Comparing the Governments between England and the Colonies
Comparing the Governments between England and the Colonies
Between the settlement of Jamestown in 1607 and the Treaty of Paris in 1763, the most important change that occurred in the colonies was the evolution of a society quite different from that in England. Changes in religion, economics, politics, and social structure illustrate this Americanization of the transplanted Europeans.
By 1763 although some colonies still maintained established churches, other colonies had accomplished a virtual revolution for religious toleration and separation of church and state. The British, after many years of religious revolution had established the Anglican Church. In which the king of England was the head of this church. This resulted in almost no separation of church and state. There were several colonies that had the state and the church separate.
One state is Rhode Island; which being a prime example of a state with religious toleration because of it being founded by an outcast of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The founder decided that Rhode Island would be a haven for thinkers and other religions and such. Another state with some religious freedom was Connecticut, which gave us the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut. The cause of this difference was that most of the colonist had fled to the colonies to escape religious persecution. In fact they almost had a majority rule, therefore they did not want a powerful church to suppress or persecute them here in the new world. So they hacked the power of the church and made sure it stayed out of government affairs. In a similar economic revolution, the colonies outgrew their mercantile relationship with the mother country and developed an expanding capitalist system of their own. With Britain's confidence on the mercantile system, it rubbed off on most of the colonies. They wanted to be self sufficient so that they would not have to resort on help from other countries.
The Southern colonies for example relied heavily on trade with England. This was caused by the geography in the south, because it was mostly a tidewater region. This allowed ships to sail deep within the south. Therefore cotton from Georgia was sent across to England, then it was made into thread or such. It was then sent back to the colonies were it was to be made into various items.
Due to the geographic location of the northern colonies, they developed a trade system...