The correct answer is C) steps in the grow of representative democracy.
In the colonial era, developments such as the New England town meetings and the establishment of the Virginia House of Burgesses represented steps in the grow of representative democracy.
Since the beginning, American colonists wanted some degree of independence from the British monarchy. Let's remember that English settlers came to America for diverse reasons. Some were escaping persecution due to religious differences with the Church of England, such as the Puritans that founded the colony of Plymouth in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Or the Jamestown, Virginia colony of 1607, that came sponsored by the London-Virginia Company and they desired to be rich.
Whatever the case, they looked for ways to rule themselves. The Pilgrims created the "Mayflower Compromise" and the people in Virginia created the first legislative body with the House of Burgesses, in Jamestown.
The other options of the question were A)colonial attempts to built a strong national government. B) efforts by the British to strengthen its control over the colonies. D) early social reform movements.