What happened to Restoration colonies like the Carolinas after their founding?

• A. They were eventually reabsorbed as Royal colonies
• B. They remained proprietary forever
• C. They became independent states
• D. They failed and were abandoned

Answer: (A)

Restoration colonies began under private ownership, granted to Lords Proprietors to govern on behalf of the Crown. Over time, when proprietors struggled with governance or finances, the Crown would reassert authority and convert those lands into royal colonies, governed directly by the king’s appointees. In the Carolinas, that shift happened in the late 1720s when the Crown bought the rights from the proprietors. The two colonies then became royal colonies, with direct royal oversight and governance. They were not left as independent states, nor did they remain proprietary forever or be abandoned. This reabsorption into royal control is why the best answer is that they were eventually reabsorbed as Royal colonies.