First British Colonies

House of Burgesses

Representative assembly in colonial Virginia, which was the first elective governing body in a British overseas possession. The assembly was one division of the legislature established by Gov. George Yeardley at Jamestown, July 30, 1619; the other included the governor himself and a council, all appointed by the colonial proprietor (the Virginia Company). Because each Virginia settlement was entitled to elect two delegates, the original membership of the House of Burgesses was 22.

Pilgrim Fathers

The Pilgrim Fathers were a religious, English group founded in late 16^th century that, unhappy with the political and religious atmosphere in its country, decided to travel to Netherlands and to America. They were met in puritan, clandestine church because religious prosecutions were carried out.

They travelled on the Mayflower, the ship they used to arrive to the US.

Due to some ship problems, they had to return twice to fix the ship. But finally, on September 6^th in 1620 set sail to the US and arrived on September 11^th.

The ship carried 102 people and the crew. They were the very first Anglo-saxons colons who settled down in the current seashore of Massachusetts, creating the Plymouth Colony.

Mayflower Compact

It was written in 1620 by the puritan men (41) that were passengers of the Mayflower. It was written when they arrived to New Plymouth. It was the first document of government of the colony. On the compact, the colonists swore by God that they will do the best for the colony according to certain laws.

They place where they were going to had no law, so they created some rules in favour of the convivence and the well-being of the inhabitants.

Puritanism

Puritanism is a religious movement in the 17^th century that was against the Pope, as the Puritans claimed that had been retained after the religious settlement reached in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

Puritans became noted in the 17th century for a spirit of moral and religious earnestness that informed their whole way of life, and they wanted through church reform to make their lifestyle the pattern for the whole nation. Their efforts to transform the nation contributed both to civil war in England and to the founding of colonies in America as working models of the Puritan way of life.

First British Colonies

13 colonies where a group of colonies on the East coast of North America (founded on the 17^th and 18^th centuries)

They had very similar political. A part of this colonies, Britain had colonies in Florida, Canada and the Caribbean.

The 3 groups in which the Colonies where divided were: 

-  Proprietary Colonies: territories granted by the Crown to one or two proprietors with full power of government. Before the American Revolution War, there were just 3 propriety colonies: Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania.

- Royal Colonies: territory administered by a royal governor appointed by the British Crown. This Colonies had a representative assembly elected by the people. The names of this areas were: New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Carolina (North and South) and Georgia.

- Charter Colonies: The colonies of Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts Bay were charter colonies. In a charter colony, Britain granted a charter to the colonial government establishing the rules under which the colony was to be governed.