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How did colonial assemblies force appointed governors to bend to their will?
AThey withheld the money for salaries and functions
BThey appealed to the Privy Council in London
CThey elected their own governors in the towns
DThey refused to enrol men in the local militia
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: A. They withheld the money for salaries and functions
1. The right to sit in a legislature mattered little at first.
2. It became a stepping stone once assemblies seized control over financial matters.
3. In one colony after another it was established that no tax could be levied without their consent.
4. No collected revenue could be spent without that consent either, not even on official salaries.
5. If a governor would not act as the assembly wished, it refused money for vital functions.
6. There were instances of recalcitrant governors voted no salary at all, or a salary of one penny.
7. Faced with that, governors and other appointed officials tended to become pliable.
8. The Privy Council did review colonial legislation, but appeals to it were the governor's recourse rather than the assembly's lever.
_Source: An Outline of American History (U.S. Information Agency, 1990, public domain), section FOREIGN RULE BREAKS DOWN_
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