British Colonization in the Seventeenth Century.

The article focuses on the seventeenth-century colonial history of the United States and other American colonies of Great Britain. It discusses the fact that privately held corporations such as the Massachusetts Bay Company, the Virginia Company, and the Royal African Company were largely responsible for organizing and paying for colonial settlements, expecting returns on investment once the colony was established and had commercial interests. Other topics considered include religious motivations for the settlements of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts; comparative European colonialism; and British colonial trade regulations.