Great Britain

Great Britain was formed in 1707. During that time Great Britain had the world's strongest navy and army. It also had the world's largest empire. Great Britain was formed by Scotland, England, Wales, and Ireland forming together.

British Empire
"The charge... is conspiring to set free a man convicted of crimes against the Crown and Empire and condemned to death, for which the..."

- Weatherby Swann

In 1578 Sir Humphrey Gilbert was granted a patent by Queen Elizabeth I for discovery & overseas exploration, and set sail for the West Indies with the intention of first engaging in piracy and on the return voyage, establishing a colony in North America. The expedition failed at the outset beacause of bad weather. In 1583 Gilbert embarked on a second attempt, on this occasion to the island of Newfoundland where he formally claimed for England the harbour of St. John's, though no settlers were left behind to colonise it. Gilbert did not survive the return journey to England, and was succeeded by his half-brother, Walter Raleigh, who was granted his own patent by Elizabeth in 1584, in the same year founding the colony of Roanoke on the coast of Carolina. Lack of supplies caused the colony to fail.

In 1603, King James VI of Scotland ascended to the English throne and in 1604 negotiated the Treaty of London, ending hostilities with Spain. Now at peace with its main rival, English attention shifted form preying on other nations' colonial infrastructure to the busines of establishing its own overses colonies. Althought its beginnings were hit-and-miss, the British Empire began to take shape durign the early 17th century, with the English settlement of North America and the smaller islands of the Caribbean, and the establishment of a private company, the East India Trading Company, to trade with Asia.

Appearances

 * Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides