Britain and the colonies. Jamestown colony, the dramatic history of Virginia

During the 1760s and 1770s, relations between the Thirteen Colonies and Britain became increasingly strained, primarily because of resentment of the British Parliament's attempts to govern and tax American colonists without their consent, summarised at the time by the slogan "No taxation without representation". Disagreement over the American colonists' guaranteed Rights as Englishmen resulted in the American Revolution and the outbreak of the American War of Independence in 1775. The following year, the colonists declared the independence of the United States. With assistance from France, Spain, and the Netherlands the United States would go on to win the war in 1783.

The loss of such a large portion of British America, at the time Britain's most populous overseas possession, is seen by historians as the event defining the transition between the "first" and "second" empires, in which Britain shifted its attention away from the Americas to Asia, the Pacific and later Africa. Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, had argued that colonies were redundant, and that free trade should replace the old mercantilist policies that had characterised the first period of colonial expansion, dating back to the protectionism of Spain and Portugal. The growth of trade between the newly independent United States and Britain after 1783 seemed to confirm Smith's view that political control was not necessary for economic success. Tensions between the two nations escalated during the Napoleonic Wars, as Britain tried to cut off American trade with France, and boarded American ships to impress into the Royal Navy men of British birth. The U.S. declared war, the War of 1812, in which both sides tried to make major gains at the other's expense. Both failed and the Treaty of Ghent, ratified in 1815, kept the pre-war boundaries.

Events in America influenced British policy in Canada, where between 40,000 and 100,000 defeated Loyalists had migrated from America following independence. The 14,000 Loyalists who went to the Saint John and Saint Croix river valleys, then part of Nova Scotia, felt too far removed from the provincial government in Halifax, so London split off New Brunswick as a separate colony in 1784. The Constitutional Act of 1791 created the provinces of Upper Canada (mainly English-speaking) and Lower Canada (mainly French-speaking) to defuse tensions between the French and British communities, and implemented governmental systems similar to those employed in Britain, with the intention of asserting imperial authority and not allowing the sort of popular control of government that was perceived to have led to the American Revolution.

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Jamestown (or James Towne or Jamestowne) was a settlement located on Jamestown Island in the Virginia Colony. Founded as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607, it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States of America, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke. It was founded by the London Company (later to become the Virginia Company), headquartered in England. Jamestown was the capital of the colony for 83 years (from 1616 until 1699). The town was located in James City Shire upon its formation in 1634 as one of the original eight shires of Virginia. Within a year of Jamestown's foundation, the Virginia Company brought Polish and Dutch colonists to help improve the settlement. In 1619, the first documented Africans were brought to Jamestown, though slavery in the future United States as we know it today did not begin in Virginia until 1660.

The London Company's second settlement, Bermuda, claims to be the oldest town in the English New World, as St. George's, Bermuda was officially established (as New London) in 1612, whereas James Fort, in Virginia, was not to be converted into James towne until 1619. Further, the latter did not survive into the present day. In 1699, the capital Jamestown was relocated to Middle Plantation, about 8 miles (13 km) distant. That community, which had also become home to the new College of William and Mary in 1693, was renamed Williamsburg in 1699. Jamestown ceased to exist as a settlement after the transfer of the capital, existing today only as an archaeological site.

In modern times, Jamestown is one of three locations comprising the Historic Triangle of Colonial Virginia, along with Williamsburg and Yorktown. Jamestown offers two historic areas to visit. Historic Jamestowne, the archaeological site on Jamestown Island, is a cooperative effort by Jamestown National Historic Site, part of Colonial National Historical Park (a unit of the National Park Service), and Preservation Virginia (formerly known as the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities). The other is a living history interpretive site known as Jamestown Settlement, located 1.25 miles (2.01 km) from the original location of the colony. The latter is operated by the Jamestown Yorktown Foundation in conjunction with the Commonwealth of Virginia and was established for the sesquarcentennial —350th anniversary— celebrations of Jamestown in 1957. Nearby, the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry service provides a link across the navigable portion of the James River for vehicles and affords passengers a view of Jamestown Island from the river.

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