Slowly these town communities came together to form a larger governmental unit for the colony on the whole.

Pennsylvania, on the other hand, took a different position. They treated the Indians well and Pennsylvania soon became a very prosperous colony. Charles II compensated William Penn with a large land grant in America. Penn was a Quaker, a different religious group from the other Puritans in America at the time, but they left England for the same reason, to escape religious persecution. Penn designed a different governmental system as well. The Frame of Government (1681) provided for religious freedom, political liberty, and the possibility of all Christians to vote and hold elected office.

Slavery was a very important labor resource for the colonies, without which they would not have been able to thrive and grow as they had. The colonies were largely agricultural in nature that required vast amounts of labor to plant, manage and harvest the crops. The “middle passage” was the horrific experience that these captured Africans had to make to reach the new world. The journey was extremely hard as there was little to eat or drink and the conditions were such that many chose to jump overboard and drown rather than suffer more. About 15%, about one million people, of those who were on the journey between 1700 and 1810 died in transit.

England used something called “mercantilist subsidies” to stimulate domestic manufacturing and foreign trade. In the 1650’s the English extended these policies to the American colonies that caused great controversy. Charles II extended the mercantilist policy that was called the Navigation Act. This Act called for all goods imported into England, or the American colonies, be carried on English ships only. Charles II strengthened the ban on foreign merchants trading with the colonies and that some American products should be shipped only to England. The English backed up these policies with military force. But the colonies resisted mercantilism. They wanted all the European markets for their products, especially those that would return the best profits. But when James II achieved the throne in 1685

Some topics in this essay:
English Empire, , James II, Carolinas Pennsylvania, Charles II, Rhode Island, Currency Act, Frame Government, Francis Bacon, England Indians, american colonies, james ii, charles ii, native people, governmental system, comprised mainly, town meetings, land grant,