September 21st

Government in the Colonies
*Between 1607 and 1733 the British established 13 colonies along the Atlantic coast of North America. Each of these colonies were formed for different reasons, for example Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Maryland were founded by people seeking religious freedom; Virginia, Georgia, and New York were founded by people seeking economic prosperity. Each colony was very different from the others, however they all shared a very similar form of government. Because the British government and parliament were so far away from the colonies, the colonists were forced to govern themselves. Each colony had a government that included three features:

1. Each colony had a chief executive called a governor.

2. Each colony had a colonial legislature responsible for making laws.

3. Each colony had its own court system.

-These three branches of a colonies government each had its own powers that were different and separate from the other branches. This idea of a separation of powers becomes ingrained in the political psyche of the American colonists.

-Each colony governed itself separately from the other colonies, however the British government back in England still ultimately ruled each colony.

-The first colony to design a plan for self-government was Massachusetts. The original colonists of the Massachusetts Bay Colony were called the Pilgrims; the plan of government that they designed was designed before the pilgrims ever even reached the shores of Plymouth. The plan they came up with was called the Mayflower Compact.

-The first colony to come up with a formal, written constitution was Connecticut. This first of the colonial constitutions was adopted in 1639; it gave the male citizens of Connecticut the right to vote for the colonial governor and legislature.