Colonial charters in the Thirteen Colonies facts for kids

A charter is a special document that gives groups or places the legal right to exist and do certain things. It's like a big permission slip from a king or government. Charters can give specific rights to a town, city, university, or other important group.

For colonies, kings would give these charters to people or companies. This gave them special powers to govern new lands. The charters explained how the colony would be connected to the home country, often giving them some freedom from direct royal control. Trading companies got charters that let their leaders in England make rules for the colony, as long as they followed English laws.

Proprietary charters gave ruling power to a single owner, called a proprietor. This owner would decide how the government worked, choose officials, and make laws. However, these laws usually needed the agreement of the colonists. All colonial charters promised the colonists the general rights and privileges of Englishmen. This promise later caused problems during the American Revolution. In the late 1600s, the King started to see charters as a problem for controlling the colonies. He began changing them into royal provinces, which were directly controlled by the Crown.

History of Colonial Charters

Early Charters for Business Companies

The first charters for the Virginia and Massachusetts colonies were given to business companies. These companies only needed regular meetings of their officers and stockholders to govern.

• The Virginia charter was first given in 1606. It was later updated in 1609 and 1612. But the company went bankrupt, and the charter was taken away in 1624.
• The second colonial charter was given to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629. This led to settlements in Boston and Salem. This was about ten years after the first English settlers arrived at Plymouth Colony near Cape Cod.
• In 1684, a court in England canceled the Massachusetts charter. The colony then became a royal colony, directly controlled by the King.
• King Charles II put Massachusetts under the control of the Dominion of New England in 1685.
• Later, after William III and Mary II became rulers, they gave Massachusetts Bay a new, more generous charter in 1691.

Protecting Charters: The Charter Oak

King Charles II also gave Connecticut its charter in 1662. This charter gave Connecticut the right to govern itself.

• When James II became king in 1685, he tried to take back the Connecticut charter. He sent Sir Edmund Andros to get it.
• But Captain Joseph Wadsworth bravely took the important document out of a window. He hid it in a hollow oak tree, which became known as the "Charter Oak".
• The charter stayed hidden until King James was overthrown.
• Connecticut temporarily lost its self-government when it joined the Dominion of New England in 1687. But its charter was given back in 1689.
• The last charter given by Charles II was to Rhode Island in 1663.
• Both Connecticut and Rhode Island were already established colonies when they got their charters. These charters allowed them to elect their own governors.

Changes in Colonial Control

After many political changes in England, like the English Civil Wars in the 1640s and the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688, things changed for the colonies. These conflicts involved struggles between the King and Parliament.

• As these conflicts reached the colonies, most colonies eventually gave up their charters to the King by 1763. They became royal colonies.
• The King and his ministers wanted more direct control over the Thirteen Colonies, which had been largely left alone before.
• By the late 1600s, Maryland's proprietary charter was taken away from the Lords Baltimore. It became a royal colony with a Governor of Maryland chosen by the King. This governor worked with the King's ministers and Parliament.

Colonies Before the Revolution

By 1776, just before the American Revolution:

• Pennsylvania and its lower Delaware Bay counties were still proprietary colonies. They operated under a charter given to William Penn and his family.
• The Province of Connecticut and the Province of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations continued as corporation colonies under their original charters.
• Massachusetts was a royal province. It operated under a charter that combined the older "Massachusetts Bay" colony (at Boston) and the "first landing" colony, Plymouth Colony (at Plymouth, Massachusetts), which had the famous "Mayflower Compact" from 1620.
• Further south, the Provinces of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia all had their original charters removed. There were growing disagreements about the power of the royal governors and the colonial assemblies.
• The King's power became stronger, and the colonies were governed more directly from London. This led to increasing tension as the 1700s continued, eventually leading to the American Revolution.