America was Britain's colony and obviously Britain had control of its colonies
affairs. But Britain did not enforce its power until the colonies began to become stronger.
Britain's policy of salutary neglect prior to 1750 highly influenced the development of
society in America.
The American colonies were not intended to have legislative bodies since
parliament was the legislative body for the entire British Empire. But due to the great
distances between Britain and its colonies, immediate law decisions were not possible.
Hence the colonies developed legislatures for day to day procedures, such as the Virginia
House of Burgess that became the symbol of representative governments.