By 1719, South Carolinian legislative authority was vested in a bicameral body composed of the popularly elected Commons House of Assembly sitting as a lower chamber, and the Grand Council of the Lords Proprietors, which functioned both as an upper chamber and as a collegiate executive, though its day-to-day powers were exercised by a governor it appointed. Governance of South Carolina by the proprietary lords has been characterized as ineffective and erratic. Their failure to adequately prepare for defense of the colony during the Yamasee War created further strain between the people and the London-based proprietors.
