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Charter colony is one of three classes of colonial government established in the 17th century English colonies in North America, the other classes being proprietary colony and royal colony. These colonies were operated under a corporate charter given by the crown. [ 1 ]
A colony's precise relationship to the Crown depended on whether it was a corporate colony, proprietary colony or royal colony as defined in its colonial charter. Whereas royal colonies belonged to the Crown, proprietary and corporate colonies were granted by the Crown to private interests. [9]
Proprietary governors had legal responsibilities over the colony as well as responsibilities to shareholders to ensure the security of their investments. The proprietary system was a mostly inefficient [definition needed] system, in that the proprietors were, for the most part, like absentee landlords.
A corporate group is composed of companies. The general rule is that a company is a separate legal entity from its shareholders, that is the shareholder's liability for the subsidiary's debts is limited to the value of the shares, [4] and the shareholders cannot be required to perform the company's obligations.
The Massachusetts Bay Company, like other colonial joint-stock companies, was to be a corporate entity as well as a governmental one. The first settlers of the colony were Puritans who sought to create a society based on their religious beliefs unfettered from the Royal Anglican government of the Kingdom of England. The settlers were to be ...
The colony's corporate charter [3] was granted to General James Oglethorpe on April 21, 1732, by George II, for whom the colony was named. The charter was finalized by the King's privy council on June 9, 1732. [4] Oglethorpe envisioned a colony which would serve as a haven for English subjects who had been imprisoned for debt and "the
The charters defined the relationship of the colony to the mother country as free from involvement from the Crown. For the trading companies, charters vested the powers of government in the company in England. The officers would determine the administration, laws, & ordinances for the colony but only as conforming to the laws of England.
Significantly, Massachusetts itself was a corporate colony at that time – owned and operated by the Massachusetts Bay Company (until it lost its charter in 1684) – so Harvard College is a corporation created by a corporation. Many nations have modeled their own corporate laws on American business law.