The British Empire invested more resources than other European nations, such as the Spanish, Dutch, and French, in establishing thriving colonies in North America, rather than merely setting up trading posts and forts. The British were also more willing than rival nations to invest military resources into expanding and defending their American colonies.

For example, the British worked to consolidate their hold over the Eastern American seaboard by being willing to use their naval might in 1664 to sail into New Amsterdam, the capital of the Dutch Republic in what is today New York, and claim it. The Dutch gave up New Amsterdam, and three years later, the British made the strategic move of ceding the Spice Islands to the Dutch in return for the rest of the New York colony. This gave the British undisputed control of the entire East Coast from Georgia into Canada and west to the Appalachians.

The British were also willing to pour military resources into wresting the Ohio and Michigan territories from the French in the French and Indian War, allowing the British to expand westward.

These were all strengths that gave the British a large and profitable colonial empire, but a weakness was the British misunderstanding of the political temper of the colonies south of Canada. Britain tried to tighten its hold on the colonies and raise taxes just at the point they should have been giving the Americans more autonomy. This cost the British a sizable amount of territory, as the American Revolution paved the way for the establishment of the United States as a sovereign power.