colonies worked together to form the Continental Congress. The colonists fought the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) with the aid of the Kingdom of France and, to a much smaller degree, the Dutch Republic and the Kingdom of Spain. British colonies In 1606, King James I of England granted charters to both the Plymouth Company and the London Company for the purpose of establishing permanent settlements in America. The London Company established the Colony of Virginia in 1607, the first permanently settled English colony on the continent. The Plymouth Company founded the Popham Colony on the Kennebec River, but it was short-lived. The Plymouth Council for New England sponsored several colonization projects, culminating with Plymouth Colony in 1620 which was settled by English Puritan separatists, known today as the Pilgrims. The Dutch, Swedish, and French also established successful American colonies at roughly the same time as the English, but they eventually came under the English crown. The Thirteen Colonies were complete with the establishment of the Province of Georgia in 1732, although the term "Thirteen Colonies" became current only in the context of the American Revolution. In London beginning in 1660, all colonies were governed through a state department known as the Southern Department, and a committee of the Privy Council called the Board of Trade and Plantations. In 1768, a specific state department was created for America, but it was disbanded in 1782 when the Home Office took responsibility. New England colonies Province of Massachusetts Bay, chartered as a royal colony in 1691 Popham Colony, established in 1607; abandoned in 1608 Plymouth Colony, established in 1620; merged with Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691 Province of Maine, patent issued in 1622 by Council for New England; patent reissued by Charles I in 1639; absorbed by Massachusetts Bay Colony by 1658 Massachusetts Bay Colony, established in 1628; merged with Plymouth Colony in 1691 Province of New Hampshire, established in 1629; merged with Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1641; chartered as royal colony in 1679 Connecticut Colony, established in 1636; chartered as royal colony in 1662 Saybrook Colony, established in 1635; merged with Connecticut Colony in 1644 New Haven Colony, established in 1638; merged with Connecticut Colony in 1664 Colony of Rhode Island chartered as royal colony in 1663 Providence Plantations established by Roger Williams in 1636 Portsmouth established in 1638 by John Clarke, William Coddington, and others Newport established in 1639 after a