Other proprietary governments They generally became unpopular At the time of the Revolution there were three forms of colonial government: 1. Republican; 2. Proprietary; 3. Royal (After 1692 the government of Massachusetts might be described as Semi-royal) In all three forms there was a representative assembly, which alone could impose taxes The governor's council was a kind of upper house The colonial government was much like the English system in miniature The Americans never admitted the supremacy of parliament Except in the regulation of maritime commerce In England there grew up the theory of the imperial supremacy of parliament And the conflict between the British and American theories was precipitated by becoming involved in the political schemes of George III. QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT Section 2. _The Transition from Colonial to State Governments._ Dissolution of assemblies and parliaments Committees of correspondence; provincial congresses Provisional governments; "governors" and "presidents" Origin of the senates Likenesses and differences between British and American systems QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT Section 3. _The State Governments_. Later modifications Universal suffrage Separation between legislative and executive departments; its advantages and disadvantages as compared with the European plan In our system the independence of the executive is of vital importance The state executive The governor's functions: 1. Adviser of legislature; 2. Commander of state militia; 3. Royal prerogative of pardon; 4. Veto power Importance of the veto power as a safeguard against corruption In building the state, the local self-government was left unimpaired Instructive contrast with France Some causes of French political incapacity Vastness of the functions retained by the states in the American Union Illustration from recent English history Independence of the state courts Constitution of the state courts Elective and appointive judges QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE CHAPTER VII. WRITTEN CONSTITUTIONS. In the American state there is a power above the legislature Germs of the idea of a written constitution Development of the idea of contract in Roman law; mediaeval charters The "Great Charter" (1215) The Bill of Rights (1689) Foreshadowing of the American idea by Sir Harry Vane (1666) The Mayflower compact (1620) The "Fundamental Orders" of Connecticut (1639) Germinal development of the colonial charter toward the modern state constitution Abnormal development of some recent state constitutions, encroaching upon the legislature The process of amending constitutions The Swiss "Referendum" QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS AND DIRECTIONS BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE CHAPTER VIII. THE FEDERAL UNION. Section 1. _Origin of the Federal Union_.