Revival.

It has been said that around the mid seventeenth century England rediscovered the colonies that her people had previously settled. The early colonies were founded by the Virginia, London, and Massachusetts Bay Companies. It was not until the period of Stuart Restoration in the 1660s that England really began to take careful notice of the potential benefits these provinces could bring. The most common method by which the British colonial empire began to take shape at this point was through the royal issuance of proprietorships, either for provinces where the company charters had expired or failed, or as in the case of Maryland and Pennsylvania, where no previous claims were in force.

The Chosen.

In 1632 the second Lord Baltimore's acceptance of Maryland made him the first American proprietor. In 1639 Sir Ferdinando Gorges received Maine, and in 1664 Charles II granted New Netherland (which included...