Background to the Revolution: The Colonial Environment From what I understood is behind each governor stood the power and majesty of the British king and Parliament. Most of these colonial legislatures had an upper house selected by the governor and a lower house elected by the people. The upper house, often referred to as the Governor's Council, represented the interests of the governor and the empire to the lower house and to the people of the colony and the lower house, frequently called the House of Representatives, the House of Burgesses, or simply the Assembly, used the "Power of the purse" to control and limit the independence of colonial governors. In almost every colony, the people's representatives gained the upper hand over the governor and his council. Background to the Revolution: First Steps Toward Independence Misinterpretation of motives, overreaction on both sides, and the difficulties of transatlantic communication led first to heated rhetoric and then to a spiral of threats and violence that neither side knew how …show more content…
State governments sought to address this instability through constitutional reform. Also, other states, especially Rhode Island, but Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia as well, seemed to drift toward a dangerous populism. The Constitutional Convention: A Foundation of Basic Principles The Founders believed that a written constitution allowed for a precise distribution and limitation of power between and within the institutions and offices of government. Representative government required those entitled to vote, generally propertied white men, to select from among themselves those who would