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136-517: The Province of Pennsylvania , also known as the Pennsylvania Colony , was a British North American colony founded by William Penn , who received the land through a grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania was derived from "Penn's Woods", referring to William Penn's father Admiral Sir William Penn . The Province of Pennsylvania was one of the two major Restoration colonies . The proprietary colony's charter remained in

272-742: A Northwest Passage between the Atlantic Ocean and Asia, but were unable to find a viable route. Europeans established fisheries in the Grand Banks of Newfoundland , and traded metal, glass, and cloth for food and fur, beginning the North American fur trade . During mid-1585 Bernard Drake launched an 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. In

408-436: A freeholder . In such a case, the use of quitclaim circumvented the multistep process of the tenant having to formally give up possession to the original freeholder, merely in order to be re-granted possession by feoffment as freeholder in their own right. Quitclaim may originally have been an oral transaction, but by the thirteenth century a formal sealed document or court record had become necessary. A famous early example

544-782: A European power during the remainder of the nineteenth century, and that war did not lead to territorial changes in the Americas. However, the British Empire continued to engage in wars such as the First Opium War against China; it also put down rebellions such as the Indian Rebellion of 1857 , the Canadian Rebellions of 1837–1838 , and the Jamaican Morant Bay rebellion of 1865. A strong abolition movement had emerged in

680-664: A Puritan leader who was expelled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony after he advocated for a formal split with the Church of England . 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. In 1632, Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore founded the Province of Maryland to the north of Virginia. Maryland and Virginia became known as

816-589: A century later. Sir Walter Raleigh established the short-lived Roanoke Colony in 1585. The 1607 settlement of the Jamestown colony grew into the Colony of Virginia . Virgineola —settled unintentionally by the shipwreck of the Virginia Company's Sea Venture in 1609, and renamed The Somers Isles —is still known by its older Spanish name, Bermuda . In 1620, a group of mostly Pilgrim religious separatists established

952-742: A colony in Guiana in 1604 lasted only two years and failed in its main objective to find gold deposits. Colonies in St Lucia  (1605) and Grenada  (1609) also rapidly folded. Encouraged by the success of Virginia, in 1627 King Charles I granted a charter to the Barbados Company for the settlement of the uninhabited Caribbean island of Barbados . Early settlers failed in their attempts to cultivate tobacco, but found great success in growing sugar . The success of colonization efforts in Barbados encouraged

1088-857: A crown colony in 1752. In 1754, the Ohio Company started to build a fort at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River . A larger French force initially chased the Virginians away, but was forced to retreat after the Battle of Jumonville Glen . After reports of the battle reached the French and British capitals, the Seven Years' War broke out in 1756; the North American component of this war

1224-712: A group known as the West Country Men . When Sir Walter Raleigh landed in Virginia, he compared the Native Americans to the wild Irish. Both Roanoke and Jamestown had been based on the Irish plantation model. In the late sixteenth century, Protestant England became embroiled in a religious war with Catholic Spain. Seeking to weaken Spain's economic and military power, English privateers such as Francis Drake and Humphrey Gilbert harassed Spanish shipping. Gilbert proposed

1360-576: A 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. This opened

1496-810: A permanent break with Britain, the delegates adopted a Declaration of Independence on 4 July 1776 for the United States of America. 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. A combined Franco-American operation trapped a British invasion army at Yorktown, Virginia , forcing them to surrender in October 1781. The surrender shocked Britain. The king wanted to keep fighting, but he lost control of Parliament and peace negotiations began. In

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1632-502: A plan that would grab as much land as they could get and hired the three fastest runners in the colony to run out the purchase on a trail that had been cleared by other members of the colony beforehand. The pace was so intense that only one runner completed the "walk," covering an astonishing 70 miles (110 km). This netted the Penns 1,200,000 acres (4,900 km) of land in what is now northeastern Pennsylvania , an area roughly equivalent to

1768-421: A precise definition of the grantor's interest is unnecessary, such as where property is being transferred as a gift, to a family member, or into a business entity. For example, when a spouse is to acquire the marital home as part of a divorce settlement, the other spouse may be able to transfer their full interest quickly and inexpensively via a quitclaim deed. A quitclaim deed may also be used to transfer title of

1904-459: A property to a purchaser following a foreclosure auction. Typically such a deed will not warrant that the property title is free and clear , and it remains up to the grantee to check that the property is not subject to any legal encumbrances . Usage varies by state, and in Massachusetts quitclaim deeds include statutory warranties (similar to “special warranty deeds” in other states) and are

2040-666: A second permanent colony on the mainland, on the coast of Massachusetts. Several other English colonies were established in North America during the 17th and 18th centuries. With the authorization of a royal charter, the Hudson's Bay Company established the territory of Rupert's Land in the Hudson Bay drainage basin . The English also established or conquered several colonies in the Caribbean , including Barbados and Jamaica . England captured

2176-399: A subsequent assignment "quitclaims" the same property to the same grantee, on terms that perfect the possible defect (without conceding that the defect exists, and with no warranty that the grantor has any residual interest to transfer). The legal instrument by which the transfer is effected may be known as a quitclaim deed or a quitclaim agreement . Details of the instrument itself, and

2312-570: Is known as the French and Indian War . After the Duke of Newcastle returned to power as Prime Minister in 1757, he and his foreign minister, William Pitt , devoted unprecedented financial resources to the transoceanic conflict. The British won a series of victories after 1758, conquering much of New France by the end of 1760. Spain entered the war on France's side in 1762 and promptly lost several American territories to Britain. The 1763 Treaty of Paris ended

2448-576: Is the Quitclaim of Canterbury of 1189, by which Richard I reversed the Treaty of Falaise , transferring his claims on Scotland to William the Lion . In most arms-length real property transactions, such as a house sale, it is normal for the seller or grantor to warrant that they actually own the property or the interest in it that they are purporting to transfer. But a quitclaim deed contains no such warranty, and

2584-825: The American Revolution . At the time, the Provincial Assembly was deemed too moderate by American revolutionaries, who rejected the General Assembly's authority and held the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia , which produced the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 for the newly established commonwealth and created the new Pennsylvania General Assembly . Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, Quaker , founder of

2720-601: The American Revolution . In the 18th century, Philadelphia emerged as the second-largest city in the British Empire , after London . Following the American Revolutionary War , Philadelphia served as the nation's capital until 1800, when a new capital city in Washington, D.C. was constructed. The Province of Pennsylvania's colonial government was established in 1683, by William Penn 's Frame of Government . Penn

2856-449: The American Revolutionary War , which ended in 1783. Historians refer to the British Empire after 1783 as the "Second British Empire"; this period saw Britain increasingly focus on Asia and Africa instead of the Americas, and increasingly focus on the expansion of trade rather than territorial possessions. Nonetheless, Britain continued to colonize parts of the Americas in the 19th century, taking control of British Columbia and establishing

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2992-717: The Anglo-Spanish War . Spain acknowledged English possession of Jamaica and the Caiman Islands in the 1670 Treaty of Madrid . England captured Tortola from the Dutch in 1670, and subsequently took possession of the nearby islands of Anegada and Virgin Gorda ; these islands would later form the British Virgin Islands . During the 17th century, the sugar colonies adopted the system of sugar plantations successfully used by

3128-633: The Caribbean Sea , English sailors defied Spanish trade restrictions and preyed on Spanish treasure ships . The English colonization of America had been based on the English colonization of Ireland, specifically the Munster Plantation, England's first colony, using the same tactics as the Plantations of Ireland . Many of the early colonists of North America had their start in colonizing Ireland, including

3264-611: 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. 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. 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

3400-574: The Chesapeake Colonies , and experienced similar immigration and economic activities. 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. In the mid-17th century, the Chesapeake Colonies, inspired by the success of slavery in Barbados, began

3536-762: The Council for New England sponsored several colonization projects, including a colony established by a group of English Puritans , known today as the Pilgrims . The Puritans embraced an intensely emotional form of Calvinist Protestantism and sought independence from the Church of England . 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

3672-705: The French Revolution , a Royal Naval Dockyard was established at Bermuda in 1795, which was to alternate with Royal Naval Dockyard, Halifax (Bermuda during the summers and Halifax during the winters) as the Royal Navy headquarters and main base for the River St. Lawrence and Coast of America Station (which was to become the North America Station in 1813, the North America and Lakes of Canada Station in 1816,

3808-626: The French Revolutionary Wars and then in the Napoleonic Wars . During the wars, Britain took control of many French, Spanish, and Dutch Caribbean colonies. Tensions between Britain and the United States escalated during the Napoleonic Wars, as the United States took advantage of its neutrality to undercut the British embargo on French-controlled ports, and Britain tried to cut off that American trade with France. The Royal Navy, which

3944-474: The French and Indian War concluded, an additional treaty was made in 1768, that abided by the limits of the Royal Proclamation of 1763 . This proclamation line was not intended to be a permanent boundary between the colonists and Native American lands, but rather a temporary boundary that could be extended further west in an orderly manner but only by the royal government and not private individuals such as

4080-506: The House of Commons . As the bottom fell out of tobacco, many absentee shareholders (or Adventurers ) sold their shares to the occupying managers or tenants, with the agricultural industry quickly shifting towards family farms that grew subsistence crops instead of tobacco. Bermudians soon found they could sell their excess foodstuffs in the West Indies where colonies like Barbados grew tobacco to

4216-796: The Massachusetts Bay Colony , and by 1635 roughly ten thousand English settlers lived in the region between the Connecticut River and the Kennebec River . After defeating the Pequot in the Pequot War , Puritan settlers established the Connecticut Colony in the region the Pequots had formerly controlled. The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was founded by Roger Williams ,

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4352-612: The Nine Years' War , while the powerful Iroquois declared their neutrality. War between France and England continued in Queen Anne's War , the North American component of the larger War of the Spanish Succession . In the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht , which ended the War of Spanish Succession, the British won possession of the French territories of Newfoundland and Acadia , the latter of which

4488-457: The North America and Newfoundland Station in 1821, the North America and West Indies Station about 1820, and finally the America and West Indies Station from 1915 to 1956) before becoming the year-round headquarters and main base from about 1818. Quitclaim Commonly, quitclaims are used in situations where a grantor transfers any interest they have in property to a recipient (the grantee ) but without offering any guarantee as to

4624-411: The Northwest Territories ), British Columbia, and Prince Edward Island joined Canada by the end of 1873, but Newfoundland would not join Canada until 1949. Like other British dominions such as Australia , New Zealand , and South Africa , Canada enjoyed autonomy over its domestic affairs but recognized the British monarch as head of state and cooperated closely with Britain on defense issues. After

4760-406: The Province of Canada . Responsible government was first granted to Nova Scotia in 1848, and was soon extended to the other British North American colonies. With the passage of the British North America Act, 1867 by the British Parliament , Upper and Lower Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia were formed into the confederation of Canada . Rupert's Land (which was divided into Manitoba and

4896-509: The Royal African Company in West Africa , though others came from Madagascar . These slaves soon came to form the majority of the population in Caribbean colonies like Barbados and Jamaica, where strict slave codes were established partly to deter slave rebellions . 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

5032-424: The Royal Proclamation of 1763 banned colonization beyond the Appalachian Mountains to prevent settlers settling lands that Indians tribes were using. This proclamation impacted Pennsylvanians and Virginians the most, since they both had been racing towards the lands surrounding Fort Pitt in modern-day Pittsburgh . The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania , consisting of the Chief Justice and at least one other judge,

5168-408: The Shackamaxon Treaty was "the only treaty between Indians and Christians that was never sworn to and that was never broken." The Quakers also refused to provide any assistance to New England 's Indian wars . In 1737, the Colony exchanged a great deal of its political goodwill with the native Lenape for more land. The colonial administrators claimed that they had a deed dating to the 1680s in which

5304-422: The Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic , ensured that England and its colonies would come into conflict with the French empire of Louis XIV after 1689. Under the leadership of Samuel de Champlain , the French had established Quebec City on the St Lawrence River in 1608, and it became the center of French colony of Canada . France and England engaged in a proxy war via Native American allies during and after

5440-437: The Third Anglo-Dutch War , but surrendered its claim to the territory in the 1674 Treaty of Westminster , ending the Dutch colonial presence in North America. In 1664, the Duke of York , later known as James II of England , was granted control of the English colonies north of the Delaware River. He created the Province of New York out of the former Dutch territory and renamed New Amsterdam as New York City . He also created

5576-410: The grantee is entitled only to whatever interest the grantor actually possesses at the time. Indeed, a quitclaim deed may offer the grantee no warranty at all regarding the status of the property's title (ownership), and there may be no guarantee that the grantor owns an interest in the property at all. Because of the lack of warranty, quitclaim deeds are most often used in specific situations where

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5712-417: The "first" and "second" empires, in which Britain shifted its attention away from the Americas to Asia, the Pacific, and later Africa. Influenced by the ideas of Adam Smith , Britain also shifted away from mercantile ideals and began to prioritize the expansion of trade rather than territorial possessions. During the nineteenth century, some observers described Britain as having an "unofficial" empire based on

5848-400: The 1690s. 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. More than ninety percent of

5984-422: The 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. With their close ties of blood and trade with the continental colonies, especially Virginia and South Carolina, Bermudians leaned towards the rebels during the American War of Independence , supplying them with privateering ships and gunpowder, but

6120-426: 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. After warring throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in both Europe and the Americas, the British and French reached a lasting peace after 1815. Britain would fight only one war (the Crimean War ) against

6256-414: The 1860s or 1870s, though Newfoundland would not join Canada until 1949 . Canada gained full autonomy following the passage of the Statute of Westminster 1931 , though it retained various ties to Britain and still recognizes the British monarch as head of state . Following the onset of the Cold War , most of the remaining British colonies in the Americas gained independence between 1962 and 1983. Many of

6392-442: The Americas by England , Scotland , and, after 1707, 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 colonies in the Americas was established in Jamestown, Virginia , in 1607. Colonies were established in North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Though most British colonies in

6528-465: The Americas eventually gained independence, some colonies have remained under Britain's jurisdiction as British Overseas Territories . The first documented settlement of Europeans in the Americas was established by Norse people around 1000 AD in what is now Newfoundland , called Vinland by the Norse. Later European exploration of North America resumed with Christopher Columbus 's 1492 expedition sponsored by Spain. English settlement began almost

6664-620: 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. By 1770, the economic output of the Thirteen Colonies made up forty percent of the gross domestic product of the British Empire. 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 servants . Improved economic conditions and an easing of religious persecution in Europe made it increasingly difficult to recruit labor to

6800-414: 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. Following the 1684 revocation of the Somers Isles Company's Royal Charter, seafaring Bermudians established an inter-colonial trade network, with Charleston, South Carolina (settled from Bermuda in 1670 under William Sayle, and on

6936-461: The British Empire. Meanwhile, seeking to avoid another expensive war with Native Americans, Britain issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763 , which restricted settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains . However, it was effectively replaced five years later thanks to the Treaty of Fort Stanwix . The Thirteen Colonies became increasingly divided between Patriots , opposed to parliamentary taxation without representation, and Loyalists , who supported

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7072-437: The British were saddled with huge debts following the French and Indian War. As much of the British debt had been generated by the defense of the colonies, British leaders felt that the colonies should contribute more funds, and they began imposing taxes such as the Sugar Act of 1764. Increased British control of the Thirteen Colonies upset the colonists and upended the notion many colonists held: that they were equal partners in

7208-480: The Caribbean, Britain retained Grenada , St. Vincent , Dominica , and Tobago , but returned control of Martinique , Havana , and other colonial possessions to France or Spain. The British subjects of North America believed the unwritten British constitution protected their rights and that the governmental system—with the House of Commons , the House of Lords , and the monarch sharing power—found an ideal balance among democracy, oligarchy, and tyranny. However,

7344-406: The Commander-in-Chief in Halifax, and naval and ecclesiastic links between Bermuda the Maritimes also remained; The military links were severed by Canadian confederation at the end of the 1860s, which resulted in the removal of the British Army from Canada and its Commander-in-Chief from Halifax when the Canadian Government took responsibility for the defence of Canada; The naval links remained until

7480-401: 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. Bermudian anger at the policies of the Somers Isles Company ultimately saw them take their complaints to the Crown after The Restoration , leading to the Crown revoking the Royal Charter of

7616-418: The Delaware and other tribes that had an interest in the land in his royal grant. The initial treaties were conducted between 1682 and 1684, for tracts between New Jersey and the former Delaware Colony in present-day Delaware . The province was thus divided first into three counties, plus the three Lower counties on Delaware Bay . The easternmost, Bucks County , Philadelphia County and Chester County ,

7752-458: The Dutch colony of New Netherland in the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the mid-17th century, leaving North America divided amongst the English, Spanish , and French empires . After decades of warring with France, Britain took control of the French colony of Canada and France's territory east of the Mississippi River , as well as several Caribbean territories, in 1763. Many of the North American colonies gained independence from Britain through victory in

7888-502: The Dutch colony of New Netherland , with a capital at New Amsterdam . In 1657, New Netherland expanded through conquest of New Sweden , a Swedish colony centered in the Delaware Valley . Despite commercial success, New Netherland failed to attract the same level of settlement as the English colonies. In 1664, during a series of wars between the English and Dutch, English soldier Richard Nicolls captured New Netherland. The Dutch briefly regained control of parts of New Netherland in

8024-422: The English in the New World as Jamestown was really James Fort , a rudimentary defensive structure, in 1612). Bermuda was soon more populous, self-sufficient and prosperous than Jamestown and a second company, the Company of the City of London for the Plantacion of The Somers Isles (better known as The Somers Isles Company ) was spun-off from the London Company in 1615, and continued to administer Bermuda after

8160-419: The French and British communities, and implemented governmental systems similar to those employed in Britain, with the intention of asserting imperial authority and not allowing the sort of popular control of government that was perceived to have led to the American Revolution. The British also expanded their mercantile interests in the North Pacific. Spain and Britain had become rivals in the area which came to

8296-399: The French. In 1695, the Parliament of Scotland granted a charter to the Company of Scotland , which established a settlement in 1698 on the Isthmus of Panama . Besieged by neighbouring Spanish colonists of New Granada , and afflicted by malaria , the colony was abandoned two years later. The Darien scheme was a financial disaster for Scotland—a quarter of Scottish capital was lost in

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8432-405: The Islands of Bermuda, where the spin-off Somers Isles Company still administered, the company and its shareholders in England only earned profits from the export of tobacco, placing them increasingly at odds with Bermudians for whom tobacco had become unprofitable to cultivate. As only those landowners who could attend the company's annual meetings in England were permitted to vote on company policy,

8568-468: The Islands of Newfoundland, Cape Breton, Prince Edward and Bermuda were under the Command of Lieutenant-General Sir John Coape Sherbrooke . Below Sherbrooke, the Bermuda Garrison was under the immediate control of the Lieutenant- Governor of Bermuda , Major-General George Horsford (although the Lieutenant-Governor of Bermuda was eventually restored to a full civil Governorship, in his military role as Commander-in-Chief of Bermuda he remained subordinate to

8704-462: The Jerseys. Penn named this land the Province of Pennsylvania . Penn was also granted a lease to the Delaware Colony , which gained its own legislature in 1701. A devout Quaker , Penn sought to create a haven of religious toleration in the New World. Pennsylvania attracted Quakers and other settlers from across Europe, and the city of Philadelphia quickly emerged as a thriving port city. With its fertile and cheap land, Pennsylvania became one of

8840-412: The Lenape-Delaware had promised to sell a portion of land beginning between the junction of the Delaware River and Lehigh River in present-day Easton, Pennsylvania "as far west as a man could walk in a day and a half." The purchase became known as the Walking Purchase . Although the document was most likely a forgery, the Lenape did not realize that. Provincial Secretary James Logan set in motion

8976-427: The London Company's Royal Charter was revoked in 1624 (The Somers Isles Company's Royal Charter was similarly revoked in 1684). Bermuda pioneered tobacco cultivation as the engine for its economic growth, but as Virginia's tobacco agriculture outstripped it in the 1620s, and new colonies in the West Indies also emulated its tobacco industry, the price of Bermudian tobacco fell and the colony became unprofitable for many of

9112-423: The Massachusetts Bay Colony were reorganized as royal colonies, with a governor appointed by the king. Maryland, which had experienced a revolution against the Calvert family, also became a royal colony, though the Calverts retained much of their land and revenue in the colony. Even those colonies that retained their charters or proprietors were forced to assent to much greater royal control than had existed before

9248-437: The Native Americans were concluded. The colony's proprietors made treaties in 1718, 1732, 1737, 1749, 1754, and 1754 pushing the boundaries of the colony, which were still within the original royal grant, north and west. By the time the French and Indian War began in 1754, the Assembly had established the additional counties of Lancaster (1729), York (1749), Cumberland (1750), Berks (1752) and Northampton (1752). After

9384-532: The Penn family until they were later ousted following the American Revolution and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was established as one of the original thirteen states . The lower counties on Delaware , a separate colony within the Pennsylvania Province, broke away during the American Revolution and was established as the Delaware State and also became one of the original thirteen states. The colony attracted English Quakers , Germans , and Scot-Irish frontiersmen. The Lenape Indian tribe promoted peace with

9520-581: The Pennsylvania State House ordered a new bell which would become known as the Liberty Bell for the new bell tower being built in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia. William Penn had mandated fair dealings with Native Americans in the United States . This led to significantly better relations with the local tribes, mainly the Lenape and Susquehanna , than most other colonies had. The Quakers had previously treated Indians with respect, bought land from them voluntarily, and had even representation of Indians and whites on juries. According to Voltaire ,

9656-399: The Portuguese in Brazil , which depended on slave labour. The English government valued the economic importance of these islands over that of New England. Until the abolition of its slave trade in 1807, Britain was responsible for the transportation of 3.5 million African slaves to the Americas, a third of all slaves transported across the Atlantic . Many of the slaves were captured by

9792-594: The Proprietors. This effectively altered the original royal land grant to Penn. The next acquisitions by Pennsylvania were to take place as an independent commonwealth or state and no longer as a colony. The Assembly established additional counties from the land before the War for American Independence . These counties were Bedford (1771), Northumberland (1772) and Westmoreland (1773). William Penn and his fellow Quakers heavily imprinted their religious beliefs and values on

9928-507: The Province of Pennsylvania, and an advocate of democracy and religious freedom known for fostering peaceful and positive relations with the Lenape Indian tribe through a number of treaties. Under Penn's direction, Philadelphia was planned and developed and served as the largest city and national capital until 1800 when it was surpassed in population by New York City and a new national capital

10064-486: The Quakers. However, after William Penn and Tamanend , who both supported peaceful coexistence, died, wars eventually broke out. The Quakers demonized Lenape mythology even though the Quakers were strong proponents of religious freedom . Philadelphia , the capital of the Province of Pennsylvania, emerged as a major port and commercial city and central location for the thinking, writings, and planning that ultimately inspired

10200-692: The Royal Navy withdrew from Halifax in 1905, handing its dockyard there over to the Royal Canadian Navy ; The established Church of England in Bermuda , within which the Governor held office as Ordinary , remained linked to the colony of Newfoundland under the same Bishop until 1919). In response to the Rebellions of 1837–1838, Britain passed the Act of Union in 1840, which united Upper Canada and Lower Canada into

10336-474: The Somers Isles Company and taking over direct administration of Bermuda in 1684. From that date, Bermudians abandoned agriculture, diversifying their maritime industry to occupy many niches of inter-colonial trade between North America and the West Indies. Bermudians limited landmass and high birth rate meant that a steady outflow from the colony contributed about 10,000 settlers to other colonies, notably

10472-642: The United Kingdom in the late-eighteenth century, and Britain abolished the slave trade in 1807. In the mid-nineteenth century, the economies of the British Caribbean colonies would suffer as a result of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 , which abolished slavery throughout the British Empire, and the 1846 Sugar Duties Act , which ended preferential tariffs for sugar imports from the Caribbean. To replace

10608-655: The United States began the American War of 1812 with the invasion of the Canadas, but the British Army mounted a successful defence with minimal regular forces, supported by militia and native allies, while the Royal Navy blockaded the United States of America's Atlantic coastline from Bermuda, strangling its merchant trade, and carried out amphibious raids including the Chesapeake Campaign with its Burning of Washington . As

10744-407: The United States failed to make any gains before British victory against France in 1814 freed British forces from Europe to be wielded against it, and as Britain had no aim in its war with its former colonies other than to defend its remaining continental territory, the war ended with the pre-war boundaries reaffirmed by the 1814 Treaty of Ghent , ensuring Canada's future would be separate from that of

10880-545: The United States to Canada. The 14,000 Loyalists who went to the Saint John and Saint Croix river valleys, then part of Nova Scotia , felt too far removed from the provincial government in Halifax, so London split off New Brunswick as a separate colony in 1784. The Constitutional Act of 1791 created the provinces of Upper Canada (mainly English-speaking) and Lower Canada (mainly French-speaking ) to defuse tensions between

11016-559: The United States. 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. The Treaty of 1818 with the United States set a large portion of the Canada–United States border at the 49th parallel and also established a joint U.S.–British occupation of Oregon Country . In

11152-565: The advent of metal hulls and steam engines, were to slowly strangle Bermuda's maritime economy, while its newfound importance as a Royal Navy and British Army base from which the North America and West Indies Station could be controlled meant increasing interest from the British Government in its governance. Bermuda was grouped with British North America, especially Nova Scotia and Newfoundland (its closest British neighbours), following United States Independence. When war with France followed

11288-528: The apparent weakness of Spanish rule in Florida , Barbadian planter John Colleton and seven other supporters of Charles II of England established the Province of Carolina in 1663. 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 Charles Town . In 1712, Carolina

11424-506: The archipelago had already long been infamous as Bermuda , and the older Spanish name has resisted replacement. The Lieutenant-Governor and settlers who arrived in 1612 briefly settled on Smith's Island, where the three left behind by the Sea Venture were thriving, before moving to St. George's Island where they established the town of New London , which was soon renamed to St. George's Town (the first actual town successfully established by

11560-589: 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. In the Southern Colonies, which relied most heavily on slave labor, the slaves supported vast plantation economies lorded over by increasingly wealthy elites. By 1775, slaves made up one-fifth of

11696-520: The colonies of the Falkland Islands and British Honduras . Britain also gained control of several colonies, including Trinidad and British Guiana , following the 1815 defeat of France in the Napoleonic Wars . In the mid- 19th century , Britain began the process of granting self-government to its remaining colonies in North America. Most of these colonies joined the Confederation of Canada in

11832-499: The colonists lived as farmers, though cities like Philadelphia, New York, and Boston flourished. 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. Native Americans far from

11968-586: 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. A separate colonization attempt in Newfoundland also failed. Despite

12104-401: 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, but

12240-425: The colony grew, colonists and British military forces came into confrontation with natives in the state's Western half. Britain fought for control of the neighboring Ohio Country with France during the French and Indian War . Following the British victory, the territory was formally ceded to them in 1763, and became part of the British Empire . With the French and Indian War over and Pontiac's War just beginning,

12376-516: The company worked to suppress the developing maritime economy of the colonists and to force the production of tobacco, which required unsustainable farming practices as more was required to be produced to make up for the diminished value. 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

12512-457: The company's shareholders, who mostly had remained in England while managers or tenants farmed their land in Bermuda with the labour of indentured servants. Bermuda's House of Assembly held its first session in 1620 (Virginia's House of Burgesses having held its first session in 1619), but with no landowners resident in Bermuda there was consequently no property qualification , unlike the case with

12648-417: The continental colonies were confederated into Canada ) than to the West Indies, and the nearest landfall is North Carolina. Following the independence of the United States, this would make Bermuda of supreme importance to Britain's strategic control of the region, including its ability to protect its shipping in the area and its ability to project its power against the Atlantic seaboard of the United States, as

12784-602: The crown's authority over colonial affairs. James was deposed by the new joint monarchy of William and Mary in the Glorious Revolution , but William and Mary quickly reinstated many of the James's colonial policies, including the mercantilist Navigation Acts and the Board of Trade . The Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony and the Province of Maine were incorporated into the Province of Massachusetts Bay , and New York and

12920-657: 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. In 1815, Lieutenant-General Sir George Prevost was Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief in and over the Provinces of Upper-Canada, Lower-Canada, Nova-Scotia, and New~Brunswick, and their several Dependencies, Vice-Admiral of

13056-547: The early Pennsylvanian government. The Charter of Privileges extended religious freedom to all monotheists, and the government was initially open to all Christians. Until the French and Indian War , Pennsylvania had no military, few taxes, and no public debt. It also encouraged the rapid growth of Philadelphia into America's most important city and of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country hinterlands, where German (or "Deutsch") religions and political refugees prospered on

13192-504: The enterprise—and ended Scottish hopes of establishing its own overseas empire. The episode also had major political consequences, persuading the governments of both England and Scotland of the merits of a union of countries, rather than just crowns. This occurred in 1707 with the Treaty of Union , establishing the Kingdom of Great Britain . After succeeding his brother in 1685, King James II and his lieutenant, Edmund Andros , sought to assert

13328-586: The establishment of more Caribbean colonies, and by 1660 England had established Caribbean sugar colonies in St. Kitts , Antigua , Nevis , and Montserrat , English colonization of the Bahamas began in 1648 after a Puritan group known as the Eleutheran Adventurers established a colony on the island of Eleuthera . England established another sugar colony in 1655 following the successful invasion of Jamaica during

13464-525: The exclusion of subsistence crops. As the company's magazine ship would not carry their food exports to the West Indies, Bermudians began to build their own ships from Bermuda cedar , developing the speedy and nimble Bermuda sloop and the Bermuda rig . Between the late 1610s and the American Revolution, the British shipped an estimated 50,000 to 120,000 convicts to their American colonies. Meanwhile,

13600-463: The export of goods and financial investments around the world, including the newly independent republics of Latin America. Though this unofficial empire did not require direct British political control, it often involved the use of gunboat diplomacy and military intervention to protect British investments and ensure the free flow of trade. From 1793 to 1815, Britain was almost constantly at war, first in

13736-422: The extent of that interest. There may even be no guarantee that the grantor owns the property or has any legal interest in it whatsoever. Specific situations where a precise definition of the grantor's interest (if any) may be unnecessary include property transferred as a gift, to a family member, or into a business entity. Another typical use is where there was a previous assignment that is under some question, and

13872-571: The failure of these early colonies, the English remained interested in the colonization of North America for economic and military reasons. In 1606, King 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 on

14008-870: The fertile soil and spirit of cultural creativeness. Among the first groups were the Mennonites , who founded Germantown in 1683; and the Amish , who established the Northkill Amish Settlement in 1740. 1751 was an auspicious year for the colony. Pennsylvania Hospital , the first hospital in the British American colonies, and The Academy and College of Philadelphia , the predecessor to the private University of Pennsylvania , both opened. Benjamin Franklin founded both of these institutions and Philadelphia's Union Fire Company fifteen years earlier in 1736. Likewise in 1751,

14144-760: 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 . This preceded the Lewis and Clark Expedition by twelve years. Shortly thereafter, Mackenzie's companion, John Finlay , founded the first permanent European settlement in British Columbia , Fort St. John . The North West Company sought further explorations firstly by David Thompson , starting in 1797, and later by Simon Fraser . More expedition took place in

14280-609: The former British colonies are part of the Commonwealth of Nations , a political association chiefly consisting of former colonies of the British Empire. 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 . France and England , the two other major powers of 15th-century Western Europe , employed explorers soon after

14416-873: The king. In the British colonies nearest to the Thirteen Colonies, however, protests were muted, as most colonists accepted the new taxes. These provinces had smaller populations, were largely dependent on the British military, and had less of a tradition of self-rule. At the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775, the Patriots repulsed a British force charged with seizing militia arsenals. 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

14552-537: The labor of former slaves, British plantations on Trinidad and other parts of the Caribbean began to hire indentured servants from India and China. Despite its defeat in the American Revolutionary War and shift towards a new form of imperialism during the nineteenth century, the British Empire retained numerous colonies in the Americas after 1783. During and after the American Revolutionary War, between 40,000 and 100,000 defeated Loyalists migrated from

14688-454: The mass importation of African slaves . Though many early slaves eventually gained their freedom, after 1662 Virginia adopted policies that passed enslaved status from mother to child and granted slave owners near-total domination of their human property. 640 miles (1,030 km) East-South-East of Cape Hatteras , in the Virginia Company's other former settlement, the Somers Isles, alias

14824-525: The most attractive destinations for immigrants in the late 17th century. New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware became known as the Middle Colonies . In 1670, Charles II incorporated by royal charter the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), granting it a monopoly on the fur trade in the area known as Rupert's Land . Forts and trading posts established by the HBC were frequently the subject of attacks by

14960-407: The norm rather than the exception. Execution of a quitclaim deed is relatively simple, and may require little more than the signature of the parties. Some states require the deed to be notarized or acknowledged before a notary. Some states permit a jurat , also known as a verification upon oath or affirmation , in which the affiant swears to the truth of the contents of the document, and signs

15096-598: 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. Farther north, the English also established Newfoundland Colony in 1610, which primarily focused on cod fishing. The Caribbean would provide some of England's most important and lucrative colonies, but not before several attempts at colonization failed. An attempt to establish

15232-529: The passage of the 1931 Statute of Westminster , Canada and other dominions were fully independent of British legislative control; they could nullify British laws and Britain could no longer pass laws for them without their consent. United States independence, and the closure of its ports to British trade, combined with growing peace in the region which reduced the risk to shipping (resulting in smaller evasive merchantmen, such as those that Bermudian shipbuilders turned out, losing favour to larger clippers ), and

15368-497: The population of the Thirteen Colonies but less than ten percent of the population of the Middle Colonies and New England Colonies. Though a smaller proportion of the English population migrated to British North America after 1700, the colonies attracted new immigrants from other European countries, including Catholic settlers from Ireland and Protestant Germans. As the 18th century progressed, colonists began to settle far from

15504-465: The possession of England and the London Company from 1609 to 1612, when more settlers and the first 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. The archipelago was officially named Virgineola , though this was soon changed to The Somers Isles , which remains an official name though

15640-604: The power of the Royal Navy on the surrounding Atlantic left no possibility of their joining the rebellion, and they eventually availed themselves of the opportunities of privateering against their former kinsmen. Although often mistaken for being in the West Indies, Bermuda is nearer to Canada (and was initially grouped within British North America , retaining close links especially with the Nova Scotia and Newfoundland until

15776-402: The provinces of West Jersey and East Jersey out of former Dutch land situated to the west of New York City, giving the territories to John Berkeley and George Carteret . East Jersey and West Jersey would later be unified as the Province of New Jersey in 1702. Charles II rewarded William Penn , the son of distinguished Admiral William Penn , with the land situated between Maryland and

15912-476: 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. Later explorers such as Martin Frobisher and Henry Hudson sailed to the New World in search of

16048-422: 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-Episcopalian Protestants sided with Parliament during the war, Virginia and other colonies like Bermuda supported

16184-442: 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). The widespread activities and settlement of Bermudians has resulted in many localities named after Bermuda dotting the map of North America. The Glorious Revolution and the succession of William III, who had long resisted French hegemony as

16320-476: The same, Lieutenant-General and Commander of all His Majesty's Forces in the said Provinces of Lower Canada and Upper-Canada, Nova-Scotia and New-Brunswick, and their several Dependencies, and in the islands of Newfoundland, Prince Edward, Cape Breton and the Bermudas, &c. &c. &c. Beneath Prevost, the staff of the British Army in the Provinces of Nova-Scotia, New-Brunswick, and their Dependencies, including

16456-481: The size of the state of Rhode Island in the purchase. The area of the purchase covers all or part of what are now Pike , Monroe , Carbon , Schuylkill , Northampton , Lehigh , and Bucks counties. The Lenape tribe fought for the next 19 years to have the treaty annulled but to no avail. The Lenape-Delaware were forced into the Shamokin and Wyoming Valleys , which were overcrowded with other displaced tribes. As

16592-569: The southern continental colonies (including Carolina Province , which was settled from Bermuda in 1670), as well as West Indian settlements, including the Providence Island colony in 1631, the Bahamas (settled by Eleutheran Adventurers , Parliament-allied Civil War exiles from Bermuda, under William Sayle in the 1640s), and the seasonal occupation of the Turks Islands from 1681. Encouraged by

16728-411: The typical circumstances of use, vary by U.S. state. The common law concept of quitclaim dates back to medieval England. Its purpose was to provide a straightforward way for a tenant or other person in actual possession of some land to acquire additional rights in it from some other person. For example, a tenant in possession might acquire a fee simple in the land from a superior landowner such as

16864-533: The war, and France surrendered almost all of the portion of New France to the east of the Mississippi River to the British. France separately ceded its lands west of the Mississippi River to Spain, and Spain ceded Florida to Britain. With the newly acquired territories, the British created the provinces of East Florida , West Florida , and Quebec , all of which were placed under military governments. In

17000-563: The way to British expansion in that area, and a number of expeditions took place; firstly a naval expedition led by George Vancouver which explored the inlets around the Pacific NorthWest, particularly around Vancouver Island . 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 ). Sir Alexander Mackenzie led

17136-405: The westernmost. The lower counties on Delaware, a separate colony within the province, constituted the same three counties that constitute the present State of Delaware : New Castle , the northernmost, Sussex , the southernmost, and Kent , which fell between New Castle and Sussex County. Their borders remain unchanged to this day. Several decades into the 18th century, additional treaties with

17272-575: Was appointed governor and a 72-member Provincial Council and larger General Assembly were responsible for governing the province. The General Assembly, also known as the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly , was the largest and most representative branch of government but had limited powers. Succeeding frames of government were produced in 1683, 1696, and 1701. The fourth frame, also known as the Charter of Privileges , remained in effect until

17408-602: Was bankrupted in part due to frequent warring with nearby American Indians, leading the English crown to take direct control of the Colony of Virginia , as Jamestown and its surrounding environs became known. 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 ,

17544-412: Was constructed in Washington, D.C. Despite having the land grant from King Charles II , Penn embarked on an effort to purchase the lands from Native Americans . The Lenape Indian tribe held much of the land near present-day Philadelphia , and they expected payment in exchange for a quitclaim to vacate the territory. Penn and his representatives ( Proprietors ) negotiated a series of treaties with

17680-675: 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

17816-626: Was desperately short of trained seamen and constantly losing deserters who sought better-paid work under less draconian discipline aboard American merchant vessels, boarded American ships to search for deserters, sometimes resulting in the Impressment of American sailors into the Royal Navy. The United States, at the same time, coveted the acquisition of Canada, which Britain could ill afford to lose as its naval and merchant fleets had been constructed largely from American timber before United States independence, and from Canadian timber thereafter. Taking advantage of Britain's absorption in its war with France,

17952-417: Was divided into the crown colonies of North Carolina and South Carolina . 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 . Beginning in 1609, Dutch traders had established fur trading posts on the Hudson River , Delaware River , and Connecticut River , ultimately creating

18088-415: Was founded by statute in 1722 (although dating back to 1684 as the Provincial Court) and sat in Philadelphia twice a year. 40°17′46″N 75°30′32″W  /  40.296°N 75.509°W  / 40.296; -75.509 British colonization of the Americas The British colonization of the Americas is the history of establishment of control, settlement, and colonization of the continents of

18224-420: Was one of the colonies that sided with the Crown during the war , being the first to recognise 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

18360-437: Was renamed Nova Scotia . In the 1730s, James Oglethorpe proposed that the area south of the Carolinas be colonized to provide a buffer against Spanish Florida, and he was part of a group of trustees that were granted temporary proprietorship over the Province of Georgia . Oglethorpe and his compatriots hoped to establish a utopian colony that banned slavery, but by 1750 the colony remained sparsely populated, and Georgia became

18496-406: Was to be shown during the American War of 1812 . Having defeated a combined Franco-Spanish naval force at the decisive 1782 Battle of the Saintes , Britain retained control of Gibraltar and all its pre-war Caribbean possessions except for Tobago. Economically, the new nation became a major trading partner of Britain. The loss of a large portion of British America defined the transition between

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