Is it historically correct to say that the USA once used to be a British colony?

Answer 1

yes

Answer 2

Not exactly. Only PART of the land that is now the USA was under British colonial rule-- along the Atlantic coast from Maine to Georgia (Florida was under Spanish control), though the British also claimed all the territory east of the Mississippi River.

Also, there was not "A" colony but THIRTEEN British colonies.
These now form the following 15 states (roughly, some borders changed a bit):
Maine*, New Hampshire, Vermont*
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia

*Modern day Vermont was territory claimed by New York and Massachusetts; Maine was originally part of the colony then state of Massachusetts

There were also territories to the west of these colonies (much of the land claimed BY those colonies) that the British claimed, though they were not organized into colonies (that is, they did not have charters or colonial governments). This adds about

See a map of the colonies... original states:
http://library.thinkquest.org/10966/map.shtml

For ALL the territory in the USA that was controlled or claimed by the British at the time of the Revolution see:
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MAP/TERRITORY/1775map.html

(These territories now comprise an additional eleven states of the USA, plus small parts of a couple of others. That is, the British claimed what is now about HALF the states in the USA... though nowhere near half the LAND area, since the states west of the Mississippi are much larger than the original states.)

Other parts of what is now the USA were at one time claimed by Spain, France, Mexico and Russia. For a map that shows these different "pieces", and from whom they were obtained see:
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MAP/TERRITORY/territor.html
[note: the Louisiania Purchase was from France]

Answer 3

No, because at the time of the American Revolution there were only thirteen states in the british colony. The americans then formed the empire known as the USA by taking over more land from the indigenous population by force and deceit, and by purchasing some from other colonial nations.

Answer 4

Well, the USA itself did not exist until March 4, 1789, the date of the ratification of the Constitution (or November 15, 1777 if you think that the Articles of Confederation actually formed the United States). Since the United States was formed during the revolutionary war (1775-1781), you could say that the USA used to be a British colony. But it is more accurate to say that the thirteen original states were each an individual British colony.



New England:

Province of New Hampshire, later New Hampshire
Province of Massachusetts Bay, later Massachusetts and Maine
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, later Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
Connecticut Colony, later Connecticut

Middle Colonies:
Province of New York, later New York and Vermont
Province of New Jersey, later New Jersey
Province of Pennsylvania, later Pennsylvania
Delaware Colony (before 1776, the Lower Counties on Delaware), later Delaware

Cheasapeake Colonies:
Province of Maryland, later Maryland
Colony and Dominion of Virginia, later Virginia, Kentucky and West Virginia

Southern Colonies:
Province of North Carolina, later North Carolina and Tennessee
Province of South Carolina, later South Carolina
Province of Georgia, later Georgia

Answer 5

Yes, it is historically correct to say that the United States were once a British colony. I think that by now they may be thanking their lucky stars that we decided to go for our independence.

Answer 6

It is historically correct to say that there were a number of British colonies on the American continent and that thirteen of these eventually achieved political independence through armed revolution.

Answer 7

No! You can say that England once had a group of colonies on the N. American Continent. Or, you can say that Virginia, for instance, was once a British colony. But, there simply was no such thing as the United States of America until after independence was won.

Answer 8

no only the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia were British colonies.

Answer 9

Yes. The united state was formally part of the British Empire until they rebel and finally broke free from the British. But in land wise, i would say it was divided into mainly 3 empire, the british to the east, russian to the north and spanish to the south and west

Answer 10

Not the whole USA, just the thirteen original colonies. Parts of what is now the United States were owned by France and Spain.

Answer 11

Technically, no.

The United States, as we know it today, began in 1789.

Prior to that there were 13 individual colonies (now states). Those were the British Colonies, not the United States as a whole.
They were referred to as "the colonies."