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Colonial government in the Thirteen Colonies
The governments of the Thirteen Colonies of British America developed in the 17th and 18th centuries under the influence of the British constitution. The British monarch issued colonial charters that established either royal colonies, proprietary colonies, or corporate colonies. In every colony, a governor led the executive branch, and the legislative branch was divided into two houses: a governor's council and a representative assembly. Men who met property qualifications elected the assembly. In royal colonies, the British government appointed the governor and the council. In proprietary colonies, the proprietors appointed the governor and his council. In corporate colonies, voters elected these officials.
In domestic matters, the colonies were largely self-governing on many issues; however, the British government did exercise veto power over colonial legislation, and regardless of the type of colonial government, retained control of the law and equity courts; judges were selected by the British government and served at the king's pleasure. 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).[page needed]
The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a dispute over the British 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. As the revolution progressed, the colonial governments were replaced by temporary provincial congresses and ultimately by state constitutions establishing republican governments. The colonial experience informed and shaped the new state constitutions and, ultimately, the United States Constitution adopted in 1789.
After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, Great Britain was governed as a constitutional monarchy with sovereignty residing in the King-in-Parliament. Parliament was a bicameral legislature. Aristocrats inherited seats in the House of Lords, while the gentry and merchants elected the House of Commons. The British monarch possessed executive authority, but he relied on the cabinet ministers of the Privy Council to actually run the government. These ministers depended on majority support in both houses of Parliament to govern effectively. While only 25 percent of adult men met the property qualifications to vote in parliamentary elections, historian Alan Taylor notes:
the English constitution was extraordinarily open and libertarian when compared with the absolute monarchies then developing in the rest of Europe. Consequently, it mattered greatly to the later political culture of the United States that England, rather than Spain or France, eventually dominated colonization north of Florida.
By the start of the American Revolution, the thirteen colonies had developed political systems featuring a governor exercising executive power and a bicameral legislature made up of a council and an assembly. The system was modeled on the British constitution, with the governor corresponding to the monarch, the council to the House of Lords and the assembly to the House of Commons. The American colonists were proud of their status as British subjects and claimed the same rights of Englishmen as their counterparts in the mother country.
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. They were part of what was then British America in the Kingdom of Great Britain. A colony's precise relationship to the Crown depended on whether it was a corporate colony, proprietary colony or royal colony as defined in its colonial charter. Whereas royal colonies belonged to the Crown, proprietary and corporate colonies were granted by the Crown to private interests.
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 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 Colonial Affairs was responsible for supervising the colonies; however, this ministry suffered from ineffective secretaries and the jealousy of other government ministers.
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Colonial government in the Thirteen Colonies
The governments of the Thirteen Colonies of British America developed in the 17th and 18th centuries under the influence of the British constitution. The British monarch issued colonial charters that established either royal colonies, proprietary colonies, or corporate colonies. In every colony, a governor led the executive branch, and the legislative branch was divided into two houses: a governor's council and a representative assembly. Men who met property qualifications elected the assembly. In royal colonies, the British government appointed the governor and the council. In proprietary colonies, the proprietors appointed the governor and his council. In corporate colonies, voters elected these officials.
In domestic matters, the colonies were largely self-governing on many issues; however, the British government did exercise veto power over colonial legislation, and regardless of the type of colonial government, retained control of the law and equity courts; judges were selected by the British government and served at the king's pleasure. 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).[page needed]
The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a dispute over the British 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. As the revolution progressed, the colonial governments were replaced by temporary provincial congresses and ultimately by state constitutions establishing republican governments. The colonial experience informed and shaped the new state constitutions and, ultimately, the United States Constitution adopted in 1789.
After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, Great Britain was governed as a constitutional monarchy with sovereignty residing in the King-in-Parliament. Parliament was a bicameral legislature. Aristocrats inherited seats in the House of Lords, while the gentry and merchants elected the House of Commons. The British monarch possessed executive authority, but he relied on the cabinet ministers of the Privy Council to actually run the government. These ministers depended on majority support in both houses of Parliament to govern effectively. While only 25 percent of adult men met the property qualifications to vote in parliamentary elections, historian Alan Taylor notes:
the English constitution was extraordinarily open and libertarian when compared with the absolute monarchies then developing in the rest of Europe. Consequently, it mattered greatly to the later political culture of the United States that England, rather than Spain or France, eventually dominated colonization north of Florida.
By the start of the American Revolution, the thirteen colonies had developed political systems featuring a governor exercising executive power and a bicameral legislature made up of a council and an assembly. The system was modeled on the British constitution, with the governor corresponding to the monarch, the council to the House of Lords and the assembly to the House of Commons. The American colonists were proud of their status as British subjects and claimed the same rights of Englishmen as their counterparts in the mother country.
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. They were part of what was then British America in the Kingdom of Great Britain. A colony's precise relationship to the Crown depended on whether it was a corporate colony, proprietary colony or royal colony as defined in its colonial charter. Whereas royal colonies belonged to the Crown, proprietary and corporate colonies were granted by the Crown to private interests.
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 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 Colonial Affairs was responsible for supervising the colonies; however, this ministry suffered from ineffective secretaries and the jealousy of other government ministers.