--- title: "Proprietary Colonies — APUSH Definition & Exam Guide" description: "Proprietary colonies were English colonies granted to individual owners by the Crown. Know the Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Carolina examples for APUSH Unit 2." canonical: "https://fiveable.me/apush/key-terms/proprietary-colonies" type: "key-term" subject: "AP US History" unit: "Unit 2" --- # Proprietary Colonies — APUSH Definition & Exam Guide ## Definition Proprietary colonies were English colonies the Crown granted to an individual or small group (the proprietor), who held the right to govern and distribute the land; examples include Maryland and Pennsylvania, and many later converted to direct royal control. ## What It Is A proprietary colony was an English colony handed over to a single owner or a small group of owners, called proprietors, by a royal grant. The king essentially said, "Here's a chunk of North America. You run it." The proprietor could appoint the governor, distribute land, and set up the government, as long as the laws didn't contradict English law. Maryland (granted to the Calvert family as a haven for Catholics) and Pennsylvania (granted to [William Penn](/apush/key-terms/william-penn "fv-autolink"), who built a Quaker refuge with religious toleration) are the two examples you should be able to name instantly. The Carolinas also started this way. This matters because it explains *why* English colonies looked so different from each other. Unlike Spain or France, which ran their empires through centralized royal control, England outsourced [colonization](/apush/unit-2/interactions-between-american-indians-europeans/study-guide/chUDbGx9XSPajryeDxcv "fv-autolink") to private actors, including proprietors, joint-stock companies, and religious groups. Each founder's goals (profit, [religious refuge](/apush/unit-5/manifest-destiny/study-guide/QCAKf0AWBCPTgZHZtUPD "fv-autolink"), social experiment) shaped the colony's economy, religion, and politics. Over the colonial period, the Crown took many of these colonies back. Most proprietary colonies transitioned to royal colonies with Crown-appointed governors, which tightened imperial control and set up later tensions over self-government. ## Why It Matters Proprietary colonies live in Topic 2.2 (European Colonization) in [Unit 2](/apush/unit-2 "fv-autolink"), supporting learning objective [APUSH](/apush "fv-autolink") 2.2.A, which asks you to explain how and why various European colonies developed and expanded from 1607 to 1754. The CED's essential knowledge stresses that English colonization, unlike Spanish, French, and Dutch efforts, attracted large numbers of migrants and produced a patchwork of distinct colonies. Proprietary colonies are one of the three founding structures (proprietary, joint-stock/corporate, royal) that explain that patchwork. If a question asks why Pennsylvania had religious toleration or why Maryland welcomed Catholics, the answer starts with who the proprietor was and what he wanted. The term also connects to the theme of American and Regional Identity, since founder-driven differences hardened into the regional differences (New England vs. Middle vs. Southern colonies) that run through Units 2 and 3. ## Connections ### [Joint-Stock Companies (Unit 2)](/apush/key-terms/joint-stock-companies) [Joint-stock companies](/apush/key-terms/joint-stock-companies "fv-autolink") were the other private engine of English colonization. Virginia started as a Virginia Company venture, while Maryland started as a Calvert family grant. Same big idea either way: England let private investors and owners take the financial risk, which is why English colonies developed so differently from one another. ### [English colonies (Unit 2)](/apush/key-terms/english-colonies) Proprietary status is one reason the [English colonies](/apush/key-terms/english-colonies "fv-autolink") were never a single uniform system. A Quaker proprietor gave Pennsylvania religious toleration and good relations with American Indians; a Catholic proprietor gave Maryland its Act of Toleration. Founder goals became regional character. ### [House of Burgesses (Unit 2)](/apush/key-terms/house-of-burgesses) Even colonies run by proprietors or companies developed elected assemblies, following Virginia's lead. That habit of local self-government survived even after the Crown converted colonies to royal control, which is exactly the friction that explodes in [Unit 3](/apush/unit-3 "fv-autolink"). ### [Headright System (Unit 2)](/apush/key-terms/headright-system) Proprietors and companies needed settlers to make their grants profitable, so they gave land away. The headright system (land for paying someone's passage) shows how privately run colonies recruited labor, which ties directly into indentured servitude. ## On the AP Exam No released FRQ has used "proprietary colonies" verbatim, but the concept is steady multiple-choice material for Unit 2. MCQs typically give you an excerpt (a colonial charter, Penn's writings, a description of Maryland) and ask you to identify why English colonies developed differently or how England's colonization model differed from Spain's and France's. The move you need is comparison and causation. Be ready to explain that England relied on private actors (proprietors, joint-stock companies) rather than direct royal administration, and to use Maryland or Pennsylvania as specific evidence in a short-answer or essay about colonial diversity, religious toleration, or the growth of self-government before 1754. ## proprietary colonies vs Royal colonies Both were English colonies, but the difference is who governs. In a proprietary colony, a private owner (like the Calverts or William Penn) appointed the governor and controlled the land. In a royal colony, the Crown did that directly. The trend line matters more than the labels. Over the 1600s and 1700s, the Crown converted most proprietary and corporate colonies into royal colonies (Virginia in 1624 was the first conversion, from a joint-stock company). By the mid-1700s royal colonies were the norm, which meant tighter imperial oversight bumping up against colonial assemblies used to running things themselves. ## Key Takeaways - A proprietary colony was granted by the Crown to an individual or family who held the right to govern it, as opposed to direct royal rule or a joint-stock company charter. - Maryland (the Calvert family, a Catholic haven) and Pennsylvania (William Penn, a Quaker refuge with religious toleration) are the go-to examples to cite as evidence. - Proprietary colonies show that England colonized through private actors rather than centralized royal control, a sharp contrast with Spanish and French models under APUSH 2.2.A. - Founder goals shaped each colony's religion, economy, and government, which is why English colonies were so diverse compared to New France or New Spain. - Most proprietary colonies were eventually converted to royal colonies, increasing Crown control and setting up later conflicts between royal governors and colonial assemblies. ## FAQs ### What is a proprietary colony in APUSH? It's an English colony the Crown granted to a private owner (a proprietor) who controlled its land and government. Maryland, granted to the Calvert family in 1632, and Pennsylvania, granted to William Penn in 1681, are the classic examples. ### What's the difference between a proprietary colony and a royal colony? In a proprietary colony, a private owner appointed the governor and ran the colony; in a royal colony, the Crown did so directly. Many proprietary colonies, like the Carolinas, were converted to royal colonies over time as England tightened imperial control. ### Were proprietary colonies the same as joint-stock colonies? No. Joint-stock colonies like early Virginia were run by companies of investors pooling money for profit, while proprietary colonies belonged to a named individual or family. Both, though, show England outsourcing colonization to private actors instead of governing directly. ### Why did proprietary colonies become royal colonies? The Crown wanted tighter control over trade and governance, and proprietors often struggled with debt, mismanagement, or settler unrest. Converting them to royal colonies put Crown-appointed governors in charge, which later clashed with colonial assemblies. ### Do I need to memorize which colonies were proprietary for the AP exam? You don't need a full chart, but you should be able to name Maryland and Pennsylvania as proprietary colonies and explain how their founders' goals shaped them. That's the kind of specific evidence that strengthens a short answer or essay on colonial development under APUSH 2.2.A. ## Related Study Guides - [2.2 European Colonization](/apush/unit-2/european-colonization-north-america/study-guide/bOqbTIQvhKy42VNcnRMs) ## Structured Data ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"LearningResource","@id":"https://fiveable.me/apush/key-terms/proprietary-colonies#resource","name":"Proprietary Colonies — APUSH Definition & Exam Guide","url":"https://fiveable.me/apush/key-terms/proprietary-colonies","learningResourceType":"Concept explainer","educationalLevel":"AP® / High School","about":{"@id":"https://fiveable.me/apush/key-terms/proprietary-colonies#term"},"audience":{"@type":"EducationalAudience","educationalRole":"student"},"dateModified":"2026-06-11T05:27:33.505Z","isPartOf":{"@type":"Collection","name":"AP US History Key Terms","url":"https://fiveable.me/apush/key-terms"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Fiveable","url":"https://fiveable.me"}},{"@type":"DefinedTerm","@id":"https://fiveable.me/apush/key-terms/proprietary-colonies#term","name":"proprietary colonies","description":"Proprietary colonies were English colonies the Crown granted to an individual or small group (the proprietor), who held the right to govern and distribute the land; examples include Maryland and Pennsylvania, and many later converted to direct royal control.","url":"https://fiveable.me/apush/key-terms/proprietary-colonies","inDefinedTermSet":{"@type":"DefinedTermSet","name":"AP US History Key Terms","url":"https://fiveable.me/apush/key-terms"}},{"@type":"FAQPage","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is a proprietary colony in APUSH?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"It's an English colony the Crown granted to a private owner (a proprietor) who controlled its land and government. 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