AP® United States History · Unit 2 · Topic 2.7
Colonial Self-Government
Colonial self-government means elected assemblies, controlling taxes and the governor's salary, ran most day-to-day colonial policy even though a royal governor technically held authority. That power stayed limited to property-owning white men, so it was self-rule, not democracy.
Distance made this possible. London appointed governors for most colonies, but a governor needed money to operate, and the colonial assembly controlled the budget. An ocean and months of delay meant the crown could not micromanage every decision, so assemblies filled the gap, meeting regularly, passing local laws, and handling disputes without waiting for instructions from home.
The mechanism was the power of the purse. If a governor pushed a policy the assembly disliked, the assembly could withhold or delay his salary until he backed down. Governors technically outranked assemblies, but they depended on them for pay and cooperation, so assemblies often got their way in practice. This made colonial government look self-directed even while it stayed legally tied to Britain.
Voting stayed narrow. Only adult white men who owned a set amount of property could vote for assembly seats, cutting out women, enslaved and free Black colonists, Native Americans, and landless white men. So self-government was real power, exercised regularly and taken seriously, but it belonged to a propertied minority, not the whole population. That gap matters when the colonies become states after 1776: the same assemblies, same leaders, and same habits of taxing, budgeting, and checking an executive became the model for state legislatures and constitutions, while the question of who could vote stayed just as contested.
Key terms
- Colonial assembly
- An elected legislative body in a colony that passed laws and controlled taxation and spending.
- Power of the purse
- The ability to control government spending, used by assemblies to pressure royal governors.
- Royal governor
- An executive appointed by the crown to run a colony, dependent on the assembly for salary and funds.
- Property qualification
- A minimum amount of land or wealth a person had to own before being allowed to vote.
Watch it explained
- How it worksHow does a colonial assembly use its grip on the governor's salary to get what it wants?
- How it worksWalk me through who could actually cast a vote in a colony and who was shut out.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't colonial self-government the same thing as democracy in the modern sense?
- Ties togetherHow do those assemblies become the blueprint for the state governments written after 1776?
Check yourself
End of topic.