英国在近代早期的殖民治理最显著的特点,是向其美洲殖民地输出包括议会制度的英国的政治与法律制度。对于移民海外建立新拓殖民地的英国人来说,能继续享受、保有英国法律和自由制度至关重要,这意味着他们保持着英格兰人身份以及继续这份自我认同和他人认同。美洲各地的英国拓殖者竭尽全力将这些据点置于英国法的根基之上。从新英格兰到巴巴多斯,英属美洲殖民地确立了议会治理机制。 The most prominent feature of Britain’s colonial rule in early modern history was the export of the British political and legal system to its American colonies, including the parliamentary system. For British immigrants to set up new colonies overseas, the continued enjoyment of British law and the freedom to hold them is of the essence, which means they maintain their English identity and continue this self-identity and identification with others. British colonists across the Americas tried their best to place these strongholds on the foundations of British law. From New England to Barbados, the British American colonies established a parliamentary governance mechanism.