When we look around the United States today, we find a diverse range of cultures and identities attempting to coexist as Americans under a single banner and set of beliefs. These beliefs can be traced back hundreds of years to our forefathers in the colonies. This is not necessarily new, since we frequently want to identify with our local cultures and proudly proclaim our allegiance to our home states. Long before there was a need for a continental identity, colonists, too, saw themselves as regional. As such, this essay claims that colonial governors were frequently products of environments that prioritized local interests over the interests of adjacent colonies.
To begin peeling back these layers, we must first consider the origins of the colonies. The British Crown granted charters to many of the oldest towns, including Roanoke and Jamestown, in order to establish a presence in the mid-Atlantic region. The Pilgrims who arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts, were not like the others (The American Revolution, 2018). The Pilgrims came to avoid religious fanaticism that they believed the Church of England was forcing on Puritans, not for the Crown. They were likewise less interested in establishing big plantations than their southern European counterparts. In the north, smaller farms were preferred, whilst the climate and soils in the south allowed for enormous plantations to grow. The fundamental distinction here helps us comprehend how the North and South’s regional identities will evolve in the future decades and millennia (The American Revolution, 2018). The eastern parts of North America had developed multiple colonies by the 1670s, each with its own distinct identity. Coastal ports were forming and developing merchant trade routes, and numerous European ethnic groups had established autonomous towns.
The structure and operation of each colony’s government were unique. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, for example, were much more decentralized and less reliant on a single governing power. Local court systems were appointed directly by the King and functioned at the pleasure of the Royal Governor (The American Revolution, 2018). Other colonies, such as Virginia, had more centralized assemblies, such as the House of Burgesses, which reflected the plantation gentry who would become the first aristocracies in America. Their responsibilities varied depending on how the colony’s administration was organized; nonetheless, because the governors had a direct route to the British Crown, they had ultimate authority.
In times of conflict or unrest, colonial governors essentially served as chief executives (think of the president) by marshaling a militia or issuing proclamations that called on the people to respond. The ongoing wars with Native American groups on the edges of the colonies were one of the most arduous reoccurrences during the colonial era (The American Revolution, 2018). The majority of the colonies had been issued land proclamations that reached far west of where the majority of the colonists lived. Their claims were granted royally, but this did nothing to pacify Native Americans, who continued to fight European invasion.
To concludd, these few examples demonstrate how individuals’ and government officials’ allegiances shifted dramatically in the 1770s. Elections have shifted the identification of council members from one side of the political conflict to the other in several circumstances. Remember that as the Revolution approached, the colonists were split on the topic. The third of colonists supported independence, as John Adams famously stated. Another third of colonists wished to remain British subjects, while the last third was unconcerned and attempted to stay out of the conflict entirely.
Reference
The American Revolution | THE AMERICAN YAWP. (2018). The AmericanYawp. Web.