Great Britain: The European Power That Settled North America's East Coast

Great Britain (the United Kingdom) was the primary European nation to establish lasting settlements along the eastern seaboard of what became the United States.

Timeline of English/British Colonization

• 1607: Jamestown, Virginia—first permanent English settlement.
• 1620: Plymouth, Massachusetts—Pilgrims (Separatists).
• 1630: Massachusetts Bay Colony—Puritan Great Migration.
• 1636: Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire colonies founded.
• 1664: New Netherland (Dutch) captured, renamed New York.
• 1681: Pennsylvania chartered to William Penn.
• 1732: Georgia founded—last of the Thirteen Colonies.

Why Britain Prevailed

• Naval supremacy after 1588 (Spanish Armada).
• Joint-stock companies (Virginia Company, Massachusetts Bay Company) pooled capital.
• Religious dissenters sought freedom (Puritans, Quakers, Catholics).
• Mercantilist policy (Navigation Acts) tied colonies to British economy.
• Population pressure: British Isles' population grew 2.5× 1600–1750.

Other European Powers

Spain: Florida, Southwest, California (later). France: Quebec, Great Lakes, Mississippi Valley. Netherlands: New Netherland (brief). Sweden: New Sweden (Delaware, absorbed). But only Britain planted the contiguous coastal colonies that became the U.S.

The Thirteen Colonies' shared language, legal tradition, and political culture—rooted in British practice—laid the foundation for the United States.