Canada and the West Indies

North of Massachusetts Bay were the colonies of Quebec, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia, all of which were acquired by Britain through wars with France. The two latter colonies became part of the British Empire in 1713 as part of the Treaty of Utrecht, while Quebec was added through the Treaty of Paris of 1764.

Lying near an unfriendly host of Spanish, French, and Dutch possessions, the British islands in the Caribbean consisted of the islands of the Leeward islands of St. Kitts (1624), Nevis (1628), and Montserrat and Antigua (1632); Barbados (1627); and Jamaica (the largest, captured from the Spanish in 1655). Together they played a key role in the development of the mainland economy, especially that of New England, and of the empire as a whole.