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Line 17: + + + + − ===13 American colonies===
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In the rest of the Empire Britain sent in soldiers, administrators, businessmen and missionaries on temporary duty, as in India and Africa, along with a relatively small number of permanent settlers.
In the rest of the Empire Britain sent in soldiers, administrators, businessmen and missionaries on temporary duty, as in India and Africa, along with a relatively small number of permanent settlers.
===First efforts, 1497-1640===
Portugal and Spain built the first empires, based on the wealth of Brazil and Mexico and Peru. England was allied with Portugal, but was a foe of Spain, a much larger country with a stronger navy in the century after Columbus. The English responded as predators, raiding and seizing Spanish ships, under the cover of "privateering" authorized by the government. Spain in 1588 sent a major fleet (the Armada) to conquer England, but it was destroyed by storms, and Spain lost her superiority at sea. England set out small expeditions to claim land (such as [[Newfoundland]], settled in 1610) and set up bases to raid the Spanish main. Most of the early efforts were of small scale, and failed, such as the "Lost Colony of Roanoke" (1585-87), where a hundred settlers in North Carolina simply vanished. The Scots (independently of England), attempted a vast colony in Darien, the Panama region of Central America; it was a total failure.
===13 American colonies===
The small settlement at [[Jamestown]] miraculously survived and once the value of native tobacco was appreciated it became the nucleus for the highly successful colony of [[Virginia]]. In 1619 the Virginians set up an elected legislative assembly, the house of burgesses, which is now the state legislature. It was the first distinctively American local government and became the model for other colonies. Religion motivated some 30,000 [[Puritans]], a community-oriented, modernizing group that settled Massachusetts and Connecticut in the 1630s, and created the [[Yankee]] model of being American.
The main colonies were created by the English, but one was captured. The English captured the Dutch colony of [[New Amsterdam]] in 1664 and renamed it New York; the Dutch settlers remained and the rich poltroons had huge estates along the Hudson River.
The main colonies were created by the English, but one was captured. The English captured the Dutch colony of [[New Amsterdam]] in 1664 and renamed it New York; the Dutch settlers remained and the rich poltroons had huge estates along the Hudson River.