This volume examines the development of forms of English in North America, from the earliest founder populations through to present-day varieties in the USA, Canada and the Caribbean. The linguistic analyses of today's forms emphasise language variation and change with a view to determining the trajectories for current linguistic change. The section on English in the United States has dedicated chapters on the history of African American English and the English of Latinos in the USA. Part II is concerned with English in Canada, with chapters on the anglophone settlement of Canada and on individual regions of that country, including English in Quebec. The third section consists of chapters devoted to the history of English in the anglophone Caribbean, looking at various creoles in that region, both in the islands and the rim, with a special chapter on Jamaica and on the connections between the Caribbean and the USA.