[States is one of these new and jcharaeteristic forms worked out in colonies previous to n revolution. There were 13 colonies in which lived about 8,000,000 people. Each colony. Jeame to be a more or less self-Jgoverning commonwealth, with a legislature of its own, passing laws based upon the general legal ideas lof English common law. There iwas no political connexion among these colonies, save in the British jerown, As far back as 1696, however, William Penn proposed that all the colonies be united with a chief executive head, to be known jas the President.
The, colonies all had written constitutions from the very beginning, in that their charters from the [Crown were in effect constitutions.
They were used to government Jwithin the meaning of the words of this legal instrument. These charters were based largely upon the theories of government developed under the British Constitution as up, to the time of George LI.. The British Constitution, not, being a written document and changing rather by evolution than by radi-[cal legislative action, very different to-day from what it was fin: the time of the Mad German.
At that time the Crown and. its ministers regarded the Executive as being to a large extent independent of the legislative. Ministers did not feel altogether obliged to follow the will of the House of Commons. We Moed only reed of the activities of Pitt, elder and younger, and of Fox, quite to understand the strug-[el between the, legislative branch land the executive under the English Constitution.
In the United States this idea of the independence of the three branches of the government came to mean very much more than. in England. It was the premise of the [strongest battles in the Constitutional Convention and Alexander [Hamilton devotes several articles of ithe Federalist to a discussion of the necessity for checks and balances, To Hamilton, the President was comparable in many ways to the [Governor of a State, as the colonies jeame to be called The people quite understood the duties of the Governor. He was the executive officer, but he was also a check on the radicalism of the mob. He had veto power over legislature. He [protected minorities in the State.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.