ABSTRACT
Tracing the development of the county commission system provides a unique opportunity for examining the nature of participatory government in colonial America. Establishing the county commission system began modestly in 1711 when the Pennsylvania Assembly appointed provincial tax collectors to levy and collect taxes at the county level. These new officials replaced the justices of the peace who presided at the Courts of Quarter Session and had, along with the assistance of elected county assessors, previously levied those taxes. A comparison of the inventoried estates and tax assessments of the county commissioners with those for justices of the peace shows that the economic status of county commissioners as measured. By these variables was lower than that of justices and that the economic status of county commissioners came closer to the average wealth of the total population than did the economic status of the justices.
