<P> During the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries , Portugal and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe , and in the process established large overseas empires . Envious of the great wealth these empires generated , England , France , and the Netherlands began to establish colonies and trade networks of their own in the Americas and Asia . A series of wars in the 17th and 18th centuries with the Netherlands and France left England and then , following union between England and Scotland in 1707 , Great Britain , the dominant colonial power in North America . It then became the dominant power in the Indian subcontinent after the East India Company 's conquest of Mughal Bengal at the Battle of Plassey in 1757 . </P>
<P> During the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries , Portugal and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe , and in the process established large overseas empires . Envious of the great wealth these empires generated , England , France , and the Netherlands began to establish colonies and trade networks of their own in the Americas and Asia . A series of wars in the 17th and 18th centuries with the Netherlands and France left England and then , following union between England and Scotland in 1707 , Great Britain , the dominant colonial power in North America . It then became the dominant power in the Indian subcontinent after the East India Company 's conquest of Mughal Bengal at the Battle of Plassey in 1757 . </P>
when did the colonies break away from england
when did the colonies break away from england
Age of Discovery
Age of Discovery