The colonial history of the

United States covers the

history of European settlements
from the start of colonization of
America until their incorporation
into the United States. In the
late 16th century, England,
France,
Spain
and
the
Netherlands launched major
colonization
programs
in
eastern North America, Small
early attemptssuch as the
English
Lost
Colony
of
Roanokeoften disappeared;
everywhere the death rate of
the first arrivals was very high.
Nevertheless
successful
colonies were established. European settlers came from a variety of social and religious
groups. No aristocrats settled permanently, but a number of adventurers, soldiers, farmers,
and tradesmen arrived. Diversity was an American characteristic as the Dutch of New
Netherland, the Swedes and Finns of New Sweden, the English Quakers of Pennsylvania,
the English Puritans of New England, the English settlers of Jamestown, and the "worthy
poor" of Georgia, came to the new continent and built colonies with distinctive social,
religious, political and economic styles. Non-British colonies were taken over and the
inhabitants were all assimilated, unlike in Nova Scotia, where the British expelled the French
"Acadian" inhabitants. There were no major civil wars among the 13 colonies, and the two
chief armed rebellions (in Virginia in 1676 and in New York in 168991) were short-lived
failures. Wars between the French and the Britishthe French and Indian Wars and Father
Rale's Warwere recurrent, and involved French support for Wabanaki Confederacy attacks
on the frontiers. By 1760 France was defeated and the British seized its colonies.
The four distinct regions were: New England, the Middle Colonies, the Chesapeake Bay
Colonies (Upper South) and the Lower South. Some historians add a fifth region, the
Frontier, which was never separately organized. By the time European settlers arrived
around 16001650, the majority of the Native Americans living in the eastern United States
had been decimated by new diseases, introduced to them decades before by explorers and
sailors.
Most authorities believe that the Western hemisphere was populated at the end of the last
ice age when a lowered ocean level exposed a land bridge that Asian peoples traversed to
North America.
Later, the arriving European settlers discovered the existence of extensive civilizations. In
the southern reaches of North America (present-day Mexico and Central America) the
Mayan civilization built sophisticated stone structures, developed an advanced numerical
system and maintained extensive agricultural complexes. The Aztecs established a farreaching empire that controlled much of present-day Mexico.
In the northern portions of North America the early native peoples are commonly divided
into the following regional groups:

The Eastern Woodland culture was located in the drainage area of the Mississippi River
east to the Atlantic Ocean and south from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. Various
groups of mound builders existed in this region.
The Plains culture existed on the open expanses of present-day Canada and the United
States.
The Southwest culture occupied areas in present-day northern Mexico and the
southwestern United States. Notable within this grouping were the Pueblo societies in
present-day New Mexico and Arizona.
The Far West culture ranged from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean.
The Northwest culture inhabited the coastal regions of the northwestern United States and
western Canada
The Subarctic culture stretched across Canada north of the Great Lakes and south of the
Arctic tree line, and across much of Alaska.
The Arctic culture occupied the treeless expanses in the extreme northern portions of
Alaska, Canada, and Greenland
Historical evidence for early European ventures to the New World is in dispute, but it appears
that Norsemen, including Leif Eriksson , made voyages to the area toward the end of the
10th century.
Europe lacked the technological skills and motivation to immediately follow the Vikings into
the New World. Conditions changed, however, during the 1400s. Portugal emerged as the
first nation-state to engage in an organized effort to reach the lucrative Far Eastern markets
by means of an all-water route.
Next, Spanish exploration of the New World followed the voyages of Christopher Columbus,
1492-1504. Settlements were established in the hope of finding mineral wealth, converting
the native populations to Christianity, and for the thrill of a great adventure.
England and France followed Spain into the Americas in the early 17th century, later to be
joined by Holland and, briefly, Sweden.
Northern European interest in exploration was fueled by the search for a Northwest
Passage. Later, attention was turned to the establishment of permanent colonies. The
English failed in an effort at Roanoke Island in the 1580s, but succeeded at Jamestown in
1607. In 1620, a Pilgrim colony was established at Plymouth in present-day Massachusetts,
followed in 1630 by the Puritan colony of Massachusetts Bay.
The white settlements in New England sparked interaction with local Native Americans,
notably the Narragansett and the Pequot. The ultimate failure of the relationships was seen
in the Pequot War (1637) and King Philips War (1675-76).

GOALS OF COLONIZATION
Colonizers came from European kingdoms with highly developed military, naval,
governmental and entrepreneurial capabilities. The Spanish and Portuguese centuries-old
experience of conquest and colonization during the Reconquista, coupled with new oceanic
ship navigation skills, provided the tools, ability, and desire to colonize the New World.
England, France and the Netherlands started colonies in both the West Indies and North
America. They had the ability to build ocean-worthy ships, but did not have as strong a
history of colonization in foreign lands as did Portugal and Spain. However, English
entrepreneurs gave their colonies a base of merchant-based investment that needed much
less government support.

MERCANTILISM
Mercantilism was the basic policy imposed by Britain on its colonies from the 1660s.
Mercantilism meant that the government and merchants based in England became partners

with the goal of increasing political power and private wealth, to the exclusion of other
empires and even merchants based in its own colonies. The government protected its
London-based merchantsand kept others outby trade barriers, regulations, and subsidies
to domestic industries in order to maximize exports from and minimize imports to the realm.
The government had to fight smuggling, especially by American merchants, some of whose
activities (which included direct trade with the French, Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese) were
classified as such by the Navigation Acts. The goal of mercantilism was to run trade
surpluses, so that gold and silver would pour into London. The government took its share
through duties and taxes, with the remainder going to merchants in Britain. The government
spent much of its revenue on a superb Royal Navy, which not only protected the British
colonies but threatened the colonies of the other empires, and sometimes seized them. Thus
the British Navy captured New Amsterdam (New York) in 1664. The colonies were captive
markets for British industry, and the goal was to enrich the mother country.

EARLY COLONIAL FAILURES

Numerous colonies failed in the beginning of the settlement era. The colonists faced high
rates of death because of disease, starvation, inefficient resupply or wars with Native
Americans or other European powers.
Spain had numerous failed attempts, including San Miguel de Gualdape in Georgia in 1526;
Pnfilo de Narvez in Florida in 152836; Pensacola in West Florida 155961; Fort San Juan
in North Carolina 156768; and the Ajacn Mission 157071, in Virginia.
The French failed at Parris Island, South Carolina in 156263; Fort Caroline, Florida, in
156465; Saint Croix Island, Maine 1604-5; and Fort Saint Louis, Texas in 168589.
The most notable English failures were the "Lost Colony of Roanoke" (158790) in North
Carolina and Popham Colony in Maine (16078). It was at the Roanoke Colony that Virginia
Dare became the first English child born in the Americas; her fate is unknown.
COLONIAL PERIOD: The Thirteen Colonies in North America
Settlers from Europe came to America and claimed land in the 17th century. These people
mainly came from Spain, England, Holland and France. The first colony was at Jamestown
(1607). More and more settlers came and so more and more colonies arose on the North
East coast of the Atlantic.
Most land belonged to England and France. These two countries fought for control of North
America in the French and Indian war (1756 - 1773). There the English fought against France
and the Indians. The English won the war and got control of Canada and all 13 colonies.
On July 4, 1776 they proclaimed their independence as the United States of America.
The following are the 13 original colonies, plus Maine, listed alphabetically with the
generally recognized founding dates in parentheses:
Connecticut (1636)
Delaware (1638)
Georgia (1732)
Maryland (1634)
Massachusetts (1620)

New Hampshire (1630)

New Jersey (1660)
New York (1626)
North Carolina (1653)
Pennsylvania (1682)
Rhode Island (1636)
South Carolina (1670)
Virginia (1607)
On two occasions in the 17th century, efforts
were made to formulate a rudimentary union
among the New England colonies: The New
England Confederation and the Dominion of
New England .
Britain ruled her worldwide empire, including
the American colonies, under the terms of
an economic theory known as mercantilism.
It was the attempt to enforce this system
that provided fuel for the American
Revolution.
All of the colonies were to some degree
impacted in the 18th century by a Contest
for Empire, which pitted the great world
powers, France and England, against one another. The most significant North American
phase of this conflict was the French and Indian War (1754-63).
Each of the thirteen colonies developed its own system of self-government, based largely on
independent farmers who owned their own land, voted for their local and provincial
government, and served on local juries. In some of the colonies, especially Virginia, the
Carolinas and Georgia, there were also substantial populations of African slaves. Following a
series of protests over taxes in the 1760s and 1770s, these colonies united politically and
militarily in opposition to the British government and fought the American Revolutionary War,
17751783. In 1776, they declared their independence, and achieved that goal with the
signing of the Treaty of Paris (1783).
Before independence, the thirteen were among two dozen separate colonies in British
America. Those in the British West Indies, Newfoundland, the Province of Quebec, Nova
Scotia and East and West Florida remained loyal to the crown throughout the war. Although
there was a degree of sympathy with the Patriot cause in several of them, their geographical
isolation and the dominance of British naval power precluded any effective participation.

GROWTH
British colonies in North America, circa 1750. 1: Newfoundland; 2:
Nova Scotia; 3: The Thirteen Colonies; 4: Bermuda; 5: Bahamas;
6: British Honduras (was Spanish c1750: became British in 1798);
7: Jamaica; 8: British Leeward Islands
and Barbados

North American colonies 176376, illustrating and territorial claims

In 1775, the British claimed authority over the red and pink areas on
this map and Spain claimed the orange. The red area is the area of
settlement; most lived within 50 miles of the
ocean.

State land claims based on colonial charters, and later cessions to

the U.S. government, 17821802
Contemporary documents usually list the thirteen colonies of British
North America in geographical order, from the north to the south.
New England Colonies

Province of New Hampshire, later New Hampshire, a crown colony

Province of Massachusetts Bay, later Massachusetts and Maine, a crown colony
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, later Rhode Island, a crown
colony
Connecticut Colony, later Connecticut, a crown colony

Middle Colonies

Province of New York, later New York and Vermont,[2] a crown colony
Province of New Jersey, later New Jersey, a crown colony
Province of Pennsylvania, later Pennsylvania, a proprietary colony
Delaware Colony (before 1776, the Lower Counties on Delaware), later Delaware, a
proprietary colony

Southern Colonies
(Virginia and Maryland comprised the Chesapeake Colonies)

Province of Maryland, later Maryland, a proprietary colony

Colony and Dominion of Virginia, later Virginia, Kentucky, and West Virginia, a crown
colony
Province of North Carolina, later North Carolina and Tennessee, a crown colony
Province of South Carolina, later South Carolina, a crown colony
Province of Georgia, later Georgia, northern sections of Alabama and Mississippi, a
crown colony

Other divisions prior to 1730

Dominion of New England
Created in 1685 by a decree from King James II that consolidated Maine, New Hampshire,
Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Province of New
York, East Jersey, and West Jersey into a single larger colony. The experiment collapsed
after the Glorious Revolution of 168889, and the nine former colonies re-established their
separate identities in 1689.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

Settled in 1630 by Puritans from England. The colonial charter was revoked in 1684, and a
new charter establishing an enlarged Province of Massachusetts Bay was issued in 1691.
Province of Maine
Settled in 1622 (An earlier attempt to settle the Popham Colony in Sagadahoc, Maine (near
present day Phippsburg and Popham Beach State Park) in 1607 was abandoned after only
one year). The Massachusetts Bay Colony claimed the Maine territory (then limited to
present-day southernmost Maine) in the 1650s. Parts of Maine east of the Kennebec River
were also part of New York in the second half of the 17th century. These areas were formally
made part of the Province of Massachusetts Bay in the charter of 1691.
Plymouth Colony
Settled in 1620 by the Pilgrims. Plymouth was merged into the Province of Massachusetts
Bay in the charter of 1691.
Saybrook Colony
Founded in 1635 and merged with Connecticut Colony in 1644.
New Haven Colony
Settled in late 1637. New Haven was absorbed by Connecticut Colony with the issuance of
the Connecticut Charter in 1662, partly as royal punishment by King Charles II for harboring
the regicide judges who sentenced King Charles I to death.
East Jersey and West Jersey
Settled as part of New Netherland in the 1610s, New Jersey was captured (along with New
York) by English forces in 1664. New Jersey was divided into two separate colonies in 1674,
which were reunited in 1702.
Province of Carolina
Founded in 1663. Carolina colony was divided into two colonies, North Carolina and South
Carolina, in 1712. Both colonies became royal colonies in 1729.

POPULATION
(Note: the population figures are estimates by historians; they do not include the native tribes
outside the jurisdiction of the colonies; they do include
Population of American Colonies
Natives living under colonial control, as well as slaves
and indentured servants.)
Year
Population
By 1776 about 85% of the white population was of
English, Irish, Scottish or Welsh descent, with 9% of
German origin and 4% Dutch. These populations
continued to grow at a rapid rate throughout the 18th
century primarily because of high birth rates, and
relatively low death rates. Immigration was a minor
factor from 1774 to 1830. Over 90% were farmers, with
several small cities that were also seaports linking the
colonial economy to the larger British Empire.

1625

1,980

1641

50,000

1688

200,000

1702

270,000

1715

435,000

1749

1,000,000

1754

1,500,000

1765

2,200,000

1775

2,400,000

SLAVES
Slavery was legal and practiced in each of the Thirteen Colonies. In most places it involved
Slaves imported into Colonial America
Years
Number[6]
16201700
21,000
17011760
189,000
17611770
63,000
17711780
15,000
Total 287,000
house servants or farm workers. It was of economic importance in the export-oriented
tobacco plantations of Virginia and Maryland, and the rice and indigo plantations of South
Carolina. About 287,000 slaves were imported into the Thirteen Colonies, or 2% of the 12
million slaves brought across from Africa. The great majority went to sugar colonies in the
Caribbean and to Brazil, where life expectancy was short and the numbers had to be
continually replenished. Life expectancy was much higher in the U.S. Combined with a very
high birth rate, the numbers grew rapidly by excesses of births over deaths, reaching nearly 4
million by the 1860 census. From 1770 until 1860, the rate of natural growth of North
American slaves was much greater than for the population of any nation in Europe, and was
nearly twice as rapid as that of England. However, Tadman attributes this to very high birth
rates: "U.S. slaves, then, reached similar rates of natural increase to whites not because of
any special privileges but through a process of great suffering and material deprivation".

GOVERNMENT
British settlers did not come to the American colonies with the intention of creating a
democratic system, yet by doing so without a land-owning aristocracy they created a broad
electorate and a pattern of free and frequent elections that put a premium on voter
participation. The colonies offered a much broader franchise than England or indeed any
other country. White men with enough property could vote for members of the lower house of
the legislature, and in Connecticut and Rhode Island they could even vote for governor.
Legitimacy for a voter meant having an "interest" in society as the South Carolina
legislature said in 1716, "it is necessary and reasonable, that none but such persons will
have an interest in the Province should be capable to elect members of the Commons House
of Assembly." Women, children, indentured servants and slaves were subsumed under the
interest of the family head. The main legal criterion for having an "interest" was ownership of
property, which was narrowly based in Britain, and nineteen out of twenty men were
controlled politically by their landlords. London insisted on it for the colonies, telling governors
to exclude men who were not freeholders (that is, did not own land) from the ballot.
Nevertheless land was so widely owned that 50% to 80% of the white men were eligible to
vote.
The colonial political culture emphasized deference, so that local notables were the men who
ran and were chosen. But sometimes they competed with each other, and had to appeal to
the common man for votes. There were no political parties, and would-be legislators formed
ad-hoc coalitions of their families, friends, and neighbors. Outside Puritan New England,
election day brought in all the men from the countryside to the county seat to make merry,
politick, shake hands with the grandees, and meet old friends, hear the speeches and all the
while toasting, eating, treating, tippling, gaming and gambling. They voted by shouting their
choice to the clerk, as supporters cheered or booed. Candidate George Washington spent
39 for treats for his supporters. The candidates knew they had to "swill the planters with
bumbo (rum)." Elections were carnivals where all men were equal for one day and traditional
restraints relaxed.

The actual rate of voting ranged from 20% to 40% of all adult white males. The rates were
higher in Pennsylvania and New York, where long-standing factions, based on ethnic and
religious groups, mobilized supporters at a higher rate. New York and Rhode Island
developed long-lasting two-faction systems that held together for years at the colony level,
but did not reach into local affairs. The factions were based on the personalities of a few
leaders and an array of family connections, however, had little basis in policy or ideology.
Elsewhere the political scene was in a constant whirl, and based on personality rather than
long-lived factions or serious disputes on issues.
The colonies were independent of each other before 1774 as efforts led by Benjamin Franklin
to form a colonial union through the Albany Congress of 1754 had failed. The thirteen all had
well established systems of self-government and elections based on the Rights of
Englishmen, which they were determined to protect from imperial interference. The vast
majority of white men were eligible to vote.
Economic policy
The British Empire at the time operated under the mercantile system, where all trade was
concentrated inside the Empire, and trade with other empires was forbidden. The goal was to
enrich Britainits merchants and its government. Whether the policy was good for the
colonists was not an issue in London, but Americans became increasingly restive with
mercantilist policies.
Mercantilism meant that the government and the merchants became partners with the goal of
increasing political power and private wealth, to the exclusion of other empires. The
government protected its merchantsand kept others outby trade barriers, regulations,
and subsidies to domestic industries in order to maximize exports from and minimize imports
to the realm. The government had to fight smugglingwhich became a favorite American
technique in the 18th century to circumvent the restrictions on trading with the French,
Spanish or Dutch. The tactic used by mercantilism was to run trade surpluses, so that gold
and silver would pour into London. The government took its share through duties and taxes,
with the remainder going to merchants in Britain. The government spent much of its revenue
on a superb Royal Navy, which not only protected the British colonies but threatened the
colonies of the other empires, and sometimes seized them. Thus the British Navy captured
New Amsterdam (New York) in 1664. The colonies were captive markets for British industry,
and the goal was to enrich the mother country.

LEGISLATION PRIOR TO 1763

Britain implemented mercantilism by trying to block American trade with the French, Spanish
or Dutch empires using the Navigation Acts, which Americans avoided as often as they
could. The royal officials responded to smuggling with open-ended search warrants (Writs of
Assistance). In 1761, Boston lawyer James Otis argued that the writs violated the
constitutional rights of the colonists. He lost the case, but John Adams later wrote, "Then and
there the child Independence was born."
However, the colonists took pains to argue that they did not oppose British regulation of their
external trade, they only opposed legislation which was thought to impact them internally.
In 1762, Patrick Henry argued the Parson's Cause in the Colony of Virginia, where the
legislature had passed a law and it was vetoed by the king. Henry argued, "that a King, by
disallowing Acts of this salutary nature, from being the father of his people, degenerated into
a Tyrant and forfeits all right to his subjects' obedience".

Following their victory in the French and Indian War in 1763, Great Britain took control of the
French holdings in North America, outside the Caribbean. The British sought to maintain
peaceful relations with those Indian tribes that had allied with the French, and keep them
separated from the American frontiersmen. To this end, the Royal Proclamation of 1763
restricted settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains as this was designated an Indian
Reserve. Disregarding the proclamation, some groups of settlers continued to move west and
establish farms. The proclamation was soon modified and was no longer a hindrance to
settlement, but the fact that it had been promulgated without their prior consultation angered
the colonists.

COMING OF AMERICAN REVOLUTION

Beginning with the intense protests over the Stamp Act of 1765, the Americans insisted on
the principle of "no taxation without representation", representation being understood in the
context of Parliament directly levying the duty or excise tax, and thus by-passing the colonial
legislatures, which had levied taxes on the colonies in the monarch's stead prior to 1763.
They argued that, as the colonies had no representation in the British Parliament, it was a
violation of their rights as Englishmen for taxes to be imposed upon them. Those other British
colonies that had assemblies largely agreed with those in the Thirteen Colonies, but they
were thoroughly controlled by the British Empire and the Royal Navy, so protests were
hopeless.
Parliament rejected the colonial protests and asserted its authority by passing new taxes.
Trouble escalated over the tea tax, as Americans in each colony boycotted the tea and in
Boston, dumped the tea in the harbor during the Boston Tea Party in 1773. Tensions
escalated in 1774 as Parliament passed the laws known as the Intolerable Acts, which,
among other things, greatly restricted self-government in the colony of Massachusetts. In
response the colonies formed extralegal bodies of elected representatives, generally known
as Provincial Congresses. Colonists emphasized their determination by boycotting imports of
British merchandise. Later in 1774 twelve colonies sent representatives to the First
Continental Congress in Philadelphia. During the Second Continental Congress the thirteenth
colony, Georgia, sent delegates. By spring 1775 all royal officials had been expelled from all
thirteen colonies. The Continental Congress served as a de facto national government
through the war that raised an army to fight the British and named George Washington its
commander, made treaties, declared independence, and recommended that the colonies
write constitutions and become states.
Other British colonies
At the time of the war Britain had seven other colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America:
Newfoundland, Rupert's Land (the area around the Hudson Bay), Nova Scotia, Prince
Edward Island, East Florida, West Florida, and the Province of Quebec. There were other
colonies in the Americas as well, largely in the British West Indies. These colonies remained
loyal to the crown.
Newfoundland stayed loyal to Britain without question. It was exempt from the Navigation
Acts and shared none of the grievances of the continental colonies. It was tightly bound to
Britain and controlled by the Royal Navy and had no assembly that could voice grievances.
Nova Scotia had a large Yankee element that had recently arrived from New England, and
shared the sentiments of the Americans about demanding the rights of the British men. The
royal government in Halifax reluctantly allowed the Yankees of Nova Scotia a kind of

"neutrality." In any case, the island-like geography and the presence of the major British
naval base at Halifax made the thought of armed resistance impossible.
Quebec was inhabited by French Catholic settlers who came under British control in the
previous decade. The Quebec Act of 1774 gave them formal cultural autonomy within the
empire, and many priests feared the intense Protestantism in New England. The American
grievances over taxation had little relevance, and there was no assembly nor elections of any
kind that could have mobilized any grievances. Even so the Americans offered membership
in the new nation and sent a military expedition that failed to capture Canada in 1775. Most
Canadians remained neutral but some joined the American cause.
In the West Indies the elected assemblies of Jamaica, Grenada, and Barbados formally
declared their sympathies for the American cause and called for mediation, but the others
were quite loyal. Britain carefully avoided antagonizing the rich owners of sugar plantations
(many of whom lived in London); in turn the planters' greater dependence on slavery made
them recognize the need for British military protection from possible slave revolts. The
possibilities for overt action were sharply limited by the overwhelming power of Royal Navy in
the islands. During the war there was some opportunistic trading with American ships.
In Bermuda and the Bahamas local leaders were angry at the food shortages caused by
British blockade of American ports. There was increasing sympathy for the American cause,
including smuggling, and both colonies were considered "passive allies" of the United States
throughout the war. When an American naval squadron arrived in the Bahamas to seize
gunpowder, the colony gave no resistance at all.
East Florida and West Florida were territories transferred to Britain during the French and
Indian War from Spain by treaty. The few British colonists there needed protection from
attacks by Indians and Spanish privateers. After 1775, East Florida became a major base for
the British war effort in the South, especially in the invasions of Georgia and South Carolina.
However, Spain seized Pensacola in West Florida in 1781, then recovered both territories in
the Treaty of Paris that ended the war in 1783. Spain ultimately transferred the Florida
provinces to the United States in 1819.

HISTORY OF THE FLAGS OF THE UNITED STATES

HISTORICAL PROGRESSION OF DESIGNS

Since 1818, a star for each new state has been added to the flag on the Fourth of July
immediately following each state's admission. In years which multiple states were admitted,
the number of stars on the flag jumped correspondingly; the most pronounced example of
this is 1890, when five states were admitted within the span of a single year (North Dakota,
South Dakota, Montana, and Washington in November 1889 and Idaho on July 3, 1890). This
change has typically been the only change made with each revision of the flag since 1777,
with the exception of changes in 1795 and 1818, which increased the number of stripes to 15
and then returned it to 13, respectively.
As the exact pattern of stars was not specified prior to 1912, and the exact colors not
specified prior to 1934, many of the historical U.S. national flags shown below are typical
rather than official designs.

PROPOSED FUTURE DESIGNS

CABINET-LEVEL FLAGS

OTHER FEDERAL FLAGS

Many agencies, departments, and offices of the U.S. federal government have their own
flags, guidons, or standards. Following traditional American vexillology, these usually consist
of the agency's departmental seal on a blank opaque background, but not always.

STATE FLAGS
As examples, here are the six highest-rated U.S. state flags in terms of design quality,
according to a 2001 survey by the North American Vexillological Association (NAVA).