User:Orser67/Thirteen Colonies
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The history of the Thirteen Colonies began in 1607 with the founding Jamestown. English colonization of North America continued in the following decades with the establishment of more colonies on the present-day East Coast of the United States. By 1740, there were thirteen contiguous colonies, each administered separately as part of the British Empire. The Thirteen Colonies collectively declared independence in 1776 and won British recognition of that independence with the signing of the 1783 Treaty of Paris. After gaining independence, the Thirteen Colonies became known as the United States.
North America had been inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years of prior to 1492, but European exploration of North America began after Christopher Columbus's 1492 expedition across the Atlantic Ocean. English exploration of the continent commenced shortly thereafter, and Sir Walter Raleigh established Roanoke Colony in 1585. With the settlement of Jamestown on the Chesapeake Bay in 1607, the English established their first successful, permanent colony in North America, which became known as the Colony of Virginia. In 1620, a group of Puritans established a second permanent colony on the coast of Cape Cod. The success of these colonies inspired further English colonization. The Province of Maryland was established to the north of the Virginia and the Province of Carolina was established to Virginia's south. The Puritans founded several more colonies in the region that became known as New England. In the Anglo-Dutch Wars, the English took control of New Netherland. The former territories of New Netherland became known as the Middle Colonies, consisting of New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey. King James II of England attempted to centralize control of the colonies and established the Dominion of New England, but the dominion was abolished after James II was overthrown in England's Glorious Revolution.
After the Glorious Revolution, the English continued to enforce many of their centralizing policies, including the mercantilist Navigation Acts, though the colonies nonetheless retained a large degree of independence. After the 1707 Acts of Union, the English and Scottish crowns were united, and the English colonies became part of the British Empire. The last of the Thirteen Colonies were established in the early 18th century, as Georgia was established and the Carolina was split into the North Carolina and the South Carolina. After the Glorious Revolution, English and British monarchs came into repeated conflict with France, which had established colonies to the west and north of the English domain in North America. In a series of wars, the two empires fought for control of the North American continent. In the French and Indian War, the North American component of the global Seven Years' War, the British Empire defeated France and won control of North America east of the Mississippi River.
Following the French and Indian War, the British imposed new taxes and other unpopular policies on the Thirteen Colonies, leading to dissent against British rule. The American Revolution began in 1775 when colonists and British soldiers came into conflict, and the Thirteen Colonies jointly declared their independence in 1776. The colonies established a new government under the Articles of Confederation, which provided for a loose coalition of sovereign states, and the Thirteen Colonies became known as the United States. With the aid of France and other European powers in the American Revolutionary War, the United States won independence and gained control of former British territory extending to the Mississippi River.