Structure of Colonial Government.

The systems of government in the American colonies looked much like the British government. England and the colonies had executives (England had a king; each colony had a governor) and two-house legislatures (England had a Parliament with a House of Commons and a House of Lords; each colony had an assembly with a House of Representatives and an upper house, or council). Despite the similar structures, these governments were different. The king of England represented the nation's sovereign power, but since Parliament had beheaded Charles I in 1649 and deposed James II in 1688, kings had learned to govern with the support of Parliament. In Parliament the House of Lords represented England's aristocrats while the House of Commons represented the merchants or middle class. Members of Parliament did not represent local constituencies; their real job was to make laws for the good of the entire realm...