romikgosai/squad_modified huggingface dataset:
The foundations of the British Empire were laid when England and Scotland were separate kingdoms. In 1496 King Henry VII of England, following the successes of Spain and Portugal in overseas exploration, commissioned John Cabot to lead a voyage to discover a route to Asia via the North Atlantic. Cabot sailed in 1497, five years after the European discovery of America, and although he successfully made landfall on the coast of Newfoundland (mistakenly believing, like Christopher Columbus, that he had reached Asia), there was no attempt to found a colony. Cabot led another voyage to the Americas the following year but nothing was heard of his ships again.

Questions and answers:
["
Q: When was John Cabot's voyage commissioned?
A: 1496", "
Q: Who commissioned John Cabot's voyage?
A: King Henry VII of England", '
Q: Where was Cabot trying to find a route to via the North Atlantic?
A: Asia', '
Q: Where did Cabot make landfall?
A: Newfoundland', '
Q: Which explorer did Cabot make a mistake similar to?
A: Christopher Columbus']
No further attempts to establish English colonies in the Americas were made until well into the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, during the last decades of the 16th century. In the meantime the Protestant Reformation had turned England and Catholic Spain into implacable enemies . In 1562, the English Crown encouraged the privateers John Hawkins and Francis Drake to engage in slave-raiding attacks against Spanish and Portuguese ships off the coast of West Africa with the aim of breaking into the Atlantic trade system. This effort was rebuffed and later, as the Anglo-Spanish Wars intensified, Elizabeth I gave her blessing to further privateering raids against Spanish ports in the Americas and shipping that was returning across the Atlantic, laden with treasure from the New World. At the same time, influential writers such as Richard Hakluyt and John Dee (who was the first to use the term "British Empire") were beginning to press for the establishment of England's own empire. By this time, Spain had become the dominant power in the Americas and was exploring the Pacific ocean, Portugal had established trading posts and forts from the coasts of Africa and Brazil to China, and France had begun to settle the Saint Lawrence River area, later to become New France.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What had turned England and Catholic Spain into implacable enemies?
A: the Protestant Reformation', '
Q: When did John Hawkins and Francis Drake attack Spanish and Portuguese slave ships?
A: 1562', '
Q: Where did John Hawkins and Francis Drake attack Spanish and Portuguese slave ships?
A: off the coast of West Africa', '
Q: Who gave their blessing to further privateering raids against Spanish ports?
A: Elizabeth I', '
Q: Which author was the first to use the term "British Empire"?
A: John Dee']
In 1578, Elizabeth I granted a patent to Humphrey Gilbert for discovery and overseas exploration. That year, Gilbert sailed for the West Indies with the intention of engaging in piracy and establishing a colony in North America, but the expedition was aborted before it had crossed the Atlantic. In 1583 he embarked on a second attempt, on this occasion to the island of Newfoundland whose harbour he formally claimed for England, although no settlers were left behind. 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. Later that year, Raleigh founded the colony of Roanoke on the coast of present-day North Carolina, but lack of supplies caused the colony to fail.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When did Humphrey Gilbert first set sail for the West Indies?
A: 1578', "
Q: When was Humphrey Gilbert's second attempt to set sail?
A: 1583", "
Q: What was Humphrey Gilbert's second destination?
A: Newfoundland", "
Q: Who was Humphrey Gilbert's half-brother?
A: Walter Raleigh", '
Q: What colony did Walter Raleigh found?
A: Roanoke']
In 1603, James VI, King of Scots, ascended (as James I) 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 from preying on other nations' colonial infrastructures to the business of establishing its own overseas colonies. The British Empire began to take shape during the early 17th century, with the English settlement of North America and the smaller islands of the Caribbean, and the establishment of private companies, most notably the English East India Company, to administer colonies and overseas trade. This period, until the loss of the Thirteen Colonies after the American War of Independence towards the end of the 18th century, has subsequently been referred to by some historians as the "First British Empire".

Questions and answers:
["
Q: What was James I's name/title before taking the English throne?
A: James VI, King of Scots", '
Q: When did James I negotiate the Treaty of London?
A: 1604', '
Q: Which country did England negotiate the Treaty of London with?
A: Spain', '
Q: In what century did the English East India Company form?
A: 17th', '
Q: What period ended towards the end of the 18th century?
A: the "First British Empire"']
The Caribbean initially provided England's most important and lucrative colonies, but not before several attempts at colonisation failed. An attempt to establish a colony in Guiana in 1604 lasted only two years, and failed in its main objective to find gold deposits. Colonies in St Lucia (1605) and Grenada (1609) also rapidly folded, but settlements were successfully established in St. Kitts (1624), Barbados (1627) and Nevis (1628). The colonies soon adopted the system of sugar plantations successfully used by the Portuguese in Brazil, which depended on slave labour, and—at first—Dutch ships, to sell the slaves and buy the sugar. To ensure that the increasingly healthy profits of this trade remained in English hands, Parliament decreed in 1651 that only English ships would be able to ply their trade in English colonies. This led to hostilities with the United Dutch Provinces—a series of Anglo-Dutch Wars—which would eventually strengthen England's position in the Americas at the expense of the Dutch. In 1655, England annexed the island of Jamaica from the Spanish, and in 1666 succeeded in colonising the Bahamas.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When did England first establish a colony in Guiana?
A: 1604', '
Q: When did England first establish a colony in St. Lucia?
A: 1605', '
Q: When did England annex the island of Jamaica from the Spanish?
A: 1655', '
Q: When did England colonize the Bahamas?
A: 1666', "
Q: What was the goal of England's colony in Guiana?
A: to find gold deposits"]
England's first permanent settlement in the Americas was founded in 1607 in Jamestown, led by Captain John Smith and managed by the Virginia Company. Bermuda was settled and claimed by England as a result of the 1609 shipwreck there of the Virginia Company's flagship, and in 1615 was turned over to the newly formed Somers Isles Company. The Virginia Company's charter was revoked in 1624 and direct control of Virginia was assumed by the crown, thereby founding the Colony of Virginia. The London and Bristol Company was created in 1610 with the aim of creating a permanent settlement on Newfoundland, but was largely unsuccessful. In 1620, Plymouth was founded as a haven for puritan religious separatists, later known as the Pilgrims. Fleeing from religious persecution would become the motive of many English would-be colonists to risk the arduous trans-Atlantic voyage: Maryland was founded as a haven for Roman Catholics (1634), Rhode Island (1636) as a colony tolerant of all religions and Connecticut (1639) for Congregationalists. The Province of Carolina was founded in 1663. With the surrender of Fort Amsterdam in 1664, England gained control of the Dutch colony of New Netherland, renaming it New York. This was formalised in negotiations following the Second Anglo-Dutch War, in exchange for Suriname. In 1681, the colony of Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn. The American colonies were less financially successful than those of the Caribbean, but had large areas of good agricultural land and attracted far larger numbers of English emigrants who preferred their temperate climates.

Questions and answers:
["
Q: When was England's first permanent settlement in the Americas founded?
A: 1607", "
Q: Where was England's first permanent settlement in the Americas?
A: Jamestown", "
Q: Who led England's first permanent settlement in the Americas?
A: Captain John Smith", '
Q: When did the Somer Isles Company take over managing Bermuda?
A: 1615', '
Q: What did England rename New Netherland to?
A: New York']
Two years later, the Royal African Company was inaugurated, receiving from King Charles a monopoly of the trade to supply slaves to the British colonies of the Caribbean. From the outset, slavery was the basis of the British Empire in the West Indies. Until the abolition of the slave trade in 1807, Britain was responsible for the transportation of 3.5 million African slaves to the Americas, a third of all slaves transported across the Atlantic. To facilitate this trade, forts were established on the coast of West Africa, such as James Island, Accra and Bunce Island. In the British Caribbean, the percentage of the population of African descent rose from 25 percent in 1650 to around 80 percent in 1780, and in the 13 Colonies from 10 percent to 40 percent over the same period (the majority in the southern colonies). For the slave traders, the trade was extremely profitable, and became a major economic mainstay for such western British cities as Bristol and Liverpool, which formed the third corner of the so-called triangular trade with Africa and the Americas. For the transported, harsh and unhygienic conditions on the slaving ships and poor diets meant that the average mortality rate during the Middle Passage was one in seven.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: Which company had monopoly of the trade to supply slaves to the British colonies of the Caribbean?
A: Royal African Company', '
Q: When was the British slave trade abolished?
A: 1807', '
Q: How many African slaves did Britain transport to the Americas?
A: 3.5 million', '
Q: The triangular slave trade was between Africa, the Americas, and which British cities?
A: Bristol and Liverpool', '
Q: What was the death rate during the Middle Passage?
A: one in seven']
In 1695, the Scottish Parliament granted a charter to the Company of Scotland, which established a settlement in 1698 on the isthmus of Panama. Besieged by neighbouring Spanish colonists of New Granada, and afflicted by malaria, the colony was abandoned two years later. The Darien scheme was a financial disaster for Scotland—a quarter of Scottish capital was lost in the enterprise—and ended Scottish hopes of establishing its own overseas empire. The episode also had major political consequences, persuading the governments of both England and Scotland of the merits of a union of countries, rather than just crowns. This occurred in 1707 with the Treaty of Union, establishing the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When was the Company of Scotland granted a charter?
A: 1695', '
Q: When was Panama colonized by Scotland?
A: 1698', '
Q: How long did the Scottish Panama colony survive?
A: two years', '
Q: How much Scottish capital was lost in the Panama colony attempt?
A: a quarter', '
Q: When was the Treaty of Union?
A: 1707']
At the end of the 16th century, England and the Netherlands began to challenge Portugal's monopoly of trade with Asia, forming private joint-stock companies to finance the voyages—the English, later British, East India Company and the Dutch East India Company, chartered in 1600 and 1602 respectively. The primary aim of these companies was to tap into the lucrative spice trade, an effort focused mainly on two regions; the East Indies archipelago, and an important hub in the trade network, India. There, they competed for trade supremacy with Portugal and with each other. Although England ultimately eclipsed the Netherlands as a colonial power, in the short term the Netherlands' more advanced financial system and the three Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century left it with a stronger position in Asia. Hostilities ceased after the Glorious Revolution of 1688 when the Dutch William of Orange ascended the English throne, bringing peace between the Netherlands and England. A deal between the two nations left the spice trade of the East Indies archipelago to the Netherlands and the textiles industry of India to England, but textiles soon overtook spices in terms of profitability, and by 1720, in terms of sales, the British company had overtaken the Dutch.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When was the British East India Company chartered?
A: 1600', '
Q: When was the Dutch East India Company chartered?
A: 1602', '
Q: When had the British East India Company overtaken the Dutch East India Company in sales?
A: 1720', '
Q: How many Anglo-Dutch Wars were there in the 17th century?
A: three', '
Q: The Dutch East India Company focused on trade in which industry?
A: spice']
Peace between England and the Netherlands in 1688 meant that the two countries entered the Nine Years' War as allies, but the conflict—waged in Europe and overseas between France, Spain and the Anglo-Dutch alliance—left the English a stronger colonial power than the Dutch, who were forced to devote a larger proportion of their military budget on the costly land war in Europe. The 18th century saw England (after 1707, Britain) rise to be the world's dominant colonial power, and France becoming its main rival on the imperial stage.

Questions and answers:
["
Q: Which country became Britain's main rival in the 18th century?
A: France", '
Q: When did England and the Netherlands make peace?
A: 1688', "
Q: In which war were England and the Netherlands allies?
A: Nine Years' War", "
Q: In which century did Britain become the world's dominant colonial power?
A: 18th"]
At the concluding Treaty of Utrecht, Philip renounced his and his descendants' right to the French throne and Spain lost its empire in Europe. The British Empire was territorially enlarged: from France, Britain gained Newfoundland and Acadia, and from Spain, Gibraltar and Minorca. Gibraltar became a critical naval base and allowed Britain to control the Atlantic entry and exit point to the Mediterranean. Spain also ceded the rights to the lucrative asiento (permission to sell slaves in Spanish America) to Britain.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: King Philip renounced his right to the throne after what treaty?
A: Treaty of Utrecht', '
Q: Which country did Britain acquire Newfoundland and Acadia from?
A: France', '
Q: Which country did Britain acquire Gibraltar and Minorca from?
A: Spain', '
Q: Which colony allowed Britain to control the Atlantic entry and exit point to the Mediterranean?
A: permission to sell slaves in Spanish America', '
Q: What was the Spanish term for permission to sell slaves in Spanish America?
A: asiento']
During the middle decades of the 18th century, there were several outbreaks of military conflict on the Indian subcontinent, the Carnatic Wars, as the English East India Company (the Company) and its French counterpart, the Compagnie française des Indes orientales, struggled alongside local rulers to fill the vacuum that had been left by the decline of the Mughal Empire. The Battle of Plassey in 1757, in which the British, led by Robert Clive, defeated the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies, left the Company in control of Bengal and as the major military and political power in India. France was left control of its enclaves but with military restrictions and an obligation to support British client states, ending French hopes of controlling India. In the following decades the Company gradually increased the size of the territories under its control, either ruling directly or via local rulers under the threat of force from the British Indian Army, the vast majority of which was composed of Indian sepoys.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What was the French equivalent of the English East India Company?
A: Compagnie française des Indes orientales', '
Q: When was the Battle of Plassey?
A: 1757', '
Q: Who led the British in the Battle of Plassey?
A: Robert Clive', '
Q: Where were the Carnatic Wars?
A: British Indian Army', '
Q: What was the British Indian Army mostly composed of?
A: Indian sepoys']
The British and French struggles in India became but one theatre of the global Seven Years' War (1756–1763) involving France, Britain and the other major European powers. The signing of the Treaty of Paris (1763) had important consequences for the future of the British Empire. In North America, France's future as a colonial power there was effectively ended with the recognition of British claims to Rupert's Land, and the ceding of New France to Britain (leaving a sizeable French-speaking population under British control) and Louisiana to Spain. Spain ceded Florida to Britain. Along with its victory over France in India, the Seven Years' War therefore left Britain as the world's most powerful maritime power.

Questions and answers:
["
Q: When was the Seven Years' War?
A: 1756–1763", '
Q: When was the Treaty of Paris?
A: 1763', '
Q: Which country acquired New France from France?
A: Britain', '
Q: Which country acquired Louisiana from France?
A: Spain', '
Q: Which country acquired Florida from Spain?
A: Britain']
During the 1760s and early 1770s, relations between the Thirteen Colonies and Britain became increasingly strained, primarily because of resentment of the British Parliament's attempts to govern and tax American colonists without their consent. This was summarised at the time by the slogan "No taxation without representation", a perceived violation of the guaranteed Rights of Englishmen. The American Revolution began with rejection of Parliamentary authority and moves towards self-government. In response Britain sent troops to reimpose direct rule, leading to the outbreak of war in 1775. The following year, in 1776, the United States declared independence. The entry of France to the war in 1778 tipped the military balance in the Americans' favour and after a decisive defeat at Yorktown in 1781, Britain began negotiating peace terms. American independence was acknowledged at the Peace of Paris in 1783.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: British relations with which area became strained in the 1760s-1770s?
A: the Thirteen Colonies', '
Q: What was the American colonists\' anti-tax slogan?
A: "No taxation without representation"', '
Q: When did the US declare independence?
A: 1776', '
Q: When did France enter the American Revolution war?
A: 1778', '
Q: When did Britain recognize American independence?
A: 1783']
The loss of such a large portion of British America, at the time Britain's most populous overseas possession, is seen by some historians as the event defining the transition between the "first" and "second" empires, in which Britain shifted its attention away from the Americas to Asia, the Pacific and later Africa. Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, had argued that colonies were redundant, and that free trade should replace the old mercantilist policies that had characterised the first period of colonial expansion, dating back to the protectionism of Spain and Portugal. The growth of trade between the newly independent United States and Britain after 1783 seemed to confirm Smith's view that political control was not necessary for economic success.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: What book by Adam Smith was published in 1776?
A: Wealth of Nations', '
Q: The growth of trade between the US and Britain after 1783 seemed to confirm whose views?
A: Smith', "
Q: In the 'second' British Empire period, Britain refocused on which areas?
A: Asia, the Pacific and later Africa", "
Q: What had been Britain's most populous overseas possession?
A: British America", '
Q: Who argued that colonies were redundant?
A: Adam Smith']
Events in America influenced British policy in Canada, where between 40,000 and 100,000 defeated Loyalists had migrated from America following independence. The 14,000 Loyalists who went to the Saint John and Saint Croix river valleys, then part of Nova Scotia, felt too far removed from the provincial government in Halifax, so London split off New Brunswick as a separate colony in 1784. The Constitutional Act of 1791 created the provinces of Upper Canada (mainly English-speaking) and Lower Canada (mainly French-speaking) to defuse tensions between the French and British communities, and implemented governmental systems similar to those employed in Britain, with the intention of asserting imperial authority and not allowing the sort of popular control of government that was perceived to have led to the American Revolution.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: How many British loyalists moved from the US to Canada?
A: between 40,000 and 100,000', '
Q: New Brunswick was split off from which province?
A: Nova Scotia', '
Q: Which act created the Upper Canada provinces?
A: The Constitutional Act of 1791', '
Q: What language did most of Upper Canada speak?
A: English', '
Q: What language did most of Lower Canada speak?
A: French']
Since 1718, transportation to the American colonies had been a penalty for various criminal offences in Britain, with approximately one thousand convicts transported per year across the Atlantic. Forced to find an alternative location after the loss of the 13 Colonies in 1783, the British government turned to the newly discovered lands of Australia. The western coast of Australia had been discovered for Europeans by the Dutch explorer Willem Jansz in 1606 and was later named New Holland by the Dutch East India Company, but there was no attempt to colonise it. In 1770 James Cook discovered the eastern coast of Australia while on a scientific voyage to the South Pacific Ocean, claimed the continent for Britain, and named it New South Wales. In 1778, Joseph Banks, Cook's botanist on the voyage, presented evidence to the government on the suitability of Botany Bay for the establishment of a penal settlement, and in 1787 the first shipment of convicts set sail, arriving in 1788. Britain continued to transport convicts to New South Wales until 1840. The Australian colonies became profitable exporters of wool and gold, mainly because of gold rushes in the colony of Victoria, making its capital Melbourne the richest city in the world and the largest city after London in the British Empire.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: How many convicts per year had Britain been sending to the American colonies?
A: one thousand', '
Q: Where did Britain switch to sending their convicts after the loss of the American colonies?
A: Australia', '
Q: Who discovered Australia in 1606?
A: Willem Jansz', '
Q: What had the Dutch East India Company initially named Australia?
A: New Holland', '
Q: When did the first shipment of British convicts leave for Australia?
A: 1787']
During his voyage, Cook also visited New Zealand, first discovered by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1642, and claimed the North and South islands for the British crown in 1769 and 1770 respectively. Initially, interaction between the indigenous Māori population and Europeans was limited to the trading of goods. European settlement increased through the early decades of the 19th century, with numerous trading stations established, especially in the North. In 1839, the New Zealand Company announced plans to buy large tracts of land and establish colonies in New Zealand. On 6 February 1840, Captain William Hobson and around 40 Maori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi. This treaty is considered by many to be New Zealand's founding document, but differing interpretations of the Maori and English versions of the text have meant that it continues to be a source of dispute.

Questions and answers:
['
Q: When was New Zealand discovered by the Dutch?
A: 1642', '
Q: Who discovered New Zealand for the Dutch?
A: Abel Tasman', '
Q: When did Cook visit New Zealand and claim the North Island?
A: 1769', "
Q: What is New Zealand's native population called?
A: Māori", '
Q: Who signed a treaty with the Maori?
A: Captain William Hobson']