constitution until 1842. Thus he who would study present day state governments in their origin must go back and study the development of English institutions on American soil.

(1) Colonial Origins. All of the original thirteen states existed as British colonies before the Revolutionary War and each enjoyed an individual govern

While these colonial governments varied in the different colonies, in general outline they presented striking similarities. The early English method of colonization was to grant charters to commercial companies similar to the famous East India Company. The London and the Plymouth Companies were the most notable companies to receive such charters and founded the colonies of Virginia and Plymouth. Later more direct methods of colonization were followed. At the time of the Declaration of Independence three distinct types of colonial government existed in the colonies royal colonies, proprietary colonies, and corporate or republican colonies. In the royal colonies the governor and his council were appointed and commissioned by the crown. In the proprietary colonies the prerogatives of the crown were conferred on some favored individual or family, as William Penn and Lord Baltimore, and they governed the colony under the charter from the crown. But in both the royal and the proprietary colonies there were popular assemblies which exercised considerable control over the management of local affairs. New Hampshire,

New York, New Jersey, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia were royal colonies, and Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware were proprietary colonies. In the corporate colonies the people were incorporated under charters which gave them a large degree of independence. These colonies were virtually commonwealths and were little subjected to the sovereignty of England. They elected their governor and council or upper house as well as the lower house of their popular assembly. Connecticut and Rhode Island belonged to this type and at one time Massachusetts also, but its charter was so amended later as to make it resemble in some respects the royal type as well.2

In all of these colonies there were the three departments which characterize our state and national governments today-an executive, a legislature, and a judiciary.

The colonial governor was the chief executive officer of the colony. In the royal colonies and in Massachusetts he was appointed by the crown; in the proprietary colonies he was appointed by the proprietor; while in Connecticut and Rhode Island he was elected by the people. He was charged with the enforcement of the laws, was given the power of appointment, and was commander-in-chief of the colonial forces. was the general representative of the king. In the royal and proprietary colonies the governor appointed the members of the upper house or council and had

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an absolute veto power over laws which he thought objectional. In the corporate colonies the governor did not enjoy many of the powers exercised by the governors of the other colonies, yet in all the colonies he exerted a great influence over colonial government, and the direction of colonial affairs. In the royal colonies in particular the governor was an unpopular official, and when those colonies came to be states and to draft new state constitutions, they took care to curtail his powers and to increase the powers of the popular assembly. In Rhode Island the governor was not given the veto until 1909.

In all the colonies except Pennsylvania the colonial legislature consisted of two houses, a council and a representative assembly. The council or upper house was appointed by the governor in all of the colonies except Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut where it was elective. The council not only had the ordinary legislative powers, but it acted as a cabinet to the governor and was charged with many administrative duties performed today by various state officials. The representative assembly in all cases was elected by the people, although not under conditions of universal suffrage. Many of the English limitations were retained. For instance, in Virginia a voter had to be a freeholder of fifty acres of land without a house, or of twentyfive acres with one. In Massachusetts he had to own an estate worth at least forty shillings per year, while all the colonies imposed special qualifications for eligi

bility to membership in the legislature. At first, the assembly sat with the governor and council in joint session, but gradually it gained the right to sit apart, and became a separate and independent body. It voted separately on all legislation, could originate bills, and usually exerted a restraining influence on the governor and council. The constitutional history of the colonies is made up largely of contests between the governors and the assemblies, especially over questions of taxation and expenditures, and through their control of the purse strings the assembly finally secured a dominant control.

In addition to the executive and legislative departments, there was a judicial department. The colonial judiciary consisted of justice courts, presided over by the justices of the peace, the county courts, presided over by judges usually appointed by the governor, and a high court to which cases from the other courts could be appealed. From the decision of the high court an appeal could be made to the king in council in England. In most of the colonies, judges, including justices of the peace, were appointed by the governor, but in New Jersey the county judges were elected. In the royal colonies the high court was composed of the governor and council, but in Massachusetts the supreme court was composed of a chief justice and four associate justices appointed by the governor and council, and in Pennsylvania of a chief justice and three associate justices appointed by the governor.

Thus there was in each colony a separate and fairly well developed government, modeled to a large extent after the government with which they had been familiar. It was like the "English system in miniature, the governor answering to the king, and the legislature, usually two-chambered, answering to parliament.” When in 1776, the thirteen colonies threw off their allegiance to the British crown and declared themselves independent states, the colonial charter naturally became the state constitution.". In most cases it was considerably re-modeled, but in some it remained for years unchanged. Massachusetts did not adopt a new constitution until 1780, Connecticut until 1818, and Rhode Island until 1842. The thirty-five states that have since been admitted to the Union have patterned their constitutions largely after the constitutions of the older states.

(2) State Constitutions. The fundamental law of each state is embodied in a written document called its constitution. Unlike the constitutions of most European states which are usually granted by the sovereign or enacted by the highest legislative body, all American constitutions now in force have been framed by constituent representative assemblies, and in most cases adopted by the people before going into effect. original thirteen states, as we have seen, had constitutions before the Federal constitution was framed, but the states that have since been admitted to the union have adopted their constitutions in much the same way.

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