Thirteen Colonies contains the administrative territorial entity Colony of Rhode Island and Plantations
New England colonies
Province of Massachusetts Bay, chartered as a royal colony in 1691
Popham Colony, established in 1607; abandoned in 1608
Plymouth Colony, established in 1620; merged with Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691
Province of Maine, patent issued in 1622 by Council for New England; patent reissued by Charles I in 1639; absorbed by Massachusetts Bay Colony by 1658
Massachusetts Bay Colony, established in 1628; merged with Plymouth Colony in 1691
Province of New Hampshire, established in 1629; merged with Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1641; chartered as royal colony in 1679
Connecticut Colony, established in 1636; chartered as royal colony in 1662
Saybrook Colony, established in 1635; merged with Connecticut Colony in 1644
New Haven Colony, established in 1638; merged with Connecticut Colony in 1664
Colony of Rhode Island chartered as royal colony in 1663
Providence Plantations established by Roger Williams in 1636
Portsmouth established in 1638 by John Clarke, William Coddington, and others
Newport established in 1639 after a disagreement and split among the settlers in Portsmouth
Warwick established in 1642 by Samuel Gorton
These four settlements merged into a single Royal colony in 1663Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut, and New Haven Colonies formed the New England Confederation in (1643–1654; 1675 – c. 1680) and all New England colonies were included in the Dominion of New England (1686–1689).Government
The three forms of colonial government in 1776 were provincial (royal colony), proprietary, and charter. These governments were all subordinate to the British monarch with no representation in the Parliament of Great Britain. The administration of all British colonies was overseen by the Board of Trade in London beginning late in the 17th century.
The provincial colony was governed by commissions created at the pleasure of the king. A governor and his council were appointed by the crown. The governor was invested with general executive powers and authorized to call a locally elected assembly. The governor's council would sit as an upper house when the assembly was in session, in addition to its role in advising the governor. Assemblies were made up of representatives elected by the freeholders and planters (landowners) of the province. The governor had the power of absolute veto and could prorogue (i.e., delay) and dissolve the assembly. The assembly's role was to make all local laws and ordinances, ensuring that they were not inconsistent with the laws of Britain. In practice, this did not always occur, since many of the provincial assemblies sought to expand their powers and limit those of the governor and crown. Laws could be examined by the British Privy Council or Board of Trade, which also held veto power of legislation. New Hampshire, New York, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia were crown colonies. Massachusetts became a crown colony at the end of the 17th century.
Proprietary colonies were governed much as royal colonies, except that lord proprietors appointed the governor rather than the king. They were set up after the English Restoration of 1660 and typically enjoyed greater civil and religious liberty. Pennsylvania (which included Delaware), New Jersey, and Maryland were proprietary colonies.Charter governments were political corporations created by letters patent, giving the grantees control of the land and the powers of legislative government. The charters provided a fundamental constitution and divided powers among legislative, executive, and judicial functions, with those powers being vested in officials. Massachusetts, Providence Plantation, Rhode Island, Warwick, and Connecticut were charter colonies. The Massachusetts charter was revoked in 1684 and was replaced by a provincial charter that was issued in 1691. Providence Plantations merged with the settlements at Rhode Island and Warwick to form the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, which also became a charter colony in 1636.
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