Contract Colony and Chartered Autonomous Colony 1620, a group of British separatists who fled the religious persecution in the Netherlands arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts today on the ship Mayflower. Before they arrived in America, adult men signed a contract, which laid a political foundation for the future colonies and announced that they would make "just and equal" laws to govern the "civil political group" they formed. On this basis, they established Plymouth colony. 1636, another group of Puritans came to the Connecticut Valley, established settlements and managed them according to their own laws and regulations. 1639, the colonists of three towns along the Connecticut River jointly formulated a document called the Connecticut Basic Law, which established a colonial government "according to the organizational model of joint-stock companies" and abolished the religious qualification restrictions on the right to vote. Therefore, the Connecticut Basic Law is considered to be the first written constitution in history. [2] At that time, similar contract colonies were Providence, Newport, Portsmouth and New Haven. However, the residents of these colonies, worried about future changes, still wanted to be officially recognized by the British government, so they applied for a charter from the British government. Therefore, based on the above-mentioned contractual colonies, Connecticut and Rhode Island merged in 1662 and 1663, respectively, forming two chartered autonomous colonies.
In the process of colonizing North America, the British king also distributed some land there to his minions or nobles and ruled according to the charter. This is a landlord colony. 1632, the British king sealed Maryland to Sir Baltimore, giving him the power to "completely control local administrative, legislative and military affairs". He had only a slight obligation to the king of England: he recognized the supreme power of the king of England and offered some tributes, making Baltimore "like a king, but without a crown." [3] This colony is actually a fief obtained by the owner from the king of England, and the owner has complete ruling power. Later in new york (1664), South Carolina and North Carolina (1663), Pennsylvania (168 1), Georgia (1733) and New Jersey (1738).
Initially, the 13 colony in North America was not a royal colony. 1624, on the pretext of financial failure and internal chaos, the king revoked the charter of Virginia London Company, and declared that it was directly ruled by the British government and governed by the governor directly appointed by the king. 1679, the British king took away the part of Massachusetts colony beyond the boundary stipulated in the Charter, established the royal government and established the New Hampshire colony. 1684, the articles of association of Massachusetts Company was revoked. At this point, the company group no longer exists. New york, New Jersey, South Carolina and North Carolina also became royal colonies. By 1752, Georgia became a royal colony due to the expiration of the charter. In this way, eight of the 13 colonies are royal colonies, two are the above-mentioned chartered autonomous colonies, and the other three are still owner colonies, namely Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware ruled by Pennsylvania owners.
In short, the establishment of these colonies, no matter what form, should nominally recognize the supreme sovereignty of the British king and rule through the governor appointed by Britain. In this sense, the North American colonies were the result of the territorial expansion of British monarchies, and the new continent was opened up by European immigrants who were mainly British. On the one hand, although they also accept the aura of the British crown, they are "equally" attached to the suzerain country under its aura; But they each have their own territory and territory, and they are independent and non-interfering political entities. Economically, the colonies are separated from each other, each with its own economic characteristics and independent interests.