British America
Former British territories in North America / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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British America comprised the colonial territories of the English Empire, which became the British Empire after the 1707 union of the Kingdom of England with the Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, in the Americas from 1607 to 1783. Prior to the union, this was termed English America, excepting Scotland's failed attempts to establish its own colonies. Following the union, these colonies were formally known as British America and the British West Indies before the Thirteen Colonies declared their independence in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) and formed the United States of America.[2]
British America and the British West Indies[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||
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1585–1783 | |||||||||||||||||||||
![]() British colonies in continental North America (red) and the island colonies of the British West Indies of the Caribbean Sea (pink) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Status | Colonies of England (1585–1707) Colonies of Scotland (1629–1632) Colonies of Great Britain (1707–1783) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Capital | Administered from London, England | ||||||||||||||||||||
Common languages | English (de facto official) Spoken languages: English German French Spanish Dutch Swedish Finnish Welsh Cornish Irish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic Manks Ojibwe Indigenous languages West African languages (spoken among the imported African slaves in the beginning) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Religion | Anglicanism, Protestantism, Lutheranism, Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Native American religions, Traditional African religions, Sunni Islam (practiced by some West African slaves in the beginning) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Demonym(s) | British American | ||||||||||||||||||||
Government | Constitutional monarchy | ||||||||||||||||||||
Monarch | |||||||||||||||||||||
• 1607–1625 | James VI and I (first) | ||||||||||||||||||||
• 1760–1783 | George III (last) | ||||||||||||||||||||
History | |||||||||||||||||||||
1585 | |||||||||||||||||||||
1610 | |||||||||||||||||||||
• Bermuda | 1614 | ||||||||||||||||||||
1620 | |||||||||||||||||||||
1632 | |||||||||||||||||||||
1655 | |||||||||||||||||||||
1670 | |||||||||||||||||||||
1713 | |||||||||||||||||||||
1763 | |||||||||||||||||||||
1775–1783 | |||||||||||||||||||||
1783 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Currency | Pound sterling, Spanish dollar, bills of credit, commodity money, and many local currencies | ||||||||||||||||||||
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After the American Revolution, the term British North America was used to refer to the remainder of Great Britain's possessions in North America. The term British North America was used in 1783, but it was more commonly used after the Report on the Affairs of British North America (1839), generally known as the Durham Report.