Political Development in America: Maryland and Church

Yet the people soon had reason to regret the change of government. The policy of commercial restriction was made more stringent than ever, and Virginia suffered from it more severely than any of the other colonies. It was decided that all the export and import trade of the colonies should employ none but English vessels, and that tobacco, the principal product of Virginia, should be sent only to England. The trade between the colonies was likewise taxed for the benefit of England. Remonstrances against these oppressive laws proved of no avail, while discontent was also caused by large grants of Virginia territory to royal favorites. Meanwhile, the aristocratic party in the legislature had seriously abridged the liberties of the people. Religious intolerance increased, Quakers and Baptists were heavily fined, the taxes became oppressive, and the Assembly, instead of dissolving at the end of its term, continued in session, thus virtually abolishing the representative system of government. These were some of the evils which gave rise to the so-called "rebellion" of Nathaniel Bacon, and which caused so many of the planters to sustain him. His effort, however, proved of no efficacy in restoring the liberties of the people, and the oppressive system of government long continued.

Of the proprietary colonies of America the oldest was that of Maryland, which was founded under a grant of land made to Lord Baltimore in 1632. Its charter was of marked liberality, the emigrants having the right to worship God as they wished, while politically they were equals. The laws of the province were to be subject to the approbation of a majority of the freemen or their deputies. At first the members of the colony convened in General Assembly for legislative purposes, the first Assembly being held in 1635. But in 1639 a representative government was adopted, the people sending delegates to the Assembly. The governor of the province was appointed by the proprietor. In a preceding article we have considered the succession of political events in Maryland, and it will suffice to say here that, after a long subversion of the proprietary government, the Calverts again gained control, and that Maryland continued under their rule until the Revolution.

The Carolinas were granted to a body of eight proprietors in 1653, under a charter which gave the people religious freedom and a voice in legislation, but reserved nearly the whole power to the proprietary corporation. Somewhat later Locke's despotic scheme of government (explained in a preceding article) was adopted. Yet the effort to establish it proved abortive. The people saw the colonies to the north of them governing themselves, and refused to submit to a government in which they had no voice. They established a republican government of their own, elected delegates to a popular Assembly, drove out tyrannical governors and replaced them by men of their own choice, and in all displayed an aptness for and a tendency to self-government equal to those of any other of the colonies. For a short period the Church of England was made supreme in South Carolina by the proprietors, and all dissenters were excluded from the legislature. Complaint was made to the English Parliament, and soon after the disfranchising laws were repealed by the colonial Assembly; but the Church of England remained the established form of religion till the Revolution.

In New York, under the Dutch, the example of self-government displayed in New England caused much dissatisfaction with the arbitrary rule which prevailed, and gave rise to popular demands for greater privileges and a share in the government. The people were very ready, on the occasion of the English invasion, to submit to their new rulers, in the hope of gaining increased liberty. Yet they found themselves under as severe a despotism as before, and made the same protest that had been heard in the other colonies, that taxation without representation was unjust and oppressive. They obtained answer from their governor that the taxes should be made so heavy that they would have time to think of nothing else but how to pay them. This oppression continued till 1683, when, under the advice of William Penn, the Duke of York ordered the governor to call an Assembly of representatives. This Assembly passed an important "charter of liberties," which was approved by the governor. This charter placed the supreme legislative power in the governor, council, and people met in general assembly, gave to every freeman full right to vote for representatives, established trial by jury, required that no tax whatever should be assessed without the consent of the Assembly, and that no professing Christian should be questioned concerning his religion. The privileges here claimed were not fully conceded. Several of the governors proved oppressive and ruled the colony despotically. But the right of self-government, so far as it had been attained, was never again yielded. The dispute, of which we have previously spoken, in 1732, between the liberal and the aristocratic parties, which was decided in favor of the former, showed clearly the prevailing liberal sentiments of the people. The editor who had been thrown into prison for a libel against the government was acquitted, and Andrew Hamilton, one of his counsel, was highly applauded for his eloquent defence of the rights of mankind and of free speech by the press.