Colonial Government

LESSON 2

Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina

• Lord Ashley worked with John Locke to create the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina.
• Under the Constitution, all settlers were given a grant of land. The richer investors were given large estates, sometimes as large as thousands of acres.
• To attract settlers, freedom of religion was allowed. Only Catholics were denied.

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Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina

How it Worked

• Each proprietor appointed a deputy, who served on the Grand Council with other nobles and elected representatives.
• The Grand Council created laws and served as the court for the colony.
• Later, the government split. Officials appointed by the proprietors stayed in the Grand Council. Elected officials moved from the Council to the Commons House of Assembly.

Unstable & Divided Government

• Goose Creek Men and the Dissenters were two factions (What is a faction?) that fought because of religious and political differences.
• The Goose Creek Men tried to take over and make the Church of England the official church of the colony.
• The Church Act made the Anglican Church the official church and split the colony into 10 parishes. Each parish served as an election district.
• Trouble with the Native Americans brought the two factions together.

Two Carolinas

• The northern and southern parts of Carolina developed differently.
• Poor, small farmers from Virginia settled in the north.
• Prosperous rice planters settled in the south.
• Wilderness and dangerous seas off the coast separated the north from the south.
• Because it was so hard to govern both parts together, in 1712, North Carolina and South Carolina became separate colonies with their own governments.

Yamassee War

• Native Americans were upset because of mistreatment by the settlers.
• Trade Abuses, enslavement, and settlement drove the Natives to a breaking point.

Yamassee War (cont.)

• The Yamassee launched an attack that threw the colony into war.
• Even though the settlers defeated the Yamassee, other tribes kept fighting.
• The Cherokee helped bring an end to the war. Their motivation was not to help the English, but to seek revenge on the Creek Indians.

• The Lords Proprietors didn’t provide colonists with any protection from the Spanish, Pirates, or Native Americans. It seemed the Proprietors were only interested in making money.
• Colonists began taking steps to protect themselves.

Revolution of 1719

Revolution of 1719 (cont.)

• The Goose Creek Men and the Dissenters joined forces and asked England to take over the colony directly.
• England appointed a royal governor and for 10 years negotiated with the Lords Proprietors to get control of South Carolina.
• In 1729, South Carolina became a royal colony.

• In 1720, the Privy Council to appointed a temporary governor, Sir Francis Nicholson.
• Leading the colony was the Royal Governor.
• Royal Governors were appointed by the king and approved all laws made by the legislature.

A Royal Government

• South Carolina had a bicameral legislature, meaning it had two houses.
• Royal Council (Upper House) was appointed by the British government in London.
• Commons House of Assembly (Lower House) was one of the houses. They were elected by qualified voters in the colony
• To vote, you had to be a white, land-owning male

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A Royal Government