colony, any nonself-governing territory subject to the jurisdiction of a usually distant country. The term is also applied to a group of nationals who settle in a foreign country or territory but retain political or cultural connections with their parent state. Colonies in the first sense may be colonies of settlement, such as Australia and North and Latin America before they gained independence. There are also colonies of exploitation, which have dense native populations, such as post-conquest Mexico and Peru, the Belgian Congo (now Congo [Kinshasa]), or the British Indian Empire (now India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh). Colonists in a colony of exploitation consist chiefly of military and administrative officers and commercial and financial representatives. The use of slaves and forced labor has often been a feature of such colonies. In a colony of exploitation, the government tends to be highly centralized and is frequently upheld by the presence of a strong police force or army; in a colony of settlement, there is generally rapid evolution from a purely military or autocratic government to autonomy or incorporation within the parent state. Since the 18th cent., colonial problems and their resolution have played a central role in European diplomacy and international relations. Strategic considerations, diplomatic rivalries, and the search for markets all led to a dramatic growth in European colonial holdings in the 19th cent. (see colonization; imperialism). In the late 19th cent., Great Britain began granting autonomy to some of its colonies, ultimately resulting in the transformation of the British Empire into the Commonwealth of Nations. In the 20th cent., many colonial areas came under international supervision through the mandates system, or its successor, the trusteeship system (see trusteeship, territorial). The French empire was progressively dissolved, first with the creation (1946) of the French Union and then with its reorganization (1958) as the French Community. By 1990 most of the former colonies of the Western European powers had become independent nations. Those that had not were, with a few exceptions, relatively small islands or island groups; most were autonomous in internal affairs and remained colonies by choice.

Plymouth Colony, settlement made by the Pilgrims on the coast of Massachusetts in 1620.

Founding

Previous attempts at colonization in America (1606, 1607-8) by the Plymouth Company, chartered in 1606 along with the London Company (see Virginia Company), were unsuccessful and resulted in the company's inactivation for a number of years. In 1620 the Plymouth Company, reorganized as the Council for New England, secured a new charter from King James I, granting it all the territory from lat. 40° N to lat. 48° N and from sea to sea. Also in 1620 the Pilgrims, having secured a patent granting them colonization privileges in the territory of the London Company, left Leiden and proceeded to Southampton, where the Mayflower was fitting out for Virginia.

The Mayflower sailed from Plymouth, England, and in Nov., 1620, sighted the coast of Cape Cod instead of Virginia. In December, after five weeks spent in exploring the coast, the ship finally anchored in Plymouth harbor, and the Pilgrims established a settlement. As the patent from the London Company was invalid in New England, the Pilgrims drew up an agreement called the Mayflower Compact, which pledged allegiance to the English king but established a form of government by the will of the majority. Patents were obtained from the Council for New England in 1621 and in 1630, but the Mayflower Compact remained the basis of the colony's government until union with Massachusetts Bay colony in 1691.

Early Years

During the first winter of the colony, about half of the settlers died from scurvy and exposure, but none of the survivors chose to return with the Mayflower to England. A little corn was raised in 1621, and in October of that year the settlers celebrated the first Thanksgiving Day. However, the arrival of more colonists necessitated half rations, and it was several years before the threat of famine passed.

John Carver, the first governor, died in 1621. William Bradford then assumed the post and served, except for the five years he refused the position, until his death in 1657. A treaty made in 1621 with Massasoit, chief of the Wampanoag, resulted in 50 years of peace with that tribe. The Narragansett tribe farther west was hostile, but Bradford averted trouble from that quarter. In 1623, Capt. Miles Standish marched against the Native Americans to the northwest, who were accused of plotting to exterminate the colonists settled at Weymouth by Thomas Weston. The Native Americans were gradually pushed back and deprived of their lands.

A communistic system of labor, adopted for seven years, was abandoned in 1623 by Bradford because it was retarding agriculture, and land was parceled out to each family. A well-managed fur trade enabled the colony to liquidate (1627) its debt to the London merchants who had backed the venture. The colony, which developed into a quasi-theocracy, expanded slowly due to the infertility of the land and the lack of a staple moneymaking crop.

Expansion and Merger

After several years the colonists could no longer be restrained from settling on the more productive land to the north, and settlements such as Duxbury and Scituate were founded. With the growth of additional towns, a representative system was introduced in 1638, using the town as a unit of government and establishing the General Court, along with the governor and his council, as the lawmaking body. By the time the colony joined the New England Confederation in 1643, 10 towns had been established.

Plymouth suffered severely in King Philip's War (1675-76), and but for aid from the confederation might have been destroyed. The colony became part of the Dominion of New England under the governorship of Sir Edmund Andros. After the Glorious Revolution of 1688-89 in England, the territory that had been under Andros's authority was reorganized, and Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Maine were joined (1691) in the royal colony of Massachusetts.

Cape Colony: see Cape Province.

Type of settlement in British North America (1660–90). To repay political and financial debts, the British crown, beginning with Charles II, awarded supporters vast tracts of land in colonial New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the Carolinas. The proprietors were to supervise and develop the colonies, which became successful enterprises. By 1690 concern about the colonies' growing independence from control by British officials led to the end of proprietary grants.

Learn more about proprietary colony with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Distant or overseas settlement established to punish criminals with forced labour and isolation from society. Such colonies were developed mostly by the English, French, and Russians. Britain sent criminals to its American colonies until the Revolutionary War; Australia was principally a penal colony from its colonization until the mid-19th century. French Guiana, site of a French penal colony, was infamous for its inhumanity; Devil's Island was still operating during World War II. Russian penal colonies were established in Siberia under the tsars but were most widely used during the Stalin era. Notorious for their harsh punishments and underfeeding, most penal colonies have now been abolished.

Learn more about penal colony with a free trial on Britannica.com.

In zoology, a group of organisms of one species that live and interact closely with each other in an organized fashion. A colony differs from an aggregation, in which the group has no cooperative or organized function. Colonies of social insects (e.g., ants, bees) usually include castes with different responsibilities. Many birds form temporary breeding colonies, in some cases to stimulate reproductive activities, in others to make the best use of a limited breeding habitat and to coordinate efforts in protecting nests from predators. Certain mammals that live in close groups are said to be colonial, though they lack cooperative activities and each maintains a territory.

Learn more about colony with a free trial on Britannica.com.

First permanent English settlement in North America. It was founded in May 1607 on a peninsula in the James River of Virginia. Named after King James I, Jamestown began cultivating tobacco and established the continent's first representative government (1619); the colony, its leader John Smith, and the Indian Pocahontas—who, according to lore, saved Smith's life—have been the subject of numerous novels, dramas, and films, many of them highly fanciful. When nearby Williamsburg replaced it as the capital of colonial Virginia in 1699, it fell into decline. By the mid-19th century, erosion had transformed the peninsula into Jamestown Island. In 1936 the site was incorporated into the Colonial National Historical Park.

Learn more about Jamestown Colony with a free trial on Britannica.com.