Colony
U.S. Naturalization Test (2025 Standard) glossary · Course Foundations
Definition
A territory ruled by a distant country. America began as 13 British colonies.
Colony in plain English
A colony is a place that's settled and controlled by a country far away, not run by the people who live there. Picture your school being owned and bossed around by a company in another state that makes all your rules but never visits. The 13 colonies were American settlements owned and governed by Britain, an ocean away, which is exactly why the colonists eventually got fed up and revolted.
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