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[[File:Senex, Price, and Maxwell North America 1710 UTA.jpg|thumb|A 1710 British map of [[North America]] by [[John Senex]], Charles Price, and John Maxwell]]
[[File:A view of Fort George with the city of New York, from the SW.jpg|thumb|[[Fort Amsterdam|Fort George]] and [[New York City]], {{Circa|1731}}]]
A number of English colonies were established in America between 1607 and 1670 by individuals and companies whose investors expected to reap rewards from their speculation. They were granted commercial charters by Kings [[James VI and I|James I]], [[Charles I of England|Charles I]], and [[Charles II of England|Charles II]], and by the [[Parliament of England|British Parliament]]. Later, most colonies were founded, or converted to, [[Crown colony|royal colonies]]. In 1607, the [[London Company]] (fully titled the ''Virginia Company of London'', but better known as the ''"Virginia Company"'') founded the first permanent settlement on the [[James River]] at [[Jamestown, Virginia]] upstream from [[Chesapeake Bay]]. English settlement in [[Bermuda|the Somers Isles (or Islands of Bermuda)]], 640 miles off [[Cape Hatteras]], began in 1609 with the wreck of the [[Sea Venture]], leaving the
A state department in [[London]] known as the [[Southern Department (United Kingdom)|Southern Department]] governed all the colonies beginning in 1660 along with a committee of the [[Privy Council of England|Privy Council]], called the [[Board of Trade and Plantations]]. In 1768, [[Parliament of Great Britain|Parliament]] created a specific [[Colonial Office#First Colonial Office (1768–1782)|state department]] for America, but it was disbanded in 1782 when the [[Home Office]] took responsibility for the remaining possessions of [[British North America]] in [[Eastern Canada]], [[the Floridas]], and the [[West Indies]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/colonial-office |title=Colonial Office |last=Foulds |first=Nancy Brown |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia |language=en |access-date=2018-07-07 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304103800/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/colonial-office/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
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