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The rivalry between England and France in Europe was played out in conflicts in North America, where they struggled for predominance. This was particularly true in Newfoundland, where the English colonial settlements on the eastern coasts were in close proximity to the French claims in Southern Newfoundland, which the French dubbed Plaisance.
As part of the treaty, France formally renounced its claims to all its North American lands to Britain (of which the French colony of Canada was a part), except Louisiana (which had been instead ceded to Spain), and two islands off the shores of Newfoundland (Saint-Pierre and Miquelon). [1]
Newfoundland postage stamp, featuring Sir Humphrey Gilbert. Newfoundland was the oldest English colony in North America, being claimed by John Cabot for King Henry VII, and again by Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1583. It gradually acquired European settlement; in 1825, it was formally recognised as a Crown colony by the British government.
The Newfoundland Royal Commission, chaired by Lord Amulree, recommended that Britain "assume general responsibility" for Newfoundland's finances. Newfoundland would give up self-government in favour of administration by an appointed governor and a six-member appointed Commission of Government, having both executive and legislative authority.
British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestown, Virginia, and more substantially with the founding of the Thirteen Colonies along the Atlantic coast of North America.
Nonetheless, Britain continued to colonize parts of the Americas in the 19th century, taking control of British Columbia and establishing the colonies of the Falkland Islands and British Honduras. Britain also gained control of several colonies, including Trinidad and British Guiana, following the 1815 defeat of France in the Napoleonic Wars.
The 1783 Treaty of Paris formally ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain and the United States of America, which had rebelled against British rule. The other combatant nations, France , Spain and the Dutch Republic , had separate agreements, known as the Peace of Paris (1783) .
The colony of New France was claimed in 1534 with permanent settlements beginning in 1608. France ceded nearly all its North American possessions to the Great Britain in 1763 at the Treaty of Paris after the Seven Years' War. The now British Province of Quebec was divided into Upper and Lower Canada in 1791.