Talk:Colonial government in the Thirteen Colonies
While struggling with how to present and discuss early American history, the utility of this article has become aparent to me. Certain things don't need to be repeated for each colony, yet these features deserve more attention than is justified in any other article. While I intend to continue adding to this, as well as the American Revolution, any help is greatly apppreciated. Feel free to wade in, and thanks. Lou I 14:45, 9 Dec 2003 (UTC)
Looks like this has been neglected for a while. I may have some thoughts about it as I have been working with articles on some of the colonies. But there's so much I don't know right now that I'm cautious about just jumping in with changes. This paragraph seems problematic:
- There were originally three forms taken by ventures that created colonies. These are usually described as Proprietary colonies, Royal colonies, and Corporate colonies. The Proprietary Colonies were created when large grants of land and authority were made to one or a small group of men, known as the proprietors. The Royal Colonies were created by a grant of authority under the kings patent to a group. The Corporate Colonies were creatures of both Parliament and the king, and their authority came though a charter.
I don't see a clear distinction between the three, especially between Proprietary colonies and Corporate colonies. I had not heard of Corporate colonies before. As I understand things, there is two primary distinctions: Proprietary colonies, which are given by royal charter to individuals or corporations and the proprietors are responsible for government; and Royal colonies, which are controlled directly by the Crown. Proprietary colonies were common early on, but were for the most part unprofitable. By around the early 1700s, most or all of the formerly proprietary colonies had surrendered their charters and become royal colonies.
Should there be separate articles about Proprietary and Royal colonies? Or simply redirects to this article? Some American colonies are described as Crown colonies, but I do not think the description in that article is applicable to the American colonies. I have not been able to definitively determine whether Crown colony is synonymous with Royal colony.