What was a colony owned by an individual called?

What was a colony owned by an individual called?

• A. Royal colony
• B. Joint-stock colony
• C. Proprietary colony
• D. Charter colony

Answer: (C)

A colony owned by an individual is called a proprietary colony. In this setup, the proprietor received the land from the English Crown and held broad authority to govern the colony: appointing officials, shaping laws, and managing land and finances. The proprietor could grant parcels of land to others and run the settlement with considerable autonomy from royal oversight. Maryland and Pennsylvania are classic examples, granted to Lord Baltimore and William Penn, respectively, illustrating how a single owner could shape the colony’s development. This differs from royal colonies, where the king directly controlled governance, and from charter or joint-stock colonies, where governance rested with a charter or a company rather than an individual proprietor.

A colony owned by an individual is called a proprietary colony. In this setup, the proprietor received the land from the English Crown and held broad authority to govern the colony: appointing officials, shaping laws, and managing land and finances. The proprietor could grant parcels of land to others and run the settlement with considerable autonomy from royal oversight. Maryland and Pennsylvania are classic examples, granted to Lord Baltimore and William Penn, respectively, illustrating how a single owner could shape the colony’s development. This differs from royal colonies, where the king directly controlled governance, and from charter or joint-stock colonies, where governance rested with a charter or a company rather than an individual proprietor.