| American Government |
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| Sections: Introduction | Section 1 | Section 2 | Section 3 | Section 4 | Section 5 |
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Government : Origins : Section Two Colonial Government
When a colony was formed, it was done under a charter from the British king. This was a document that gave the colony permission to set up a government. All colonies were established with a governor and a legislature who made the laws. The colonial governments, however, were not all structured the same way. There were three different types of colonial governments: Royal Colonies were those that were controlled by the king. The king decided who would be the governor and the governor had a council to help them carry out their job. All colonial laws in a royal colony had to be approved by the king. Proprietary colonies were formed when a wealthy landowner, or proprietor, was given land in the new world by the king. The proprietor was responsible for appointing the governor and could run the colony in any way he saw fit. Charter colonies had the most freedom of any of the colonies. A charter colony was formed when the king gave land to the people and they could rule as they wished. Charter colonies were self-governing. Male property owners were free to elect the governor. In the beginning, the colonies had a great deal of freedom to manage their own governmental affairs. England did not have the resources to impose a strict, centralized administration over the colonies. Colonists were able to establish their governments in whatever ways they saw fit, as long as they did not contradict English law. Each colony had a different form of government, but most adopted a bicameral legislature, or a legislature made up of two houses. The colonial legislature in Pennsylvania was unicameral, only consisting of one house. In colonial America, only white male property-owners were considered full citizens and given the right to vote. These men were able to elect members of the colonial assemblies. These assemblies were responsible for making laws and collecting taxes, but their laws had to be approved by the British government before they could go into effect. As time went on, and England started making money from the colonies, the king began sending his own governors and appointing councilors in the colonies. Both the council and the royal governor could veto laws passed by a colony’s representative assembly. The assembly, on the other hand, had control over the budget, including the governor’s salary.
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We know that the colonists used the ideas from England to establish their own government. Now let’s examine the type of governments they created.
Now it’s time to complete the Section 2 quiz. 