British Rule Pgs. 263-264. Government in the Colonies New Spain and New France were governed by...
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Transcript of British Rule Pgs. 263-264. Government in the Colonies New Spain and New France were governed by...
British Rule
Pgs. 263-264
Government in the Colonies
New Spain and New France were governed by monarchs in Europe.
Monarch – king or queen *Sometimes the king or queen asked advisors to help make laws.
More often the monarch ruled alone.The 13 British colonies were ruled a
different way.
The British Government and the 13 Colonies
The British monarch made some of the laws. (King George III - 1760)
Some British citizens took part in deciding what laws were made.
These citizens were elected by the British people to speak for them in Parliament.
Parliament was an elected group who passed laws for all British people.
The 13 Colonies and Parliament
The monarch and Parliament governed the 13 colonies.
The people living in the colonies were not allowed to vote in British elections.
Unlike other British citizens, the colonists could not elect lawmakers to speak and act for them in Parliament.
Self-Government
Some American colonists thought they should have self-government.
Why?They felt England did not understand life
in the colonies.England was 3,000 miles away.What worked in England didn’t always
work in the colonies.
Limited Self-Government
During the 1600s and 1700s, the monarch and Parliament let the colonists make some of the laws that affected them.
Government in the British colonies became more like a democracy.
Democracy – a government in which the people take part.
Limited Self-Government
The colonists were still British subjects.Parliament had to approve the laws the
colonists made.The colonists were still required to follow
laws made by Parliament.The British colonists welcomed the
chance for some self-government.
Colonial Legislatures
Soon each colony formed a “mini-Parliament” called a legislature.
The first legislature was called the House of Burgesses. It was established in Virginia in 1619.
All 13 colonies eventually formed their own legislatures.
People were elected by property owners.
Colonial Governors
Each colony had a governor.The governor made sure that the laws of
the colonial legislatures were ones the British government would agree to.
The governor also made sure that the colonists followed laws passed by the king and Parliament.
