Governments in the Wilderness
“England purchased for some of her subjects,
who found themselves uneasy at home,
a great estate in a distant country”
Adam Smith
Read the Constitution, Stupid.com
 English colonies, such as Jamestown (1607) and
Plymouth (1620) based their legal claims on the
explorations of John Cabot a century earlier.
 Colonial governments were based upon charters
issued by the British Crown.
 Charters were issued to trading companies,
individuals, and groups of colonists.
 Three types of colonial governments:
 Royal (often called crown) – 8 colonies
 Proprietary – 3 colonies
 Charter (sometimes called corporate) – 2 colonies
Read the Constitution, Stupid.com
 Royal Charters were the most numerous.
 Included New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey,
Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and
Massachusetts (after 1691).
 Appointed a governor as the King’s representative
 Had a general assembly chosen by voters
 Had a system of courts with judges appointed by the
governor
 Laws enacted by the legislature required royal
approval.
Read the Constitution, Stupid.com
 Crown controlled directly by commissions and
instructions to colonial governments
 Governor appointed by the Crown and acted as a
deputy of the King.
 Legislature bicameral (except Georgia)
 Upper house appointed by the King and acted as the
governor’s council.
 Lower house elected by freemen.
 Laws subject to approval and veto by the Crown.
 Judges appointed by the governor. Appeals could be
taken to the King.
Read the Constitution, Stupid.com
 1607 – Virginia, London Company
 1628 – Massachusetts, Puritans of the Massachusetts





Bay Colony
1629 - New Hampshire, John Mason
1663 - North and South Carolina, Eight nobles
1664 – New York, Duke of York
1664 - New Jersey, Berkeley and Carteret
1732 – Georgia, James Oglethorpe
Read the Constitution, Stupid.com
 At the time of the revolution there were three: Maryland,
Delaware, and Pennsylvania.
 Charters authorized the proprietors to:





Appoint governors and other officers
Establish legislatures
Create courts and appoint judges
Establish local governments
Exercise prerogatives that in the royal colonies belonged to
the Crown.
 Delaware and Maryland had bicameral legislatures
 Pennsylvania had a unicameral legislature
 Laws were subject to veto by the Crown
Read the Constitution, Stupid.com
 Proprietor owned colony but acknowledged
sovereignty of the King of England.
 Governor appointed by the proprietor.
 Legislatures were bicameral (except Pennsylvania).
 Upper house appointed by proprietor.
 Lower house elected by freeman.
 Laws (except Maryland) subject to approval or veto by
the Crown.
 Judges appointed by governor and council.
 Appeals could be taken to the King.
Read the Constitution, Stupid.com
 1624 – Maryland, Lord Baltimore
 1638 – Delaware, Swedes
 1681 – Pennsylvania, William Penn
Read the Constitution, Stupid.com
 At the time of the Revolution there were two charter
colonies: Rhode Island and Connecticut.
 Charter granted to the groups after settlement.
 Both were organized upon popular and democratic
principles.
 Governors elected annually by freemen.
 Freemen chose members of both houses of the
legislature.
 Legislation not subject to veto by the governor nor
approved by the Crown.
 Judges and other officers appointed by the legislature.
Read the Constitution, Stupid.com
 Charter granted directly to the colonists.
 Governors chosen by freemen for one (1) year term.
 Legislatures were bicameral with both houses elected
by freemen for one (1) year term.
 Judges appointed by governor in council.
 Crown could not veto laws.
 Cases could be appealed from highest colonial court to
the King in Council.
Read the Constitution, Stupid.com
 1636 – Rhode Island, Roger Williams
 1636 –Connecticut, Emigrants from Massachusetts
Read the Constitution, Stupid.com
 Principal unit of local government in New England
was the town.
 Counties existed but played minor role.
 Towns predominated because colonists came as
members of church congregations or groups seeking
religious freedom – not as individuals.
 Towns were incorporated with boundaries and powers
defined by the legislature.
 Towns were pure, or direct, democracies
 Meetings held annually with a board of selectmen
managing affairs between meetings.
Read the Constitution, Stupid.com
 Town government didn’t take rot in South – counties
became the principal unit of local government (except
in Georgia until post Revolution).
 Southern colonies settled more by individuals than
groups.
 Land and climate suitable for large-scale agriculture
and plantation system required a larger local
government than the town.
 Southern counties had no popular assemblies and
were less democratic than towns in the North.
Read the Constitution, Stupid.com
 Both towns and counties played important roles.
 In New York and New Jersey towns played a larger role.
 In Pennsylvania and Delaware counties played the larger
role.
 First urban centers appeared in the Middle Colonies.
 New York was the oldest; Philadelphia the largest
 Borough system, established by charters from colonial
governors, appeared. Three of the boroughs –
Philadelphia, Annapolis, and Norfolk – were governed
as closed corporations.
Read the Constitution, Stupid.com
 Most colonists were British subjects and shared common




traditions, culture, language, and citizenship.
Colonists had a right to inhabit or inherit land in other
colonies.
Colonists shared the birthright of common law
England afforded protection from attacks by foreigners and
pirates, handled foreign relations, helped defend against
Indian attacks, and assisted local administrations.
England provided a uniform currency and a postal service
Read the Constitution, Stupid.com
 Most significant disadvantage was that the colonies
followed the fate of England in the pursuit of war and
peace.
 Between 1690 -1748 the colonies were subject to the
whims of the English Crown during the war with France
and her allies.
 Parliament might enact detrimental legislation, and
did on several occasions, without their prior
knowledge or participation.
Read the Constitution, Stupid.com
 The tradition of governance in America began with the
arrival of European colonists in the North American
wilderness.
 The colonies would not have been as successful as they
were absent English protection.
 English tradition and common law provided a
foundation, when the time was ripe, for the emergence
of a new nation based on much English tradition.
Read the Constitution, Stupid.com
 Can national states lay claim to land today as England
did based on the explorations of John Cabot?
 Why were three types of colonies established rather
than one?
 What were some of the similarities and differences in
colonial governments?
Read the Constitution, Stupid.com
 Boorstin, Daniel J. : The Americans: The Colonial Experience (New York,
Vintage Books, 1958)
 Gray, Edward G.: Colonial America: A History in Documents (Pages from
History) (Oxford University Press, USA, 2011)
 Middleton, Richard: Colonial America, 1565-1776 (Wiley-Blackwell, 2002)
 Osgood, Herbert L.: The American Colonies in the 17th Century (New York,
Columbia, 1930).
 Snider, Clyde F. : Local Government in Rural America (New York, Appleton-
Century-Crofts, 1957)
 Taylor, Alan: American Colonies: The Settling of North America (Penguin
History of the United States, Volume 1) (Penguin, 2002)
Read the Constitution, Stupid.com