Colonial governments

All the colonies had similar gov structure

Colonial governors were appointed by the british crown

• The exception to this were the three proprietary colonies and the corporate colonies

• Proprietary colonies - maryland, pennsylvania, delaware

  • The proprietary colonies had governors appointed by the proprietors of the land

  • The proprietors were the people who had been gifted land grants by the british crown

• In the corporate colonies, the gov as appointed by the population

• In theory, the gov was supposed to have a lot of power

  • But in practice, they had very little authority under british rule

  • They were often dismissed by british gov

  • They were paid by british gov, and heavily relied on them for revenue

Traditions of colonial democracy

• Voting was a privilege for the wealthy and educated

• Laws were a refection of the people's voice in the gov, so they varied from colony to colony

• In 1735, journalistic freedom was established

• Religious freedom was also established early, in the colonies