Act of 1774 gave the French settlers formal cultural autonomy within the British Empire, and many of their Catholic priests feared the intense Protestantism in New England. American grievances over taxation had little relevance, and there was no assembly nor elections of any kind that could have mobilized any grievances. In 1775, the Americans invaded Quebec to annex it by force, but were defeated by a combination of British troops and Canadien militia. Having failed to gain Quebec by military action, two years later, in 1777, the Americans offered to include Quebec in their new country, in the Articles of Confederation. Most Canadians remained neutral, but some joined the American cause. In the West Indies the elected assemblies of Jamaica, Grenada, and Barbados formally declared their sympathies for the American cause and called for mediation, but the others were quite loyal. Britain carefully avoided antagonizing the rich owners of sugar plantations (many of whom lived in London); in turn the planters' greater dependence on slavery made them recognize the need for British military protection from possible slave revolts. The possibilities for overt action were sharply limited by the overwhelming power of Royal Navy in the islands. During the war there was some opportunistic trading with American ships. In Bermuda and in the Bahamas, local leaders were angry at the food shortages caused by British blockade of American ports. There was increasing sympathy for the American cause, which extended to smuggling, and both colonies were considered "passive allies" of the United States throughout the war. When an American naval squadron arrived in the Bahamas to seize gunpowder, the colony offered no resistance at all. Spain had transferred the territories of East Florida and West Florida to Britain by the Treaty of Paris in 1763 after the French and Indian War. The few British colonists there needed protection from attacks by Indians and by Spanish privateers. After 1775 East Florida became a major base for the British war-effort in the South, especially in the invasions of Georgia and South Carolina. However, Spain seized Pensacola in West Florida in 1781, then recovered both territories in the Treaty of Paris that ended the war in 1783. Spain ultimately agreed to transfer the Florida provinces to the United States in 1819. Historiography The first British Empire centered on the Thirteen Colonies, which attracted large numbers of settlers from Britain. The "Imperial School" in the 1900–1930s