During the eighteenth century, colonial assemblies;
a. lost political power to colonial governors
b. concentrated on the distribution of patronage
c. gained the "power of the purse "
d. remained merely advisory bodies

Generally speaking, in the United States during this time, colonial assemblies "a. lost political power to colonial governors," which was one of the reasons the colonists were upset with the leadership of Great Britain. 

A. southerners underestimated republicans eagerness to end slavery.