Triangular trade, established by the British Empire in the early 1700s, changed the empire's economics and politics. British governors, pleased with the wealth and revenue produced by the trade of cotton, tobacco, timber, and other cash crops, began to rule the colonies with a soft hand, a time called the Era of Salutary Neglect. Colonists took advantage of this leniency to strengthen their political institutions. Institutions that would eventually challenge the entire Empire's political power and status quo. What are colonial assemblies? What was the first colonial assembly? Why were they created? And what is the significance of colonial assemblies in American history? Let's find out!
Colonial Assemblies Definition
Firstly, what are colonial assemblies?
Colonial Assemblies
The legislative and representative branches, along with a royal governor, of most of the colonial governments in the American colonies from the 1600s to the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1776. Consisting of elected colonists, these legislative bodies gained control of direct taxation and official appointments over time.
Colonial Assemblies Period of Establishment
The first colonial assembly was the Virginia General Assembly, established in 1619. It was an elected representative body that helped legislate over the colonial in conjunction with a royally-appointed governor. Later, the legislative assembly became a two-house legislature with the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642. This system, a two-house legislature and the royal governor, would be the system of government in Virginia from 1642 to 1776.
Fig. 1 - A photograph of the Virginia House of Burgesses in Williamsburg, Virginia
Other colonies followed suit. After the Glorious Revolution in England in 1689, representative assemblies in America followed the practice of the English parliament by being a check and balance to the power of royal governors and crown officials.
The Glorious Revolution (1688-9)
This event saw England develop from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. King James II was deposed and Queen Mary II and her husband King William II of Orange ascended the throne. Once in power, they introduced the Bill of Rights (1689), limiting the power of the monarchy and establishing Parliament as the ruling power over England.
Powers of the Colonial Assemblies
In Massachusetts during the 1720s, the assembly refused to honor the permanent salary of the royal governor. Soon the assemblies of other colonies, such as North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, did the same. During this time, colonial assemblies began to take control of taxation and appointments.
Did you know? During this time, many colonists began to feel and pass policies protecting the right to tax the colonies directly from the colonial assemblies, not the English parliament. This sentiment and freedom would later be at the heart of the issues leading to the American Revolution.
Leading the increasingly powerful assemblies were members of the colonial elite. Although most property-owning white men had the right to vote, only men of wealth and status stood for election. It should be noted that even these assemblies of colonial men of wealth and power could not impose unpopular edicts on the colonists. Purposeful public protests were a fact of life in the colonies. These protests and the growing authority of the assemblies created a political system responsive to the colonists' will and increasingly resistant to British control.
Colonial Assemblies Rights
If colonists elected representatives to colonial assemblies, did the colonial assemblies grant the colonists any rights or privileges? Most of the colonial assemblies of the American colonies had, in some form or another, a decree, act, or legislation protecting the individual rights of their colonists. The earliest legal action protecting colonists' rights was the Massachusetts Body of Liberties, passed in 1641 by the General Court and later adopted by their General Assembly. This act and the acts of other colonies mirrored the Enlightenment philosophies of natural law and individual rights. Many of the protections are very similar to those that would later be enshrined in the U.S. Bill of Rights:
Rights to judicial and procedural due process.
Right to a jury trial and bail.
Right against cruel and unusual punishments.
Rights to freedom of speech and petition.
Right to be notified of court hearings.
Right against double jeopardy.
Rights prohibiting monopolies and promoting economic competition.
Rights to freedom of religion and practice.
Rights to the freedom of the press.
Colonial Assemblies American Revolution
During the Era of Salutary Neglect (the 1720s to 1750s), the American colonial assemblies eroded the power of royal governors and ministers, shifting that power to the assemblies themselves, giving colonists more representative authority in the governance of their colonies. However, after the French and Indian War (1754-1763), England began a more focused effort to take back economic and political control of the colonies.
Fig. 2 - The title page of the laws and acts of the North Carolina Assembly from 1773
During the American Revolution, Colonial Assemblies attempted to flex their political power and became the English Parliament's target. As Parliament passed revenue acts such as the Sugar Act (1764), Stamp Act (1765), and Townshend Acts (1767), the colonial assemblies began to pass legislation boycotting British imports and selling British goods. These assemblies became the arena where the colonial political elites debated the power of taxation by Parliament.
Did you know? As a need grew for a continental assembly, what would become the Continental Congress, many delegates to this congress were representatives of their colonial assemblies, such as Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams, Samuel Adams, and others.
Seeing the influence of the colonial assemblies, Parliament targeted their power as a means of early control over the colonies during the American Revolution. In the 1760s, Parliament threatened to dissolve the New York General Assembly to leverage the colony to comply with the Townshend Acts and repeal their non-importation policies. In 1774, the Intolerable Acts passed against Massachusetts and Boston, following the Boston Tea Party, dissolved the Massachusetts legislature and gave direct control of the colony to the royal governor. As the rebellion spread, more colonial assemblies were dissolved.
Did you know? Though the assemblies lost legitimate power under the British Government, the colonists had established committees of correspondence and committees of commerce to oversee and coordinate the boycotts and protests across the colonies. As the assemblies were dissolved, these committees became the ad hoc representative assemblies that continued to lead the colonial rebellion and support the Continental Congress.
Colonial Assemblies Significance
Most, if not all, of the colonial assemblies, became the legislative branches of the states during the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution. During the Revolutionary War, the reassembled colonial assemblies began drafting state constitutions. The constitutions of Virginia and Massachusetts, prepared by their assemblies, became the framework for the U.S. Constitution.
Fig. 3 - This painting by Peter Rothermel from the 1850s depicts Patrick Henry's fiery speech in the Virginia House of Burgesses as he debated in favor of independence, famously stating, "if this is treason, make the most of it!"
The most significant influence of the colonial assemblies is that through these legislative bodies, self-government sowed the seeds of independence. Through decades of growing power and influence, the debates within these colonial assemblies instilled the approach that the ability to govern should come from the local communities of people. And that the government should be responsive to the needs and interests of the people. This did not happen overnight but over decades, from the early 1700s to the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1776. This history of colonial assemblies and representative government in the colonies is the foundation of the independence movement.
Colonial Assemblies - Key takeaways
- Colonial Assemblies were the legislative and representative branches, along with a royal governor, of most of the colonial governments in the American colonies from the 1600s to the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1776. Consisting of elected colonists, these legislative bodies gained control of direct taxation and official appointments over time.
- During the 1720s colonial assemblies began to take control over taxation and policies that directly affected their colony. Leading the increasingly powerful assemblies were members of the colonial elite.
- Most of the colonial assemblies of the American colonies had, in some form or another, a decree, act, or legislation protecting the individual rights of their colonists. Most, if not all, of the colonial assemblies, became the legislative branches of the states during the Articles of Confederation and the U.S. Constitution.
- The most significant influence of the colonial assemblies is that through these legislative bodies, self-government developed the idea of independence. Through decades of growing power and influence, the debates within these colonial assemblies instilled the approach that the ability to govern should come from the local communities of people.
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