Which two colonies were originally chartered by a joint-stock company and later became proprietary colonies?

Which two colonies were originally chartered by a joint-stock company and later became proprietary colonies?

• A. Maryland and Virginia
• B. Delaware and New Jersey
• C. North and South Carolina
• D. New York and Pennsylvania

Answer: (B)

Colonial governance shifted when some colonies started under a joint-stock company's charter and later came under private proprietors who owned and administered the colony. Delaware and New Jersey show this path. Delaware’s early development involved corporate-backed settlement efforts in the region, and after English control it operated as a proprietary colony under the Penn family, meaning land and governance were in the hands of individual proprietors rather than a trading company. New Jersey likewise began under a Crown grant to private proprietors who ran the colony as a private estate, with ownership and authority held by nominal proprietors rather than a corporate body. This pattern stands in contrast to colonies that were established and governed as proprietary from the start or remained tied to royal or charter arrangements without shifting to private proprietorship.

Colonial governance shifted when some colonies started under a joint-stock company's charter and later came under private proprietors who owned and administered the colony. Delaware and New Jersey show this path. Delaware’s early development involved corporate-backed settlement efforts in the region, and after English control it operated as a proprietary colony under the Penn family, meaning land and governance were in the hands of individual proprietors rather than a trading company. New Jersey likewise began under a Crown grant to private proprietors who ran the colony as a private estate, with ownership and authority held by nominal proprietors rather than a corporate body. This pattern stands in contrast to colonies that were established and governed as proprietary from the start or remained tied to royal or charter arrangements without shifting to private proprietorship.