By the beginning of the 20th century, the British Empire spanned nearly a quarter of the globe. With substantial holdings on every continent on Earth, the old saying “the sun never set on the British Empire” was truer than ever.
However, this was not always the case. During the Age of Exploration, the British were an afterthought as far as colonial powers were concerned. The Spanish and Portuguese had already colonized much of South and Central America by the mid-1500s. The French were launching daring expeditions of their own. The British were falling behind, but not for long. This article explores the history of the British colonization of the Americas, a series of events that began in the 16th century and shaped much of world history in the following centuries.
State-sanctioned piracy
The early days of British colonialism in the Americas did not begin with Jamestown or Plymouth Rock, but rather with attacks on Spanish ships traveling back to Europe. The 16th century saw a sort of naval arms race between the British and Spanish, with both nations trying to build up each other’s naval forces.
England, at that time, was still quite poor and lacked the funds and desire to start its own settlements. The only type of colonial enterprise they were involved in was sending seasonal fishermen to the east coast of Canada, who, once finished, would return to England only a few months later.
Instead, it was much more practical and economical to raid the immense gold and silver brought back by the Spanish from their colonies in Latin America.
In 1572, the famous commander Sir Francis Drake was given Pasha and Swan by Queen Elizabeth I. Although small, both ships were fast and manoeuvrable, allowing Drake and his men to raid towns and shipping routes with relative ease. The Queen also granted Drake a privateering commission, which allowed him to engage in state-sanctioned piracy.
When Drake returned to England, he brought with him all the exploits of the New World. Gold, silver, coffee and sugar. The potential profit to be made in America was now self-evident, and the British aristocracy certainly took note.
The Thirteen Colonies
The English first tried their hand at permanent settlement in 1587 at Roanoke in what is now North Carolina. This colony quickly failed. When a supply ship from Britain arrived at the settlement again in 1590 to give the struggling colonists much-needed food and medicine, the sailors were met with an abandoned village.
It is still not clear what happened to these first early settlers. It is very likely that the colonist was either killed by hostile local tribes or moved further inland to look for a better place to live. Either way, the 115 people who made up the colony were never seen again.
The British would eventually find success at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. This settlement suffered greatly in its early days and would probably have been destroyed if not for the help of friendly Native American tribes. The eventual success of Jamestown would spur a flood of immigrants to North America.
By the early 1700s, some 300,000 British subjects settled on the east coast of the continent and the original Thirteen Colonies that would later go on to form the United States were established.
Canada and the Caribbean
British colonial efforts did not just move to what is now continental America. In the 1570s, the Hudson’s Bay Company was quick to see the potential in the lucrative fur trade and established a series of trading posts in what is today northern Manitoba, Quebec and Ontario. Beaver shells quickly became one of the most valuable items in North America and were a key component in popular clothing in European fashion.
Jamaica would also come into British possession after they wrestled the island away from Spanish hands in 1655. Jamaica was one of the most profitable colonies in the world at the time. Relying almost exclusively on African slave labor, Jamacia would soon be one of the world leaders in sugar and cocoa production.
The British extended their influence further around the Caribbean. Barbados, the Bahamas, Belize, Trinidad and Tobago, and British Guiana would all become their own colonial possessions and suffer under a slave-based plantation society first introduced in Jamacia.
Conflict with natives and other European powers
The colonization of the Americas was not a bloodless affair. Countless skirmishes, skirmishes, and all-out wars were fought against indigenous peoples throughout the New World. In 1675, English colonists and the Wampanoag clashed over control of what is now New England.
Both sides committed massacres and atrocities until the English were able to kill the Wampanoag leader, Metacom (King Phillip), at the Battle of Mount Hope. He was then decapitated and pulled back and quartered. His head remained displayed on a nail in the middle of Plymouth for nearly two decades. With Metacom’s death, the war was effectively over.
The British and French would also clash over colonial possessions in the Americas. Long-standing tensions in North America and Europe would boil over in the Seven Years’ War that lasted from 1756-1763. This war would ensure British dominance of North America and end French Canada.
These conflicts would spell disaster for the indigenous population. As Britain and France fought each other, various tribes were forced to choose sides in the conflict. This caused many native tribes to fight devastating wars against European armies and other tribes. This only left the indigenous tribes in a constantly weakened state and open to further invasion and colonization by European powers in later decades.
The settlement of the British Empire in America would set the template for what was to come in Africa and Asia. While the colonies in these parts of the world were certainly different from countries like Canada and the United States, the blueprint for global conquest would be forged in North America.
Today Britain does not control any of its former territories, except for a few remote islands used for naval bases. But their legacy lives on. English is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, and its cultural influence remains as high as ever.
