<P> The structure of the colonial government changed over the lifetime of the charter . The Puritans established a theocratic government with the franchise limited to church members . Winthrop, Dudley, the Rev. John Cotton, and other leaders zealously sought to prevent any independence of religious views, and many with differing religious beliefs--including Roger Williams of Salem and Anne Hutchinson of Boston, as well as unrepentant Quakers and Anabaptists--were banished . By the mid-1640s Massachusetts Bay Colony had grown to more than 20,000 inhabitants . </P> <P> The charter granted the general court the authority to elect officers and to make laws for the colony . Its first meeting in America was held in October 1630, but it was attended by only eight freemen . They formed the first council of assistants, and voted (contrary to the terms of the charter) that the governor and deputy should be elected by them, from their number . This was modified in the next session of the general court, in which the governor and deputy were to be elected by the general court . </P> <P> An additional 116 settlers were admitted to the general court as freemen in 1631, but most of the governing power, as well as the judicial power, remained with the council of assistants . They also enacted a law specifying that only those men who "are members of some of the churches" in the colony were eligible to become freemen and gain the vote . This restriction on the franchise was not liberalized until after the English Restoration . The process by which individuals became members of one of the colony's churches involved a detailed questioning by the church elders of their beliefs and religious experiences; as a result, only individuals whose religious views accorded with those of the church leadership were likely to become members and gain the ability to vote in the colony . After a protest over the imposition of taxes by a meeting of the council of assistants, the general court ordered each town to send two representatives, known as deputies, to meet with the court to discuss matters of taxation . </P> <P> Questions of governance and representation arose again in 1634, when several deputies demanded to see the charter, which the assistants had kept hidden from public view . The deputies learned of the provisions that the general court should make all laws, and that all freemen should be members of the general court . They then demanded that the charter be enforced to the letter, which Governor Winthrop pointed out was impractical given the growing number of freemen . The parties reached a compromise, and agreed that the general court would be made up of two deputies elected by each town . The 1634 election resulted in the election of Dudley as governor, and the general court proceeded to reserve for itself a large number of powers, including those of taxation, distribution of land, and the admission of freemen . </P>

What members of the community has the most power in the massachusetts bay colony