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Unit Eighteen – How the Colonies Were Governed

THE close of the French war made way for the Revolution. But, before considering the events which led to the separation of the colonies from England, it will be best to ask “How were the colonies governed at the close of the French wars?”

Georgia was first settled under a body of twenty-one trustees, but in 1752 these trustees surrendered the government to the king.

In 1679 New Hampshire was separated from Massachusetts, and became a royal colony.

So, after 1752 there were seven colonies under royal governments: Virginia, New York, New Jersey, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and New Hampshire.

Three colonies — Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island — were under charter governments.

A charter government means that they were for the most part governed by their own people, but according to charters granted by the king.

Massachusetts, after it lost its first charter, had a governor appointed by the king, but the power remained mostly in the hands of the Legislature.

Maine was still attached to Massachusetts.

Maryland had been given to Lord Baltimore and Pennsylvania to William Penn. Baltimore and Penn were called "proprietors," or "proprietaries." The heirs of these first proprietors exercised in these two colonies power somewhat similar to those of the king in the royal colonies. These were called proprietary governments.

Delaware had been ceded to Penn by the Duke of York, and although it had a separate Legislature, it was under the same governor as Pennsylvania.

Therefore, at the close of the French wars there were three proprietary governments: Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.

Each of the thirteen colonies had a legislative body and these were divided into two houses. There was a lower house called the Assembly and elected by the people. The members of the upper house were in the Council and were generally appointed by the king in the royal colonies, and by the proprietary in the proprietary colonies.

In the charter colonies governors and members of the Council were usually elected by the Assembly.

In order to pass a law both houses of the Legislature must vote for it and the governor must agree to it. We have kept the same rule. Our State and national laws are made in this way now. The body we call the Senate takes the place occupied by the governor's Council in the colonies. But in our time the people elect the governors and both houses of the Legislature.

In nearly all of the colonies the people had no voice in choosing the governor or the upper house of the Legislature. The people could not, therefore, make laws which were not agreeable to the king or the proprietary. So consequently, there was an almost continuous quarrel between the governors, acting under instructions from England, and the representatives of the people.

All laws regulating the trade between the colonies and with other countries were made by the English Parliament. The colonies were obliged, often against their will, to admit African slaves brought in by English merchants.

They were forced to send nearly all their leading products to England for sale. They were not allowed to buy any European goods, except in England, and no foreign ships were allowed to enter a port in this country. Laws were made to discourage people in the colonies from making and trading in such things as were made in England. There were even English laws against the manufacture of hats in America. The colonists had many furs, and could make hats very cheaply, but no hatter was allowed to send hats form one colony to another.

Custom houses were established by law in all the main ports of the colonies, and duties collected for the king. But the colonists evaded these unjust laws in every way they could, and there was a great deal of smuggling all along the coast.

Unit 18 - Governments
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