Enjoying the blessings of salutary neglect, the American colonies had been able, in the first half of the eighteenth century, to ignore the mercantilist restrictions and edicts of Great Britain and to flourish in virtual independence from the mother country. Britain's hand was only felt lightly in the government of the individual colonies, each of which had a legislature that passed laws and taxed the colonial citizens as it saw fit. Despite only a few minor restrictions, overall there was quite a bit of religious freedom in colonial America. Relations with Britain were amiable, and the colonies relied on British trade for economic success.
In theory, the royal governors of the colonies had great power. In reality, the colonial legislatures held the most power. They created and passed laws regarding defense and taxation. They set salaries for royal officials and influenced appointments of local officials. Britain allowed its colonies more freedom to govern themselves than other European nations did. England having a long tradition of strong local government and weak central power and the British government lacking the resources to enforce its wishes upon colonial America were two reasons this came about. At the same time, such salutary neglect encouraged the maturation of colonial political systems and the colonial legislatures. Differences between the colonies gradually disappeared as common forms of local government and common experiences among the colonists brought people together. Americans became used to regulating their own affairs without significant interference and developed self-reliance by effectively organizing their government. As colonial societies expanded and matured, colonists expected the British home government to uphold, or at least not interfere with, the prosperity and autonomy they enjoyed.
Colonies of colonial America had different views when it came to religion, but they all had one thing in common.
