Mr. Kersey.org - Mr. Kersey's Lecture Notes

Colonial Governments

(Lecture Notes from Mr. Kersey's 8th Grade U.S. History Class)

Each colony had a government to make laws for the colony. The Colonial governments fought with the British government over who would have the ultimate authority over the colonies.
The king had a group of royal advisors known as the Privy Council that decided policy for the colonies.
One power the Colonial governments did have was the "power of the purse," that is, they could decide how to spend their own money, including...
...how much was paid to British officials in the Colonies: if a British official was not liked by the Colonies, they would cut his salary back.
More and more, the Colonies became upset with British rule. Sooner or later, there would be some form of rebellion, and it happened sooner...
Bacon's Rebellion, for example.

In 1658, Charles II died and James II became the new king. He decided to exercise his control over the colonies by putting...
...all of New England plus New York and New Jersey under the control of a single governor, and all the Colonial assemblies were to be dissolved.
The colonists were upset enough, but King James II decided to make a guy named Edmund Andros the Governor, and he was a real jerk, and it only made matters worse.

The problem was, James II was a Catholic, and soon enough there was another revolution, called the Glorious Revolution. During the confusion, the Colonies also rebelled, and put Andros in jail.
William and Mary, the new monarchs, let the Colonies have their assemblies back, and so the Colonies suddenly became more cooperative, for the time being.