Skip to content
Curated playlist

Former British colonies and protectorates in the Americas

  • Antigua and BarbudaHurricane Irma forced nearly all of Barbuda's residents to flee in September 2017.
  • GrenadaGrenada put a nutmeg on its flag. The Caribbean island nation is nicknamed the Island of Spice.
  • Saint Kitts and NevisSaint Kitts and Nevis is the smallest sovereign state in the Western Hemisphere. Its two islands are volcanic.
  • GuadeloupeFrance once gave up its Canadian colonies to get Guadeloupe back. The sugar island was that valuable in 1763.
  • Thirteen ColoniesThe Thirteen Colonies grew from about 2 thousand people in 1625 to 2.4 million in 1775. They were British colonies strung along the Atlantic coast of North America. During the Revolutionary War of 1775-1783, they broke from the British…
  • British GuianaOnly one 1856 British Guiana stamp is known, and it sold for US$9.5 million in 2014.
  • MississippiMississippi was the fifth-wealthiest state before the Civil War. Today its per-capita income is the lowest.
  • GuyanaGuyana's economy grew 49% by 2020, after offshore oil was found in 2015.
  • BarbadosOn the 30th of November 2021, Barbados swore in its first president, Sandra Mason, at a ceremony in Bridgetown. Prince Charles, then heir to the Barbadian crown, attended at the government's invitation. With that oath, the island stopped…
  • CanadaCanada's name began as a word for a village. In 1535, locals used it to point Jacques Cartier to Stadacona.
  • British West IndiesThe West Indies Federation lasted just over four years. It aimed to win independence for the colonies as one state.
  • Trinidad and TobagoTrinidad and Tobago is the southernmost archipelagic country in the Caribbean, yet its larger island counts geologically as part of South America. Trinidad rests on that continent's shelf, and in ancient times it was physically joined to…
  • South CarolinaAbout a third of all combat in the war for independence took place in South Carolina.
  • North CarolinaNorth Carolina was the first colony to formally instruct its delegates to vote for independence.
  • United StatesThe name United States first appeared in a 1776 letter. The country it named did not yet exist.
  • Georgia (U.S. state)Joe Biden carried Georgia in 2020 by only 11,779 votes. Georgia had voted Republican six times running.
  • VirginiaVirginia's elected assembly first met in July 1619, before the Pilgrims landed.

Queue