<P> While lawyers were prominent throughout the Thirteen Colonies, merchants were important in the northern colonies and planters were more involved in the southern provinces . These were the groups from which the appointed councilors and elected delegates were chosen . </P> <P> The assemblies had a variety of names, such as: House of Delegates, House of Burgesses, or Assembly of Freemen . They had several features in common . Members were elected annually, by the propertied citizens of the towns or counties . Usually they met for a single, short session; but the council or governor could call a special session . Suffrage was allotted only to free white men and, in the early days at least, limited to landowners . Land ownership was widespread, however, which meant that most white men were able to cast a vote . </P> <P> Tax issues and budget decisions originated in the assembly . Part of the budget went toward the cost of raising and equipping the colonial militia . As the American Revolution drew near, this subject was a point of contention and conflict between the provincial assemblies and their respective governors . </P> <P> The perennial struggles between the colonial governors and the assemblies are sometimes viewed, in retrospect, as signs of a rising democratic spirit . However, those assemblies generally represented the privileged classes, and they were protecting the colony against unreasonable executive encroachments . </P>

How were members of governor's council chosen