British North America | ||||||||||||
Colonies of Great Britain (1783–1800) Colonies of the United Kingdom (1801–1907) |
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Flag of the United Kingdom (1801–1907)
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Capital | Administered from London, England | |||||||||||
Languages | English, French, Gaelic | |||||||||||
Religion | Anglicanism | |||||||||||
Political structure | Affiliated British territories | |||||||||||
Monarch | ||||||||||||
• | 1783–1820 | George III | ||||||||||
• | 1820–1830 | George IV | ||||||||||
• | 1830–1837 | William IV | ||||||||||
• | 1837–1901 | Victoria | ||||||||||
• | 1901–1907 | Edward VII | ||||||||||
History | ||||||||||||
• | Treaty of Paris | 1783 | ||||||||||
• | Treaty of 1818 | 1818 | ||||||||||
• | British North America Act | 1867 | ||||||||||
• | Rupert's Land Act | 1868 | ||||||||||
• | British Columbia Terms of Union | 1871 | ||||||||||
• | Prince Edward Island Terms of Union | 1873 | ||||||||||
• | 1907 Colonial Conference | 1907 | ||||||||||
Currency | Pound sterling, Canadian pound, Canadian dollar | |||||||||||
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Today part of | Canada |
British North America refers to the former territories of the British Empire in mainland North America. The term was first used informally in 1783, but it was uncommon before the Report on the Affairs of British North America (1839), called the Durham Report. These territories today form modern-day Canada and the Pacific Northwest of the United States.
British colonization of North America (including colonization by both the English and the Scots), began in 1607 in Jamestown, Virginia, and reached its peak when colonies had been established throughout the Americas.
In 1775, on the eve of the American Revolution, the British Empire included 20 territories in the Western Hemisphere northeast of New Spain. These colonies were:
Britain had acquired Quebec from France and East and West Florida from Spain by the Treaty of Paris (1763), which ended the Seven Years' War.
The United States of America, upon acknowledgement of their sovereignty, acquired the part of Quebec south of the Great Lakes by the Treaty of Paris (1783); at the same time Spain gained West Florida and regained East Florida.
Nova Scotia was split into modern-day Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in 1784. The part of Quebec retained after 1783 was split into the primarily French-speaking Lower Canada and the primarily English-speaking Upper Canada in 1791.