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'The governments of the [[Thirteen Colonies]] of [[British America]] developed in the 17th and 18th centuries under the influence of the [[Constitution of the United Kingdom|British constitution]]. After the Thirteen Colonies had become the [[United States]], the experience under colonial rule would inform and shape the new [[State constitution (United States)|state constitutions]] and, ultimately, the [[Constitution of the United States|United States Constitution]].{{Sfn|Green|1930|p=ix}} The [[Executive (government)|executive branch]] was led by a [[governor]], and the [[Legislature|legislative branch]] was divided into two houses, a governor's council and a representative assembly. In [[Crown colony|royal colonies]], the governor and the council were appointed by the British government. In [[Proprietary colony|proprietary colonies]], these officials were appointed by proprietors, and they were elected in [[Charter colony|charter colonies]]. In every colony, the assembly was elected by property owners. ''' heyyyy hows a going my names koen would you fuck me In domestic matters, the colonies were largely self-governing; however, the British government did exercise [[veto]] power over colonial legislation. Diplomatic affairs were handled by the British government, as were trade policies and wars with foreign powers (wars with Native Americans were generally handled by colonial governments).<ref name="Cooke222">Cooke (1993) vol 1 part 4</ref>{{Page needed|date=October 2019}} The [[American Revolution]] was ultimately a dispute over [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament's]] right to enact domestic legislation for the American colonies. The British government's position was that Parliament's authority was unlimited, while the American position was that colonial legislatures were coequal with Parliament and outside of its jurisdiction. == Relation to the British government == [[File:Map of territorial growth 1775.svg|thumb|The thirteen colonies (shown in red) in 1775]] By the start of the [[American Revolution]], the thirteen colonies had developed political systems featuring a [[governor]] exercising [[Executive (government)|executive]] power and a [[Bicameralism|bicameral legislature]] made up of a council and an assembly. The system was similar to the [[Constitution of the United Kingdom|British constitution]], with the governor corresponding to the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|British monarch]], the council to the [[House of Lords]] and the assembly to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]].{{Sfn|Johnson|1987|p=|pp=349-350}} === Crown === The thirteen colonies were all founded with royal authorization, and authority continued to flow from the monarch as colonial governments exercised authority in the king's name.{{Sfn|Middlekauff|2005|p=27}} A colony's precise relationship to the Crown depended on whether it was a [[charter colony]], [[proprietary colony]] or [[Crown colony|royal colony]] as defined in its [[Colonial charters in the Thirteen Colonies|colonial charter]]. Whereas royal colonies belonged to the Crown, proprietary and charter colonies were granted by the Crown to private interests.{{Sfn|Taylor|2001|p=|pp=136-137}} Control over a charter or corporate colony was granted to a [[joint-stock company]], such as the [[Virginia Company]]. Virginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island were founded as charter colonies. New England's charter colonies were virtually independent of royal authority and operated as [[republic]]s where property owners elected the governor and legislators.{{Sfn|Taylor|2001|p=247}} Proprietary colonies were owned and governed by individuals. To attract settlers, however, proprietors agreed to share power with property owners.{{Sfn|Taylor|2001|p=|pp=246-247}} Maryland, South Carolina, North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania were founded as proprietary colonies.{{Sfn|Taylor|2001|p=|pp=140, 263}} In 1624, Virginia became the first royal colony when the bankrupt Virginia Company's charter was revoked.{{Sfn|Taylor|2001|p=136}} Overtime, more colonies transitioned to royal control. By the start of the American Revolution, all but five of the thirteen colonies were royal colonies. Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware remained proprietary, while Rhode Island and Connecticut continued as corporate colonies.{{Sfn|Middlekauff|2005|p=27}} Historian [[Robert Middlekauff]] describes royal administration of the colonies as inadequate and inefficient because lines of authority were never entirely clear. Before 1768, responsibility for colonial affairs rested with the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]] and the [[Secretary of State for the Southern Department]]. The Secretary relied on the [[Board of Trade]] to supply him with information and pass on his instructions to colonial officials. After 1768, the [[Secretary of State for the Colonies|Secretary of State for Colonial Affairs]] was responsible for supervising the colonies; however, this ministry suffered from ineffective secretaries and the jealousy of other government ministers.{{Sfn|Middlekauff|2005|p=|pp=27-28}} === Parliament === [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament's]] authority over the colonies was also unclear and controversial in the 18th century.{{Sfn|Middlekauff|2005|p=28}} As English government evolved from government by the Crown toward government in the name of the Crown (the [[Queen-in-Parliament|King-in-Parliament]]),{{Sfn|Green|1930|p=3}} the convention that the colonies were ruled solely by the monarch gave way to greater involvement of Parliament by the mid 1700s. Acts of Parliament regulated commerce (see [[Navigation Acts]]), defined citizenship, and limited the amount of paper money issued in the colonies.{{Sfn|Johnson|1987|p=342}} The British government argued that Parliament's authority to legislate for the colonies was unlimited. This was stated explicitly in the [[Declaratory Act|Declaratory Act of 1766]].{{Sfn|Green|1930|p=3}} The British also argued that the colonists, while not actually represented in Parliament, were nonetheless [[Virtual representation|virtually represented]].{{Sfn|Green|1930|p=4}} The American view, shaped by [[Whiggism|Whig political philosophy]], was that Parliament's authority over the colonies was limited.{{Sfn|Hulsebosch|1998|p=322}} While the colonies initially recognized Parliament's right to legislate for the whole empire—such as on matters of trade—they argued that Parliamentary taxation was a violation of the principle of [[Consent of the governed|taxation by consent]] since consent could only be granted by the colonists' own representatives. In addition, Americans argued that the colonies were outside of Parliament's jurisdiction and that the colonists owed allegiance only to the Crown. In effect, Americans argued that their colonial legislatures were coequal—not subordinate—to Parliament.{{Sfn|Johnson|1987|p=353}} These incompatible interpretations of the British constitution would become the central issue of the American Revolution.{{Sfn|Green|1930|p=2}} === Judicial appeals === In the United Kingdom, Parliament (technically, the King- or Queen-in-Parliament) was also the highest judicial authority, but [[appellate jurisdiction]] over the British colonies ended up with a series of committees of the Privy Council (technically, the King- or [[King-in-Council|Queen-in-Council]]). In 1679, appellate jurisdiction was given to the Board of Trade, followed by an Appeals Committee in 1696.{{Sfn|Howell|2009|pp=7–13}} The Appeals Committee of the Privy Council was severely flawed because its membership was actually a [[committee of the whole]] of the Privy Council, of whom a quorum was three. Even worse, many Privy Councillors were not lawyers, all Privy Councillors had equal voting power on appeals, and there was no requirement that any of the Privy Councillors hearing a particular appeal had to be a lawyer. As a result, parties to appeals could and did try to tilt the outcome of appeals in their favor by persuading nonlawyer Privy Councillors to show up for the hearings on their appeals. For this reason, the Appeals Committee fell into disrepute among better-informed lawyers and judges in the colonies.{{Sfn|Howell|2009|pp=7–13}} == Branches == === Governor === [[File:Tryon Palace.JPG|thumb|[[Tryon Palace|Governor's Palace]] at New Bern, North Carolina]] In royal colonies, governors were appointed by the Crown and represented its interests. Before 1689, governors were the dominant political figures in the colonies.{{Sfn|Greene|1961|p=451}} They possessed royal authority transmitted through their commissions and instructions.{{Sfn|Bonwick|1986|p=358}} Among their powers included the right to summon, [[Prorogation|prorogue]] and [[Dissolution of parliament|dissolve]] the elected assembly. Governors could also [[veto]] any [[Bill (law)|bill]] proposed by the colonial legislature.{{Sfn|Morton|1963|p=438}} Gradually, the assembly successfully restricted the governor's power by asserting for itself control over [[money bill]]s, including the salaries of the governor and other officials.{{Sfn|Morton|1963|p=438}} Therefore, a governor could find his salary withheld by an uncooperative legislature. Governors were often placed in an untenable position. Their official instructions from London demanded that they protect the Crown's power—the [[Royal prerogative in the United Kingdom|royal prerogative]]—from usurpation by the assembly; at the same time, they were also ordered to secure more colonial funding for Britain's wars against France. In return for military funding, the assemblies often demanded more power.{{Sfn|Taylor|2001|p=|pp=286–288}} To gain support for his agenda, the governor distributed [[patronage]]. He could reward supporters by appointing them to various offices such as attorney general, surveyor-general or as a local sheriff. These offices were sought after as sources of prestige and income. He could also reward supporters with [[land grant]]s. As a result of this strategy, colonial politics was characterized by a split between a governor's faction (the [[Country Party (Britain)|court party]]) and his opposition (the [[Country Party (Britain)|country party]]).{{Sfn|Taylor|2001|p=|pp=286–288}} === Council === [[File:Buildings of Colonial Williamsburg 13.jpg|thumb|Council chamber inside the Capitol building at [[Colonial Williamsburg]]]] {{Further|Virginia Governor's Council|Massachusetts Governor's Council|Executive Council of New Hampshire}} The executive branch included an advisory council to the governor that varied in size ranging from ten to thirty members.{{Sfn|Morton|1963|p=438}}<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Colonial Councils|encyclopedia=Dictionary of American History|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/colonial-councils|access-date=November 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181109180346/https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/colonial-councils|archive-date=November 9, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> In royal colonies, the Crown appointed a mix of placemen (paid officeholders in the government) and members of the upper class within colonial society. Councilors tended to represent the interests of businessmen, creditors and property owners in general.{{Sfn|Harrold|1970|p=|pp=282-283}} While lawyers were prominent throughout the thirteen colonies, merchants were important in the northern colonies and planters were more involved in the southern provinces.{{Citation needed|date=October 2019}} Members served [[At Her Majesty's pleasure|"at pleasure"]] rather than for life or fixed terms.{{Sfn|Harrold|1970|p=282}} When there was an absentee governor or an interval between governors, the council acted as the government.<ref name="Cooke22">Cooke (1993) vol 1 part 4</ref> The governor's council also functioned as the [[upper house]] of the colonial legislature. In most colonies, the council could introduce bills, pass resolutions, and consider and act upon petitions. In some colonies, the council acted primarily as a chamber of revision, reviewing and improving legislation. At times, it would argue with the assembly over the amendment of money bills or other legislation.{{Sfn|Harrold|1970|p=|pp=282-283}} In addition to being both an executive and legislative body, the council also had judicial authority. It was the final [[Appellate court|court of appeal]] within the colony. The council's multifaceted roles exposed it to criticism. [[Richard Henry Lee]] criticized Virginia's colonial government for lacking the balance and [[separation of powers]] found in the British constitution due to the council's lack of independence from the Crown.{{Sfn|Harrold|1970|p=282}} ===Assembly=== The [[lower house]] of a colonial legislature was a [[representative assembly]]. These assemblies were called by different names. Virginia had a [[House of Burgesses]], Massachusetts had a House of Deputies, and South Carolina had a Commons House of Assembly.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|title=General Court, Colonial|encyclopedia=Dictionary of American History|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/general-court-colonial|access-date=October 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031001133/https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/general-court-colonial|archive-date=October 31, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.southcarolinapublicradio.org/post/c-commons-house-assembly-1670-1776|title="C" is for Commons House of Assembly (1670-1776)|last=Edgar|first=Walter|date=November 26, 2018|website=South Carolina Public Radio|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031004041/https://www.southcarolinapublicradio.org/post/c-commons-house-assembly-1670-1776|archive-date=October 31, 2019|access-date=October 30, 2019}}</ref> While names differed, the assemblies had several features in common. Members were elected annually by the propertied citizens of the towns or counties. Usually they met for a single, short session; but the council or governor could call a special session.<ref name="Cooke22"/>{{Page needed|date=October 2019}} As in Britain, the [[Suffrage|right to vote]] was limited to men with [[Freehold (law)|freehold]] "landed property sufficient to ensure that they were personally independent and had a vested interest in the welfare of their communities".{{Sfn|Ratcliff|2013|p=220}} Due to the greater availability of land, the right to vote was more widespread in the colonies where by one estimate around 60 percent of adult white males could vote. In England and Wales, only 17–20 percent of adult males were eligible. Six colonies allowed alternatives to freehold ownership (such as personal property or tax payment) that extended voting rights to owners of urban property and even prosperous farmers who rented their land. Groups excluded from voting included laborers, [[tenant farmer]]s, unskilled workers and [[Indentured servitude|indentured servants]]. These were considered to lack a "stake in society" and to be vulnerable to [[corruption]].{{Sfn|Ratcliff|2013|p=220-221}} Tax issues and budget decisions originated in the assembly. Part of the budget went toward the cost of raising and equipping the colonial [[Militia (United States)|militia]]. As the American Revolution drew near, this subject was a point of contention and conflict between the provincial assemblies and their respective governors.<ref name="Cooke22"/> The perennial struggles between the colonial governors and the assemblies are sometimes viewed, in retrospect, as signs of a rising democratic spirit. However, those assemblies generally represented the privileged [[Social class|classes]], and they were protecting the colony against unreasonable executive encroachments.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} Legally, the crown governor's authority was unassailable. In resisting that authority, assemblies resorted to arguments based upon [[Natural rights and legal rights|natural rights]] and the common welfare, giving life to the notion that governments derived, or ought to derive, their authority from the [[consent of the governed]].{{Sfn|Green|1930|p=|pp=21–22}} == Union proposals == Before the [[American Revolution]], attempts to create a unified government for the thirteen colonies were unsuccessful. Multiple plans for a union were proposed at the [[Albany Congress]] in 1754. One of these plans, proposed by [[Benjamin Franklin]], was the [[Albany Plan]].{{Sfn|Middlekauff|2005|p=|pp=31-32}} == Demise == During the American Revolution, the colonial governments ceased to function effectively as royal governors prorogued and dissolved the assemblies. By 1773, [[committees of correspondence]] were governing towns and counties, and nearly all the colonies had established [[Provincial Congress|provincial congresses]], which were legislative assemblies acting outside of royal authority. These were temporary measures, and it was understood that the provincial congresses were not equivalent to proper legislatures.{{Sfn|Wood|1998|pp=313–317}} By May 1775, the [[Massachusetts Provincial Congress]] felt that a permanent government was needed. On the advice of the [[Second Continental Congress]], Massachusetts once again operated under the [[Massachusetts Charter|Charter of 1691]] but without a governor (the [[Massachusetts Governor's Council|governor's council]] functioned as the executive branch).{{Sfn|Wood|1998|pp=130, 133}} In the fall of 1775, the Continental Congress recommended that New Hampshire, South Carolina and Virginia form new governments. New Hampshire adopted a [[Republicanism in the United States|republican]] constitution on January 5, 1776. South Carolina's was adopted on March 26 and Virginia's on June 29.{{Sfn|Wood|1998|pp=133}} In May 1776, the Continental Congress called for the creation of new governments "where no government sufficient to the exigencies of their affairs have been hitherto established" and "that the exercise of every kind of authority under the ... Crown should be totally suppressed".{{Sfn|Wood|1998|pp=132}} The [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] in July further encouraged the states to form new governments, and most states had adopted new constitutions by the end of 1776. Because of the war, Georgia and New York were unable to complete their constitutions until 1777.{{Sfn|Wood|1998|pp=133}} ==See also== * [[Colonial history of the United States]] * [[Proprietary colony|Proprietary governor]] * [[Proprietary House]] == References == === Notes === {{Reflist}} === Sources === {{refbegin|30em}} *{{Cite journal|last=Bonwick|first=Colin|date=December 1986|title=The American Revolution as a Social Movement Revisited|journal=Journal of American Studies|publisher=British Association for American Studies|volume=20|issue=3|pages=355–373|jstor=27554789|via=JSTOR}} *{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the North American Colonies|publisher=C. Scribner's Sons|year=1993|isbn=9780684192697|editor-last=Cooke|editor-first=Jacob Ernest|volume=3 Volumes}} *{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A5c0LKovqJUC&pg=PA21|title=Constitutional Development in the South Atlantic States, 1776-1860: A Study in the Evolution of Democracy|last=Green|first=Fletcher Melvin|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|year=1930|isbn=9781584779285}} *{{Cite journal|last=Greene|first=Jack P.|date=November 1961|title=The Role of the Lower Houses of Assembly in Eighteenth-Century Politics|journal=The Journal of Southern History|publisher=Southern Historical Association|volume=27|issue=4|pages=451–474|doi=10.2307/2204309|jstor=2204309|via=JSTOR}} *{{Cite journal|last=Harrold|first=Frances|date=July 1970|title=The Upper House in Jeffersonian Political Theory|journal=The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography|publisher=Virginia Historical Society|volume=78|issue=3|pages=281–294|jstor=4247579|via=JSTOR}} *{{cite book |last1=Howell |first1=P.A. |title=The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council: 1833-1876 Its Origins, Structure and Development |year=2009 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=9780521085595 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Judicial_Committee_of_the_Privy_Coun/SGmQ7Z-aQ1cC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA11-IA12&printsec=frontcover&bsq=APPEALS%20COMMITTEE}} *{{Cite journal|last=Hulsebosch|first=Daniel J.|date=Summer 1998|title=Imperia in Imperio: The Multiple Constitutions of Empire in New York, 1750-1777|journal=Law and History Review|publisher=American Society for Legal History|volume=16|issue=2|pages=319–379|doi=10.2307/744104|jstor=744104|via=JSTOR}} *{{Cite journal|last=Johnson|first=Richard R.|date=September 1987|title="Parliamentary Egotisms": The Clash of Legislatures in the Making of the American Revolution|journal=The Journal of American History|publisher=Organization of American Historians|volume=74|issue=2|pages=338–362|doi=10.2307/1900026|jstor=1900026|via=JSTOR}} *{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nya0ODz-B-cC|title=The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789|last=Middlekauff|first=Robert|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2005|isbn=978-0-19-531588-2|edition=revised|series=[[Oxford History of the United States]]|volume=Volume 3|author-link=Robert Middlekauff}} *{{Cite journal|last=Morton|first=W. L.|date=July 1963|title=The Local Executive in the British Empire 1763-1828|journal=The English Historical Review|publisher=Oxford University Press|volume=78|issue=308|pages=436–457|jstor=562144|via=JSTOR}} *{{Cite journal|last=Ratcliff|first=Donald|date=Summer 2013|title=The Right to Vote and the Rise of Democracy, 1787—1828|journal=Journal of the Early Republic|publisher=Society for Historians of the Early American Republic|volume=33|issue=2|pages=219–254|jstor=24768843|via=JSTOR}} * {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NPoAQRgkrOcC|title=American Colonies: The Settling of North America|last=Taylor|first=Alan|publisher=Penguin Books|year=2001|isbn=978-1-101-07581-4|series=Penguin History of the United States|volume=Volume 1|author-link=Alan Taylor (historian)}} * {{cite book | last = Wood | first = Gordon S. | author-link = Gordon S. Wood | title = The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787 | publisher = University of North Carolina Press | year = 1998 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=bLzqCQAAQBAJ | isbn = 978-0-8078-4723-7 }} {{refend}} ==Further reading== {{refbegin|30em}} * Andrews, Charles M. ''Colonial Self-Government, 1652-1689'' (1904) [https://archive.org/stream/colonialselfgov00andrgoog/colonialselfgov00andrgoog_djvu.txt full text online] * Andrews, Charles M. ''The Colonial Period of American History'' (4 vol. 1934-38), the standard overview to 1700 * Bailyn, Bernard. ''The Origins of American Politics'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1968): an influential book arguing that the roots of the American Revolution lie in the colonial legislatures' struggles with the governors. * {{cite book | last = Dickerson | first = Oliver Morton | author-link = Oliver Morton Dickerson | title = American Colonial Government, 1696-1765 | publisher = Arthur H. Clark Company | year = 1912 | location = Cleveland, Ohio | url = https://www.google.com/books/edition/American_Colonial_Government_1696_1765/TBgOAAAAIAAJ}} * Dinkin, Robert J. ''Voting in Provincial America: A Study of Elections in the Thirteen Colonies, 1689-1776'' (1977) * {{cite book|author=Green, Fletcher Melvin|title=Constitutional Development in the South Atlantic States, 1776-1860: A Study in the Evolution of Democracy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A5c0LKovqJUC&pg=PA21|year=1930|publisher=U. of North Carolina press|isbn=9781584779285}} * Greene, Jack P. ''Negotiated Authorities: Essays in Colonial Political and Constitutional History'' (1994) *Hawke, David F.; ''The Colonial Experience''; 1966, {{ISBN|0-02-351830-8}}. textbook * Nagl, Dominik. ''No Part of the Mother Country, but Distinct Dominions - Law, State Formation and Governance in England, Massachusetts und South Carolina, 1630-1769'' (2013).[http://de.scribd.com/doc/204061491/Dominik-Nagl-No-Part-of-the-Mother-Country-but-Distinct-Dominions-Rechtstransfer-Staatsbildung-und-Governance-in-England-Massachusetts-und-South-C] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812090708/http://de.scribd.com/doc/204061491/Dominik-Nagl-No-Part-of-the-Mother-Country-but-Distinct-Dominions-Rechtstransfer-Staatsbildung-und-Governance-in-England-Massachusetts-und-South-C |date=2016-08-12 }} *{{Cite book|title=The Upper House in Revolutionary America, 1763-1788|last=Main|first=Jackson Turner|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|year=1967}} * Middleton, Richard, and Anne Lombard. ''Colonial America: A History to 1763'' (4th ed. 2011) [https://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1405190043/ excerpt and text search] * Osgood, Herbert L. ''The American colonies in the seventeenth century,'' (3 vol 1904-07)' [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.49015000055823 vol. 1 online]; [https://books.google.com/books?id=QqlDAQAAMAAJ vol 2 online]; [https://books.google.com/books?id=agcOAAAAIAAJ vol 3 online] * Osgood, Herbert L. ''The American colonies in the eighteenth century'' (4 vol, 1924–25) {{refend}} {{Portal bar|British Empire|Monarchy|North America|Politics}}<!-- EDITORS NOTE: Please do not add "Portal:United States" as it would be historically inaccurate. Thank you. --> {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Colonial Government In The Thirteen Colonies}} [[Category:Colonial government in America| ]] [[Category:Governance of the British Empire]] [[Category:Thirteen Colonies]]'