].<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 310-311=310–311, 328</ref>}} The Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony and the [[Province of Maine]] were incorporated into the [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]], and New York and the Massachusetts Bay Colony were reorganized as royal colonies, with a governor appointed by the king.<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 314-315</ref>=314–315}} Maryland, which had experienced a [[Protestant Revolution (Maryland)|revolution]] against the Calvert family, also became a royal colony, though the Calverts retained much of their land and revenue in the colony.<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |p. =315</ref>}} Even those colonies that retained their charters or proprietors were forced to assent to much greater royal control than had existed before the 1690s.<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 315-316</ref>=315–316}}

Between immigration, the importation of slaves, and natural population growth, the colonial population in [[British North America]] grew immensely in the 18th century. According to historian Alan Taylor, the population of the [[Thirteen Colonies]] (the British North American colonies which would eventually form the United States) stood at 1.5 million in 1750.<ref>Taylor (2016), p. 20</ref> More than ninety percent of the colonists lived as farmers, though cities like Philadelphia, New York, and [[Boston]] flourished.<ref>Taylor (2016), p. 23</ref> With the defeat of the Dutch and the imposition of the Navigation Acts, the British colonies in North America became part of the global British trading network. The colonists traded foodstuffs, wood, tobacco, and various other resources for Asian tea, West Indian coffee, and West Indian sugar, among other items.<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 329-330</ref>=329–330}} Native Americans far from the Atlantic coast supplied the Atlantic market with beaver fur and deerskins, and sought to preserve their independence by maintaining a balance of power between the French and English.<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 332-336</ref>=332–336}} By 1770, the economic output of the Thirteen Colonies made up forty percent of the [[gross domestic product]] of the British Empire.<ref>Taylor (2016), p. 25</ref>

Prior to 1660, almost all immigrants to the English colonies of North America had migrated freely, though most paid for their passage by becoming [[indentured servant]]s.<ref>James (1997), pp. 10–11</ref> Improved economic conditions and an easing of religious persecution in Europe made it increasingly difficult to recruit labor to the colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries. Partly due to this shortage of free labor, the population of slaves in British North America grew dramatically between 1680 and 1750; the growth was driven by a mixture of forced immigration and the reproduction of slaves.<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 346-347</ref>=346–347}} In the Southern Colonies, which relied most heavily on slave labor, the slaves supported vast plantation economies lorded over by increasingly wealthy elites.<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. =346–347, 351-352</ref>351–352}} By 1775, slaves made up one-fifth of the population of the Thirteen Colonies but less than ten percent of the population of the Middle Colonies and New England Colonies.<ref>Taylor (2016), p. 21</ref> Though a smaller proportion of the English population migrated to British North America after 1700, the colonies attracted new immigrants from other European countries,<ref>Taylor (2016), pp. 18-19</ref> including Catholic settlers from [[Ireland]]<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), pp. |p=360</ref>}} and Protestant Germans.<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), pp. |p=362</ref>}} As the 18th century progressed, colonists began to settle far from the Atlantic coast. Pennsylvania, Virginia, Connecticut, and Maryland all lay claim to the land in the [[Ohio River]] valley, and the colonies engaged in a scramble to expand west.<ref>{{sfn|Richter (|2011), |pp. 373-374</ref>=373–374}}

Following the 1684 revocation of the Somers Isles Company's Royal Charter, seafaring BermudiansesBermudians established an inter-colonial trade network, with [[Charleston, South Carolina]] (settled from Bermuda in 1670 under William Sayle, and on the same latitude as Bermuda, although Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, is the nearest landfall to Bermuda) forming a continental hub for their trade (Bermuda itself produced only ships and seamen).<ref>Jarvis, Michael (2010). In the Eye of All Trade. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. pp. 386–391. {{ISBN|9780807872840}}.</ref> The widespread activities and settlement of Bermudians has resulted in [[Bermuda (disambiguation)|many localities named after Bermuda]] dotting the map of North America.

[[File:Non-Native Nations Claim over NAFTA countries 1763.png|thumb|upright=1.0|After the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, North America was dominated by the British and Spanish Empires]]

[[File:Non-Native Nations Claim over NAFTA countries 1783.png|right|thumb|upright=1.0|[[North America]] after the [[1783 Treaty of Paris]]]]

At the [[Battles of Lexington and Concord]] in April 1775, the Patriots repulsed a British force charged with seizing militia arsenals.<ref>Taylor (2016), pp. 132-133</ref> The [[Second Continental Congress]] assembled in May 1775 and sought to coordinate armed resistance to Britain. It established an impromptu government that recruited soldiers and printed its own money. Announcing a permanent break with Britain, the delegates adopted a [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] on 4&nbsp;July 1776 for the United States of America.<ref>Taylor (2016), pp. pp. 139-141, 160-161</ref> The French formed a military alliance with the United States in 1778 following the British defeat at the [[Battle of Saratoga]]. Spain joined France in order to regain Gibraltar from Britain.<ref>Taylor (2016), pp. 187-191</ref> A combined Franco-American operation trapped a British invasion army at [[Yorktown, Virginia]], forcing them to surrender in October 1781.<ref>Taylor (2016), pp. 293-295</ref> The surrender shocked Britain. The king wanted to keep fighting, but he lost control of Parliament and peace negotiations began.<ref>Taylor (2016), pp. 295-297</ref> In the 1783 [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]], Britain ceded all of its North American territory south of the [[Great Lakes]], except for the two Florida colonies, which were ceded to Spain.<ref>Taylor (2016), pp. 306-308</ref>

Following the final defeat of French Emperor [[Napoleon]] in 1815, Britain gained ownership of [[Trinidad]], Tobago, [[British Guiana]], and Saint Lucia, as well as other territories outside of the Western Hemisphere.<ref>James (1997), p. 165</ref> The [[Treaty of 1818]] with the United States set a large portion of the [[Canada–United States border]] at the [[49th parallel north|49th parallel]] and also established a joint U.S.–British occupation of [[Oregon Country]].<ref name=JMforeign>{{cite web|title=James Monroe: Foreign Affairs|url=https://millercenter.org/president/monroe/foreign-affairs|publisher=Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia|access-date=25 February 2017|date=4 October 2016}}</ref> In the 1846 [[Oregon Treaty]], the United States and Britain agreed to split Oregon Country along the 49th parallel north with the exception of [[Vancouver Island]], which was assigned in its entirety to Britain.<ref name="Noakes (2006)">{{cite news |last1=Noakes, |first1=Taylor C. "|title=Oregon Treaty". <em>The Canadian Encyclopedia<|url=https:/em>, 23 July 2021, <em>Historica Canada</em>. www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/oregon-treaty. Accessed|work=The 09Canadian JanuaryEncyclopedia 2023.}}</ref>

The British also expanded their mercantile interests in the North Pacific. Spain and Britain had become rivals in the area which came to aheada head with the [[Nootka Crisis]] in 1789. Both sides mobilised for war, and Spain counted on France for support but when France refused, Spain had to back down and capitulated to British terms leading to the [[Nootka Convention]]. The outcome of the crisis was a humiliation for Spain and a triumph for Britain, for the former had practically renounced all sovereignty on the North Pacific coast.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Blackmar |first1=Frank Wilson |title=Spanish Institutions of the Southwest Issue 10 of Johns Hopkins University studies in historical and political science |date=1891 |publisher=Hopkins Press |page=335 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F11GAAAAYAAJ}}</ref> This opened the way to British expansion in that area, and a number of expeditions took place; firstly a [[Vancouver Expedition|naval expedition]] led by [[George Vancouver]] which explored the inlets around the Pacific NorthWest, particularly around [[Vancouver Island]].<ref name= pethick0>{{cite book |last= Pethick |first= Derek |title= The Nootka Connection: Europe and the Northwest Coast 1790–1795 |url= https://archive.org/details/nootkaconnection0000peth |url-access= registration |year= 1980 |publisher= Douglas & McIntyre |location= Vancouver |isbn= 978-0-88894-279-1 |page = [https://archive.org/details/nootkaconnection0000peth/page/18 18]}}</ref> On land, expeditions took place hoping for a discovery of a practicable river route to the Pacific for the extension of the [[North American fur trade]] (the [[North West Company]]). [[Alexander Mackenzie (explorer)|Sir Alexander Mackenzie]] led the first starting out in 1792, and a year a later he became the first European to reach the Pacific overland north of the [[Rio Grande]] reaching the ocean near present-day [[Bella Coola, British Columbia|Bella Coola]]. This preceded the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]] by twelve years. Shortly thereafter, Mackenzie's companion, [[John Finlay (fur trader)|John Finlay]], founded the first permanent European settlement in [[British Columbia]], [[Fort St. John, British Columbia|Fort St. John]]. The North West Company sought further explorations firstly by [[David Thompson (explorer)|David Thompson]], starting in 1797, and later by [[Simon Fraser (explorer)|Simon Fraser]]. More expedition took place in the early 1800s and pushed into the wilderness territories of the [[Rocky Mountains]] and Interior Plateau and all the way to the [[Strait of Georgia]] on the Pacific Coast expanding [[British North America]] Westward.<ref name=innes>{{cite book|last=Innis |first=Harold A |title=The Fur Trade in Canada: An Introduction to Canadian Economic History |location=Toronto, Ontario |publisher=University of Toronto Press |orig-year=1930 |date=2001 |edition=reprint |isbn=978-0-8020-8196-4 |url={{google books|eCgps70cHV4C|plainurl=yes}}}}</ref>

[[File:Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|The [[Commonwealth of Nations]] consists of former territories of the British Empire in the Americas and elsewhere]]

Though many of the Caribbean territories of the British Empire gained independence, [[Anguilla]] and the [[Turks and Caicos Islands]] opted to revert to British rule after they had already started on the path to independence.<ref>Clegg (2005), p. 128.</ref> The [[British Virgin Islands]], Bermuda, the [[Cayman Islands]], [[Montserrat]], and the [[Falkland Islands]] also remain under the jurisdiction of Britain.<ref>James (1997), p. 622</ref> In 1982, Britain defeated [[Argentina]] in the [[Falklands War]], an undeclared war in which Argentina attempted to seize control of the Falkland Islands.<ref>James (1997), pp. 624–626</ref> In 1983, the [[British Nationality Act 1981]] renamed the existing British Coloniescolonies as "British Dependentdependent Territoriesterritories".{{efn|Schedule 6 of the [[British Nationality Act 1981]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/61/schedule/6/enacted |title=British Nationality Act 1981, Schedule 6 |access-date=18 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401094630/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1981/61/schedule/6/enacted |archive-date=1 April 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> reclassified the remaining [[Self-governing colony|self-governing colonies]] (those with their own elected legislatures and a degree of autonomy, such as Bermuda) and [[Crown colony|Crown colonies]] (those without elected legislatures, which were governed entirely by British Government-appointed Governors with advisory councils, such as Hong Kong) as "British Dependent Territories".}}

Historically, colonials shared the same citizenship (although [[Magna Carta]] had effectively created English citizenship, citizens were still termed ''subjects of the King of England'' or ''English subjects''. With the union of the Kingdomskingdoms of England and Scotland, this was replaced with ''British Subjectsubject'', which encompassed citizens throughout the sovereign territory of the British Governmentgovernment, including the colonies) as Britons. Although historically all British Subjectssubjects had the right to vote for candidates, or to themselves stand for election, to the [[House of Commons]] (providing that they were male, prior to [[women's suffrage]], and met the [[property qualification]], when it applied). The British Governmentgovernment (as with the Government of the Kingdom of England before it) has never assigned seats in the [[House of Commons]] to any colony, effectively disenfranchising colonials at the Sovereignsovereign level of their government. There has also never been Peera peer in the House of Lords representing any colony. Colonials were therefore not consulted, or required to give their consent, to a series of Actsacts that passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom between 1968 and 1982, which were to limit their rights and ultimately change their citizenship.

When several colonies were elevated before the [[Second World War]] to [[Dominiondominion]] status, collectively forming the old [[Commonwealth of Nations#Adoption and formalisation of the Commonwealth|British Commonwealth]] (as distinct from the United Kingdom and its dependent colonies), their citizens remained British Subjectssubjects, and in theory, any British Subjectsubject born anywhere in the Worldworld had the same basic right to enter, reside, and work in the United Kingdom as a British Subjectsubject born in the United Kingdom whose parents were also both British Subjectssubjects born in the United Kingdom (although many governmental policies and practices acted to thwart the free exercise of these right by various demographic groups of colonials, including [[Greek Cypriots]]).

When the Dominionsdominions and an increasing number of colonies began choosing complete independence from the United Kingdom after the Second World War, the Commonwealth was transformed into a community of independent nations, each recognising the British monarch as their own head of state (creating separate monarchies with the same person occupying all of the separate Thrones; the exception being republican India). ''British Subjectsubject'' was replaced by the [[British Nationality Act 1948]] with ''Citizencitizen of the United Kingdom and Coloniescolonies'' for the residents of the United Kingdom and its colonies, as well as the Crown Dependenciesdependencies. however, as it was desired to retain free movement for all Commonwealth Citizenscitizens throughout the Commonwealth, ''British Subjectsubject'' was retained as a blanket nationality shared by Citizenscitizens of the United Kingdom and Coloniescolonies as well as the citizens of the various other Commonwealth realms.

The inflow of [[People of colour|coloured]] people]] to the United Kingdom during the 1940s and 1950s from both remaining colonies and newly independent Commonwealth nations was responded to with a racist backlash that led to the passing of the [[Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962]], which restricted the rights of Commonwealth nationals to enter, reside and work in the United Kingdom. This Actact also allowed certain colonials (primarily ethnic- Indians in African colonies) to retain Citizenshipcitizenship of the United Kingdom and Coloniescolonies if their colonies became independent, intended as a measure to ensure these persons did not become [[Statelessness|stateless]] if they were denied the citizenship of their newly independent nation.

Many ethnic-Indians did find themselves marginalised in newly independent nations (notably [[Kenya]]) and relocated to the United Kingdom, in response to which the [[Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968]] was rapidly passed, stripping all British Subjectssubjects (including Citizenscitizens of the United Kingdom and Coloniescolonies) who were not born in the United Kingdom, and who did not have a Citizencitizen of the United Kingdom and Coloniescolonies parent born in the United Kingdom or some other qualification (such as existing residence status), of the rights to freely enter, reside and work in the United Kingdom.

This was followed by the [[Immigration Act 1971]], which effectively divided ''Citizenscitizens of the United Kingdom and Coloniescolonies'' into two types, although their citizenship remained the same: Those from the United Kingdom itself, who retained the rights of free entry, abode, and work in the United Kingdom; and those born in the colonies (or in foreign countries to British Colonialcolonial parents), from whom those rights were denied.

The [[British Nationality Act 1981]], which entered into force on 1 January 1983,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1982/933/made |title=The British Nationality Act 1981 (Commencement) Order 1982 |access-date=18 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401134239/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1982/933/made |archive-date=1 April 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> abolished ''British Subjectsubject'' status, and stripped colonials of their full British ''Citizencitizen of the United Kingdom and Coloniescolonies'', replacing it with ''British Dependentdependent Territoriesterritories Citizenshipcitizenship'', which entailed no right of abode or to work anywhere (other categories with even fewer rights were created at the same time, including [[British Overseasoverseas Citizencitizen]] for former Citizenscitizens of the United Kingdom and Coloniescolonies born in ex-colonies).

The exceptions were the [[Gibraltar]]ians (permitted to retain British Nationalitynationality in order to retain [[Citizenshipcitizenship of the European Union]]) and the [[Falkland Islands|Falkland Islanders]], who were permitted to retain the same new ''British Citizenshipcitizenship'' that became the default citizenship for those from the United Kingdom and the [[Crown Dependenciesdependencies]]. As the act was widely understood to have been passed in preparation for the 1997 handover of [[British Hong Kong|Hong Kong]] to the [[People's Republic of China]] (in order to prevent ethnic-Chinese British nationals from migrating to the United Kingdom), and given the history of neglect and racism those colonies with sizeable ''non-European'' (to use the British Governmentgovernment's parlance) populations had endured from the British Governmentgovernment since the ''end of Empire'', the application of the act only to those colonies in which the citizenship was changed to ''British Dependentdependent Territoriesterritories Citizenshipcitizenship'' has been perceived as a particularly egregious example of the racism of the British Governmentgovernment.

The stripping of birth rights from at least some of the colonial [[CUKC]]s in 1968 and 1971, and the change of their citizenships in 1983, actually violated the rights granted them by [[Royalroyal Chartercharter]]s at the founding of the colonies. [[Bermuda]] (fully ''The Somers Isles or Islands of Bermuda''), by example, had been settled by the [[London Company]] (which had been in occupation of the archipelago since the 1609 wreck of the ''[[Sea Venture]]'') in 1612, when it received its Third Royal Charter from [[James VI and I|King James I]], amending the boundaries of the [[Virginia Colony|First Colony of Virginia]] far enough across the Atlantic to include Bermuda. The citizenship rights guaranteed to settlers by King James I in the original Royalroyal Chartercharter of the 10 April 1606, thereby applied to Bermudians:

These rights were confirmed in the Royalroyal Chartercharter granted to the London Company's spin-off, the [[Somers Isles|Company of the City of London for the Plantacion of The Somers Isles]], in 1615 on Bermuda being separated from Virginia:

In regards to former CUKCs of [[Saint Helena|St. Helena]], Lord Beaumont of Whitley in the [[House of Lords]] debate on the ''British Overseas Territories Bill'' on the 10 July 2001, stated:

Some [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] backbenchers stated that it was the unpublished intention of the Conservative British Governmentgovernment to return to a single citizenship for the United Kingdom and all of the remaining territories once Hong Kong had been handed over to China. Whether this was so will never be known as by 1997 the Labour Party was in Governmentgovernment. The Labour Party had declared prior to the election that the colonies had been ill-treated by the British Nationality Act 1981, and it had made a promise to return to a single citizenship for the United Kingdom and the remaining territories part of its election manifesto. Other matters took precedence, however, and this commitment was not acted upon during Labour's first term in Governmentgovernment. The House of Lords, in which many former colonial Governorsgovernors sat, lost patience and tabled and passed its own bill, then handed it down to the House of Commons to confirm. As a result, the British Dependentdependent Territoriesterritories were renamed the [[British Overseasoverseas Territory|British Overseas Territoriesterritories]] in 2002 (the term ''dependent territory'' had caused much ire in the former colonies, such as well-heeled Bermuda that had been largely self-reliant and self-governed for nearly four centuries, as it implied not only that they were ''other than British'', but that their relationship to Britain and to ''real British people'' was both inferior and parasitic).<ref name=FAC>[[#refFAC|House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Overseas Territories Report]], pp.&nbsp;145–47</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://john-warwick.blogspot.com/2007/09/race-and-development-of-immigration.html|title=Professor John Warwick: Race and the development of Immigration policy during the 20th century|first=Professor John|last=Warwick|date=24 September 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://socialistworker.co.uk/comment/windrush-scandal-shows-how-britishness-stinks/|title=Windrush scandal shows how 'Britishness' stinks|date=1 May 2018|website=Socialist Worker}}</ref>

At the same time, although Labour had promised a return to a single citizenship for the United Kingdom, Crown dependencies, and all remaining territories, ''British Dependentdependent Territoriesterritories Citizenshipcitizenship'', renamed ''British Overseasoverseas Territoriesterritories Citizenshipcitizenship'', remained the default citizenship for the territories, other than the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar (for which ''British Citizenshipcitizenship'' is still the default citizenship). The bars to residence and work in the United Kingdom that had been raised against holders of ''British Dependentdependent Territoriesterritories Citizenshipcitizenship'' by The British Nationality Act 1981 were, however, removed, and ''British Citizenshipcitizenship'' was made attainable by simply obtaining a second British passport with the citizenship recorded as ''British Citizencitizen'' (requiring a change to passport legislation as prior to 2002, it had been illegal to possess two British Passportspassports).<ref>[https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/2001/jul/10/british-overseas-territories-bill-hl ''British Overseas Territories Bill [H.L.&#93;'']; House of Lords Debate, 10 July 2001. Volume 626, cc1014-37. UK Parliament website</ref>

Prior to 2002, all British Passportspassports obtained in a British Dependentdependent Territoryterritory were of a design modified from those issued in the United Kingdom, lacking the ''European Union'' name on the front cover, having the name of the specific territorial government noted on the front cover below "British Passportpassport", and having the request on the inside of the front cover normally issued by the Secretarysecretary of Statestate on behalf of Thethe Queen instead issued by the Governorgovernor of the territory on behalf of Thethe Queen. Although this design made it easier for United Kingdom Border Control to distinguish a colonial from a 'real' British citizen, these passports were issued within the territory to the holder of any type of British citizenship with the appropriate citizenship stamped inside. The ''normal'' British passports issued in the United Kingdom and by British consulates in Commonwealth and foreign countries were similarly issued to holders of any type of British citizenship with the appropriate citizenship, or ''citizenships'', stamped inside. From 2002, the thenceforth local governments of the British Overseasoverseas Territoriesterritories in which British Overseasoverseas Territoriesterritories Citizenshipcitizenship was the default citizenship were no longer allowed to issue or replace any British Passportpassport except the type for their own territory only with British Overseasoverseas Territoriesterritories Citizencitizen recorded inside (and a stamp from the local government showing the holder has legal status as a local (in Bermuda, by example, the stamp records "the holder is registered as a Bermudian"), as neither British Dependentdependent Territoriesterritories Citizenshipcitizenship nor British Overseasoverseas Territoriesterritories Citizenshipcitizenship actually entitles the holder to any more rights in any territory than in the United Kingdom, simply serving to enable colonials to be distinguished from ''real British people'' for the benefit of United Kingdom Border Control.

Since 2002, only the United Kingdom Government has issued ''normal'' British Passportspassports with the citizenship stamped as ''British Citizencitizen''. Since June, 2016, only the Passport Office in the United Kingdom is permitted to issue any type of British Passportpassport. Local governments of territories can still accept passport applications, but must forward them to the Passport Office. This means that the territorial pattern of British Passportpassport is no longer available, with all passports issued since then being of the standard type issued in the United Kingdom, with the appropriate type of British Citizenshipcitizenship recorded inside; a problem for Bermudians as they have always enjoyed freer entry into the United States than other British Citizenscitizens, but the United States had updated its entry requirements (prior to the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., Bermudians did not need a passport to enter the US, and Americans did not need a passport to enter Bermuda. Since then, anyone entering the US, including US citizens, must present a passport) to specify that, in order to be admitted as a Bermudian the passport must be of the territorial type specific to Bermuda, with the country code inside being that used for Bermuda as distinct from other parts of the British Realm, with the citizenship stamped as ''British Dependentdependent Territoriesterritories Citizenshipcitizenship'' or ''British Overseasoverseas Territoriesterritories Citizenshipcitizenship'', and the stamp from Bermuda Immigration showing the holder has Bermudian status. From the point of view of Bermuda Immigration, only the stamp showing the holder has Bermudian status indicates the holder is Bermudian, and that can be entered into any type of British Passportpassport with any type of British citizenship recorded, so the United States requirements are more stringent than Bermuda's, and impossible to meet with any British Passportpassport issued to a Bermudian since the end of June, 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bm.usconsulate.gov/u-s-immigration-policy-related-bermuda-passports/|title=''U.S. immigration policy related to Bermuda Passports '', website of the United States Consulate General in Bermuda}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.royalgazette.com/other/news/article/20190812/government-working-to-resolve-passport-issues/|title=Government working to resolve passport issues|first1=Tim|last1=Smith|first2=News|last2=Editor |date=12 August 2019|website=www.royalgazette.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://socialistworker.co.uk/features/a-british-passport-to-prejudice/|title=A British passport to prejudice|date=15 May 2018|website=Socialist Worker}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://newint.org/features/2018/11/12/illegitimate-children-denied-british-citizenship-%E2%80%98archaic%E2%80%99-law|title=Illegitimate children denied British citizenship by 'archaic' law|date=12 November 2018|website=New Internationalist}}</ref>

The eleven inhabited territories are self-governing to varying degrees and are reliant on the UK for [[Diplomacy|foreign relations]] and defence.<ref>[[#refFAC|House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee Overseas Territories Report, pp.&nbsp;146,153]]</ref> Most former British colonies and protectorates are among the 52 member states of the [[Commonwealth of Nations]], a non-political, [[voluntary association]] of equal members, comprising a population of around 2.2&nbsp;billion people.<ref>[http://thecommonwealth.org/about-us The Commonwealth – About Us] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927182840/http://thecommonwealth.org/about-us |date=27 September 2013 }}; Online September 2014</ref> Fifteen [[Commonwealth realm]]s, including Canada and several countries in the Caribbean, voluntarily continue to share the British monarch, [[King Charles III]], as their head of state.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/150757/head_of_the_commonwealth/|title=Head of the Commonwealth|publisher=Commonwealth Secretariat|access-date=9 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706045334/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/150757/head_of_the_commonwealth/|archive-date=6 July 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Citecite journal |urllast1=https://dxJowett |first1=A.doi J.org/10 |last2=Findlay |first2=A.1016/0143-6228%2895%2900009-S M. |last3=Li |first3=F. L. |last4=Skeldon |first4=R. |title=The British who are not British and the immigration policies that are not: Thethe case of Hong Kong |first1journal=AJ|last1=Jowett|first2=AM|last2=Findlay|first3=FLN|last3=Li|first4=R|last4=SkeldonApplied Geography (Sevenoaks, England) |date=1 July 1995|journal=Applied Geography|volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=245–265|via=ScienceDirect |doi=10.1016/0143-6228(95)00009-Ss |pmid=12291184 |bibcode=1995AppGe..15..245J }}</ref>

* {{cite book |last1=Richter |first1=Daniel K. |title=Before the Revolution : America's ancientAncient Pasts pasts|date=2011 |publisher=BelknapHarvard University Press |locationisbn=Cambridge,978-0-674-06124-8 Mass.}}

* {{cite journal |last1=Canny, |first1=Nicholas. "|title=Writing Atlantic History; or, Reconfiguring the History of Colonial British America." ''|journal=The Journal of American History'' |date=1999 |volume=86. |issue=3 (1999): |pages=1093–1114. [https://www|doi=10.jstor.org/stable2307/2568607 in|jstor=2568607 JSTOR]}}

* {{cite journal |last1=Hinderaker, |first1=Eric; |last2=Horn, |first2=Rebecca. "|title=Territorial Crossings: Histories and Historiographies of the Early Americas," ''[[|journal=The William and Mary Quarterly]]'', (|date=2010) |volume=67# |issue=3 pp |pages=395–432 [https:|doi=10.5309//wwwwillmaryquar.jstor67.org/pss/3.395 |jstor=10.5309/willmaryquar.67.3.395 in JSTOR]}}